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08/31/2004 02:50:07 PM · #1 |
Hey guys,
New question, this time regarding lighting. Right now i only have access to two 500w. lights which can be direct or used with umbrelas. It works well, although i'd need blue filters to get rid of some "yellow" shadows (too warm).
My question is regarding Strobes. I have no idea what they do exactly? Are they like flashs, basically only lighting the subject/scene quickly or is there something else behind it?
I was thinking of a way to Expose a subject with a 'strobe' for only half the time of an exposure, wondering what would happen, but as of now, i have no way of testing this.
ANy help would be greatly appreciated!
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08/31/2004 03:03:30 PM · #2 |
Strobs is another way to call flash heads (I call then strobs myself)...not to be consfused with stroboscopes.
The advantage of "hotlights" which I was very partial too is that -What You See Is What You Get- (wysiwyg), and that your camera meter will give you exact reading...
The disadvantage of "hotlights" is that they comsume a lot of power (I used HMI pars which pull 15amps each) and that they are "hot" which also can be a problem when doing shots of people or other "biologicals"...that and the fact that the brightness causes squinting.
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08/31/2004 03:05:17 PM · #3 |
I've done some "stroboscopic" shots recently using Martin Atomic 3K stroboscopes...and the results were not that interesting. getting your shutter speed/strob intensity and flash rate to sync with the moving object is quite almost impossible.
Message edited by author 2004-08-31 15:06:17.
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08/31/2004 03:44:19 PM · #4 |
Strobes are basically just like standard flashes, most nicer strobes will have built-in halogen modeling lights in addition to the flash tube.
The strobes will light and separate the foreground (although that may depend on the room size and intensity of the strobes). If you want to separate the subject from the background, you probably want to invest in some muslin and a stand, as well as an additional strobe for lighting the background sheet. I'm sure you are somewhat familiar with this if you've been using hotlights.
For strobes, you can expose by trail and error, you can calculate the guide number/intensity for each strobe and manually set your exposure, or you can get a light meter and plug it right into the strobe's PC cord and meter that way. Obviously a dedicated light meter won't be to cheap, around $150-500, but it's the only way to go if you are doing this professionally. |
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08/31/2004 03:48:29 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by VisiBlanco:
Strobes are basically just like standard flashes, most nicer strobes will have built-in halogen modeling lights in addition to the flash tube.
The strobes will light and separate the foreground (although that may depend on the room size and intensity of the strobes). If you want to separate the subject from the background, you probably want to invest in some muslin and a stand, as well as an additional strobe for lighting the background sheet. I'm sure you are somewhat familiar with this if you've been using hotlights.
For strobes, you can expose by trail and error, you can calculate the guide number/intensity for each strobe and manually set your exposure, or you can get a light meter and plug it right into the strobe's PC cord and meter that way. Obviously a dedicated light meter won't be to cheap, around $150-500, but it's the only way to go if you are doing this professionally. |
wahhh? strobs and flash heads are one and the same...just different names....and all studio flash heads have modeling-lights
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08/31/2004 05:05:59 PM · #6 |
Gil,
I think Brian might have been differentiating between flash units that are typically mounted to a camera (such as a 480, 550, Metz, etc). These are basically like a strobe except they lack modeling lights. Strobes can be either mono lights or flash head units that are driven by power units.
Antoine,
When it comes to strobe lighting in a studio you can choose to use flash heads that are made for mobility such as those from Canon (480, 550, 580), any number of Metz or SunPak or any other manufacturer. You can also choose lighting where the whole light and power unit is housed inside one unit that is usually lifted up on a pole. These are called monolights and they usually have modeling lights that show where the flash should go although often times the lights that come with these need to be replaced for slightly stronger and more durable bulbs as they don't have enough power to be seen when all the other lights are on inside the studio where you are shooting. You can move out of the monolights to flash head units where the flash is self-contained and has a power and sync cord connecting multiple flash heads to power units. Your camera then connects to the power unit via a sync cord or a radio remote. These flashes generally contain stronger modeling lights as well as stronger and more resilient flashes. They tend to burn at a particular temperature for a much longer period of time (like years) before they start to wear down and need to be replaced. Units like these are generally considered professional and its not uncommon for someone to use a system like this for decades. They tend to recycle faster and provide more color consistency.
In my experience being just a hair off the strobe can produce horrific results that might be better suited to an artistic foray into Halloween effects (where you get vignetting and blur across half the image while the well-lit portion is rock solid).
Kev
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