Home studio setup

[catchlights]

jeanie,

agreed with "low power with few units", but do note that.

one light = one highlight, one shadow
two lights = two highlights, two shadows
ten lights = ten highlights, ten shadows

so if you want to use more lights, be careful where you want your highlight and shadows to be.

side note: (be careful about this suggestion), if someone tell you to place another light to kill a shadows, it will create another shadows, so will suggest to place a third light to kill the second shadow, and fourth light to kill the third shadows, and it will go on and on and on and on....

 

[jeanie]

jeanie,

agreed with "low power with few units", but do note that.

one light = one highlight, one shadow
two lights = two highlights, two shadows
ten lights = ten highlights, ten shadows

so if you want to use more lights, be careful where you want your highlight and shadows to be.

side note: (be careful about this suggestion), if someone tell you to place another light to kill a shadows, it will create another shadows, so will suggest to place a third light to kill the second shadow, and fourth light to kill the third shadows, and it will go on and on and on and on....

good point:thumbsup: ...i totally overlook the shadow thing!

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

jeanie,

agreed with "low power with few units", but do note that.

one light = one highlight, one shadow
two lights = two highlights, two shadows
ten lights = ten highlights, ten shadows

so if you want to use more lights, be careful where you want your highlight and shadows to be.

side note: (be careful about this suggestion), if someone tell you to place another light to kill a shadows, it will create another shadows, so will suggest to place a third light to kill the second shadow, and fourth light to kill the third shadows, and it will go on and on and on and on....

kill here kill there... remake of Killing Field issit? :bigeyes:

 

[lsisaxon]

jeanie,

agreed with "low power with few units", but do note that.

one light = one highlight, one shadow
two lights = two highlights, two shadows
ten lights = ten highlights, ten shadows

so if you want to use more lights, be careful where you want your highlight and shadows to be.

side note: (be careful about this suggestion), if someone tell you to place another light to kill a shadows, it will create another shadows, so will suggest to place a third light to kill the second shadow, and fourth light to kill the third shadows, and it will go on and on and on and on....

Put all the lights into the same softbox lah! ;P I did that once by using a huge diffuser with 3 lights behind, so it's like one huge light. Very nice even illumination without much shadows.

Also instead of using snoot alone, you can consider using a fresnel lens to focus the light first, then use snoot or barndoor. This way you won't lose too much light and can use a lower power for the highlights.

 

[lsisaxon]

i got it.
but getting more lights is not an option for me.really no more space liao.

Shoot at higher ISO lor..

 

[jeanie]

Shoot at higher ISO lor..

i did.
i even tried shooting at iso800 but still i guess it's the flash problem.

 

[lsisaxon]

i did.
i even tried shooting at iso800 but still i guess it's the flash problem.

The power cannot be decreased anymore? Open up the aperture? Usually the duration at full power of the flash is not likely to be longer than 1/500s. So half power should give at most 1/1000s, quarter power 1/2000s, 1/8th power 1/4000s. Not enough? Are you using 500Ws or 1000Ws?

 

[jeanie]

The power cannot be decreased anymore? Open up the aperture? Usually the duration at full power of the flash is not likely to be longer than 1/500s. So half power should give at most 1/1000s, quarter power 1/2000s, 1/8th power 1/4000s. Not enough? Are you using 500Ws or 1000Ws?

i decreased to minimum, and place the lights VERY near the dancers.i was really worried for their safety.
too big an aperture, DOF is a prob as i was using 70-200 for versatility when i want to zoom in/out.
my strobes are 500w.
i was thinking maybe it's the movement of the dancers.
like RBK mentioned, freezing them at hangtime is good.but sometimes it just doesnt work.(the pose especially).

 

[lsisaxon]

i decreased to minimum, and place the lights VERY near the dancers.i was really worried for their safety.
too big an aperture, DOF is a prob as i was using 70-200 for versatility when i want to zoom in/out.
my strobes are 500w.
i was thinking maybe it's the movement of the dancers.
like RBK mentioned, freezing them at hangtime is good.but sometimes it just doesnt work.(the pose especially).

Hmm.. maybe 500Ws may not be enough power. Well, yeah, another way is to get a deliberate blur to depict movement. :dunno:

In this image you can see the strobe effect because of the HMI lamps, but the blur give a nice indication that the shot was taken when the dancer is moving and is in mid air. Then again, it may not be desired in a studio shoot.. :dunno:

 

[Splutter]

The power cannot be decreased anymore? Open up the aperture? Usually the duration at full power of the flash is not likely to be longer than 1/500s. So half power should give at most 1/1000s, quarter power 1/2000s, 1/8th power 1/4000s. Not enough? Are you using 500Ws or 1000Ws?

Unfortunately this is not true. Duration of flash to power is not a linear ratio.

 

[lsisaxon]

Unfortunately this is not true. Duration of flash to power is not a linear ratio.

Yeah.. I'm aware of that but it's much easier to calculate this way. The actual flash duration will not be longer than if you assume it's linear.

 

[Spectrum]

Put all the lights into the same softbox lah! ;P I did that once by using a huge diffuser with 3 lights behind, so it's like one huge light. Very nice even illumination without much shadows.

Sorry to borrow this thread to ask some question here.
Does it mean that you need boom to arrange the other two lights together?
And how do you put them in that softbox opening where the 3 lights can fit into. thks

 

[catchlights]

Sorry to borrow this thread to ask some question here.
Does it mean that you need boom to arrange the other two lights together?
And how do you put them in that softbox opening where the 3 lights can fit into. thks

a simple and economy way is make a huge light panel and light it from behind, or a large poly form board and bounce the lights.
you don't need to use boom, just on individual stands will do.

 

[Spectrum]

a simple and economy way is make a huge light panel and light it from behind, or a large poly form board and bounce the lights.
you don't need to use boom, just on individual stands will do.

Thanks for the tips & back to Jeanie.

 

[vince123123]

Actually, this isn't ALWAYS true, if put properly, two lights can kill the two shadows leading to no shadows. The same can be true of X lights.

Hence, what is true is to be "careful" of this suggestion, but it isn't entirely a write off.

side note: (be careful about this suggestion), if someone tell you to place another light to kill a shadows, it will create another shadows, so will suggest to place a third light to kill the second shadow, and fourth light to kill the third shadows, and it will go on and on and on and on....

 

[jeanie]

hey guys, i need suggestions for a secondary light to light up a gal breaking a plank(the lighting ON the plank).
what kind of light modi should i use?snoot or honeycombs?
any suggestions?

 

[lsisaxon]

hey guys, i need suggestions for a secondary light to light up a gal breaking a plank(the lighting ON the plank).
what kind of light modi should i use?snoot or honeycombs?
any suggestions?

Fresnel lens.

 

[jeanie]

Fresnel lens.

that's a little expensive imho for a light modifier.:embrass:

 

[lsisaxon]

that's a little expensive imho for a light modifier.:embrass:

But it gives a well defined circle of light, otherwise use a snoot and adjust the distance accordingly. Honeycomb may not be directional enough.

 

[jeanie]

But it gives a well defined circle of light, otherwise use a snoot and adjust the distance accordingly. Honeycomb may not be directional enough.

iyo, you think it's possible to 'make' my own fresnel lens?maybe i just need a very big magnifying glass.?

the bowens fresnel is about 1.5k....i think it's quite insane for a light modifier though i love the fresnel effect.