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October 2, 2026

Lighting a room that reads on camera

Most seasonal lighting is sold on brightness. That's the wrong number. What makes a room read as warm on a phone camera is color temperature, and the useful range is narrow: 2000K to 2300K. Above that, skin goes flat and the whole scene looks like an office.

Our flicker filaments sit at 2200K and at under two watts, which means you can fill a chandelier without heating it. Space them. A single bright source flattens a room; five dim ones give it depth.

Put the lowest light at eye level when people are seated, not standing. That's the mantel, the sideboard, the center of the table. Overhead light is for finding things. Eye-level light is for the photograph.