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Strobe Fear
Hello, I purchased a couple of Alien Bees units with accessories a month ago. As I mentioned to some other members, the units are pretty intimidating. I have not used the units yet. I can't practice on a model, because it would be the worst TFCD shoot known to man. But, I have to get away from the hot lights that I have been using since December. Models really don't like the heat, and some have even experienced headaches during the shoot (I bring Advil to each shoot). Could someone please suggest other subjects that I could use to practice on with the strobes and light meter? I work 3rd shift. So, I would like to practice at home on the nights that I am off. Hiring a model for this purpose is not really an option, because I would be practicing until early the next morning. Thank You, Wil Jones Mar 14 06 07:42 pm Link Do you have a flash meter? If not, consider getting one. Then use that as anyother incedent light meter that you would use with hot lights. Then try setting up the flash units the same that you would with the hot lights, but using the flash meter to get the approximate exposure. In the case of flash units, you control the exposure primarily by the aperture and ISO. Henry Mar 14 06 07:50 pm Link Just about anything.. It really doesn't take that long to realize they're not that different in operation from hot lights.. I've seen a lot of people buy mannequin heads.. Technically you could use a box.. After all it's 3 dimensional.. Biggest trick is getting used to the modeling lights.. It is NOT like seeing the real thing.. But at least it points you in the direction of where your light and shadows are going to fall.. Or, worst case scenario... You could do what I did.. Hire an alcoholic teddy bear.. I'd pick an object.. Set up your hot lights.. Shoot it.. Then replace the hot lights with the strobes.. Adjust it til the metering matches and shoot, and see how they compare.. Mar 14 06 07:52 pm Link The alien bee said to them, "Be not afraid, for behold, I bring you lightings of great joy which shall be to all the people." Shoot anything. Oranges. Yourself. Your cat. Bottles of Barbeque sauce. Mar 14 06 07:54 pm Link WG Rowland wrote: What are you saying about bears? They like beers? Bully for you. Mar 14 06 07:56 pm Link Put a basketball on top of a 5 gallon bucket on top of a box. I"m not kidding. Set a light directly to left or right. Take some shots while moving the light around. Pay a lot of attention to the rim light effect and the shadows being cast. The roundness of the ball, the cylinder of the bucket, and the flat sides of the box will all react differently to the side/back light. You can learn a lot. Try to "imagine" how you want the light to hit your "model" FIRST, and then try to set your light up to make it look right (don't just throw the light up and take what you get). Once you get the hang of one light, introduce a second light and vary it's intensity. You can learn a lot using a static model. Mark Mar 14 06 07:57 pm Link Mar 14 06 08:02 pm Link Pi Bear wrote: WG Rowland wrote: What are you saying about bears? They like beers? Bully for you. Uh oh!!! Now you've done it... Got Pi Bear all riled up... Mar 14 06 08:03 pm Link I used to practice on my dog. You should see him run now when I get the lights out! Poor dog. I also had a mannequin head I bought off ebay for like $5. It was styrofoam with a plastic face. I think it was supposed to be used for displaying wigs or hats. Stuck it on a light stand and had a ball. Mar 14 06 08:07 pm Link dude. simple. get a doll , a mannekin head, and practice. Go to the girls store and buy a large doll. Kilk your neighbor and use him for practice! the dolls work fine as teaching tool. dont but the doll from the sex shop - you won't learn any photography Mar 14 06 08:09 pm Link Simple. Shoot the same way you would with Hot lights, except use an incident flash meter ( practices this on whatever you want to be proficient first! ). Use the same light modifiers that you use now. Light is the same light. It is just a different color temp, and intensity. How you modify it with hot lights will work the same with strobes. The model lights are there to help position. Get friends, or use whatever, but jump in. Your first shots will not be great, but they will get better as you learn. This is always the case. chip Mar 14 06 08:30 pm Link Why can't you use them on models?! Isn't that what testing for? If they aren't paying you, you have no obligation to deliver. Do the "test" on them. And what Chip said. Mar 14 06 09:53 pm Link Thank you all very much for your input. It's a shame that I finally got the money together for the strobes, opened them up, became discouraged and put them away. I am going to put your information to use on my next off night from work. I especially like the idea of the box, bucket, and basketball. Thanks everybody! Wil Mar 14 06 10:37 pm Link I recommend getting the book, Studio Photography, Essential Skills by John Child. It's meant to be used in a classroom setting, but you can use it all on your own. www.photographyessentialskills.com. Work through the lessons in the book and you will no longer be intimidated by studio strobes. My background is in cinematography, so obviously I always worked with hot lights. But as others have said, it's all the same. Don't be intimidated by it any more that you are by hotlights. You have no idea how many young guys I've coached who are intimidated by hotlights! And remember, the light is only 25% of the equation. The rest is in how you shape it. Best of luck, Matt Mar 14 06 11:30 pm Link I want to know where one gets one of these "indecent" meters people keep quoting.. I've got a Sekonic flash meter.. But these indecent models sound a lot more fun..  Mar 15 06 12:23 am Link Don't have a cow man. Light is light. Strobes are great. Providing that you have enough power the only downside I can think of is that it's a bit more difficult to focus because the pilot lights in those Alien Bees are dim. I just remembered one more downside: the pupils in model's eyes tend to be wide open with strobes because it's dark in the studio. If you want to show more color in the eyes you will need a continuous light source of some sort shining in model's eyes for close-ups. Just make sure that the light doesn't cause white balance problems. The advantages are many. No heat, no squinting, no headaches, enough power to use all kinds of light modifiers. If you shoot digital you donât need a flash meter. Mar 15 06 12:33 am Link you dont have any friends? invite them over to sit for you at a table or something and give them a beer. theyll sit for hours and shoot away. Mar 15 06 12:36 am Link FabioTovar wrote: I work 3rd shift. I want to be able to practice on my off nights from the time that my girlfriend goes to bed until the time when she wakes up for work. So, some of the items mentioned in replies here will help me to practice without bothering others. Mar 15 06 01:35 am Link Brian Diaz wrote: Thank you for that, Mr. Diaz. That was pretty good...lol I love a bit of humor with my information. You have never let me down. Mar 15 06 03:22 am Link This is from the first few days of owning my camera and strobes.   Stubb's is awesome. Mar 15 06 03:33 am Link Brian Diaz wrote: When I quoted you the last time, for some reason it didn't include the part that you said that really had me laughing. It was the part about not fearing the Alien Bees...lol Mar 15 06 04:36 am Link lll wrote: Ditto... Mar 15 06 04:41 am Link dood, you need the moppin' sauce. Mar 15 06 05:40 am Link WG Rowland wrote: Haha.. very funny. I am a better photogapher than speller sometimes Mar 15 06 07:44 am Link I hope you've got a flash meter, otherwise you're just making guesses for your exposure. As for the subjects to experiment on...     All of those were done with strobes. Even the fire from the lamp was faked using a strobe. If you have any more questions, feel free to send me a message. Alan Mar 15 06 07:56 am Link Gregory Garecki wrote: While technically true, I consider this to be very bad advise. I mean, if you shoot film you don't need a light meter either (polaroid backs), but no professional, or even serious hobbyist would shoot this way. Mar 15 06 09:44 am Link Beautiful sill lifes A.K., you've inspired me! Mar 15 06 09:46 am Link just remember to calibrate your light meter. Certain digital cameras don't expose right. Canon DSLRs for example, the Digital Rebel and the 20D both have higher sensitivities than the actually set amount. ie iso 100 = iso 125 Whereas Nikon's ISO ratings are generally true, ie iso 100 = iso 100 Mar 15 06 09:49 am Link Stanley wrote: That's not really a fair comparison, since none of Nikon's entry level DSLR's have an ISO 100 setting. Mar 15 06 10:13 am Link Wil here is the simplest settings I can tell you to play around with as I dont know how your equipment exactly is. Meaning the power on your Alien's or if you are using a softbox. Alot of that stuff is personal preference but here is how i like my settings. I shoot nothing on automatic. My white balance kelvin temp is typically set to 6k, my iso is usually at 100, shutter speed at 125th or 160th and the exposure is when i bring in my light meter and go from there. You need to use the Alien's probably at their lowest setting or at 1/16th or 1/8th. Here is the other thing about strobes, i like em close to the model about 2-3 ft away, because I use and swear by softboxes, see they are effective closer because really, further away they become more directional as far as where the light is going(not the real reason for a softbox). If you get them closer to the subject then the light will bounce everywhere(softer). Also the setup of where you place your lights are important as well. I like to do alot of weird things and play around with light cause I am still learning as well. But it is not a bad idea though to also maybe play with both continuous and strobe until you are fully comfortable to leave continuous alone. I used to shoot only continuous and once I found strobes and a few lightboxes (bigger the better) i really may never use continuous again. but again that is all a matter of your preference on style of shooting. Someone said earlier also on the strobes tend to leave the model's pupils dilated as the room is a bit darker, which is why i tend to have the modeling light on my strobes on max and the strobe itself usually at it's lowest setting. Only strobe i set at half or full is a hairlight or background light. Have no fear, the strobes will be irreplaceable once you learn to use em... Hope this helped you because I hate to read advice when there is no nitty gritty as to people's way of doing things, how is one supposed to get a better insight on learning, when they could be learning the wrong ways for a long time? Best Rohan Mar 15 06 10:55 am Link WG Rowland wrote: I've heard about those. They vibrate, right? Mar 15 06 11:11 am Link Paramour Productions wrote: If it looks good - it is good. Mar 15 06 11:14 am Link Thank you again to everyone that replied. After reading what everyone had to say, I realized that I should have been more specific about the equipment that I had purchased. I have an one Alien Bees B800 and one B400. I have have a beauty dish, a Sekonic L-358 flash meter, and I will have the money to order a large Photoflex softbox at the end of this week. I also have a couple of honeycomb grids, heavy duty light stands, and a boom arm attachment. The camera that I am currently using is a Nikon D70s. Mar 15 06 06:15 pm Link So, start with the B400 with either just the standard reflector or the beauty dish. Play with something interesting around the house, but unless you have macro lenses, you'll want something with decent size. When you figure out how the light meter works you'll realize that light is light, and it will behave the same regardless of the source. You will also realize that some sources are much more powerful and convenient than others, for example, hot lights compared to strobes. When you get bored with the standard reflector and the beauty dish, try adding a second light. The trick is to experiment and think of all the crazy ways you can push light to it's limit after you understand how it behaves with various modifiers. Alan Mar 15 06 06:26 pm Link A. K. Southard wrote: Thank you very much, Alan. I will work for a good while with one of the units before bringing the other one into the equation. Mar 15 06 10:18 pm Link |
Just noticed he became mathmatical bear... 
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