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Creativity: Hot Lights or Strobes?
Which do some of you all find easier to shoot with for some of your most creative shots or on a regular basis, strobes or continuous lighting? If continuous, fluorescent or tungsten? Nov 13 08 09:58 am Link I use strobes, but I can definitely see where the WYSIWYG affect of hotlights would be really cool. I do have modelling lights, but not the same. Nov 13 08 10:00 am Link DSP Productions wrote: you give it to me , I can shoot ..its all the same , the best is natural light Nov 13 08 10:01 am Link Strobes or natural light for me. Mostly because it's what I have available. To do a combination of strobe and available it takes some planning since I have the old style Novatrons. Nov 13 08 10:05 am Link strobes Nov 13 08 10:11 am Link All of the above..... It depends what I'm shooting, How much or little light I need, Space requirements, What look I want, Etc, etc, etc. In theory you can do it all with strobes, But I'm just not that disciplined and lack modifiers. Nov 13 08 10:23 am Link I use strobes but I think having some cool old BIG fresnels would be interesting. Wish they weren't so hot. I think the WSYWIG ness of it all would be fun to play with and I love the light quality of fresnels. I had HMIs for a a while and hated shooting product with it but people would be fun. Nov 13 08 10:29 am Link I shoot with strobes mainly because they offer more creative flexibility. I use hot lights in the video side of my work and will use them for product shots if I'm shooting stills. Nov 13 08 11:21 am Link I much prefer strobes because I can use lower ISO, smaller apertures, and faster shutter speeds. I have some Smith Victor hot lights sitting in my garage. They're kind of nice if I want to sit outside on my back porch when it's cold out. They are pretty bright and help keep me warm. For photography, not so good. Nov 13 08 11:23 am Link I made the list below, long before the advent of digital photography. ----- FLASH VERSUS HOT LIGHTS Advantages of flash: - Heat is usually not a problem - make-up is easily maintained; soft boxes and polarizing filters are practical. - Intensity can be varied without changing color temperature. - Because of their power, variable intensity, and daylight color temperature, they are easy to use when shooting interiors with windows or when shooting outdoors. - Sharp images, small apertures, and stopped motion are easily obtained; short flash durations eliminate streaking, slower films can be used with hand-held cameras. - Subject squinting is usually not a problem. - Exposure is sometimes more consistent because it is controlled electronically, not mechanically. - Illustrating "stepped-motion" is easy; the shutter is left open while you flash the strobe as the subject moves. With hot lights the shutter must cocked and released with each exposure, interrupting the flow and risking image registration. - Wall voltage doesn't affect color temperature. Advantages of hot lights: - Generally less expensive - no powerpack to buy, heads less costly. - More controllable - strobes that focus are scarce bulky, and expensive. Light control devices are more common with some hot-light systems. - They can be setup faster - no connecting heads to powerpack, no sync chords, no testing of slaves. - No need to carry a Polaroid system for test shots (because of discrepancies between modeling lamps and flash tubes, strobes need Polaroid tests to determine the true ratio of brightness between flash tubes and to determine the true quality of light when using strobes without diffusion). - No jarring flash - important for inexperienced subjects who are thrown by flashes and for on-location shoots, where flashes could disrupt the activities of those not involved. - Automatically color balance when fill lighting windowless interiors which have existing tungsten lighting. - Make focusing the camera easier, since they are generally brighter than strobe modeling lamps. - Enable time exposure "streaking" (to illustrate motion). - Facilitate changeover to video shooting. Combining both: Sometimes strobes and hot lights must be mixed together to make a single shot - as when "streaks" trailing behind the frozen image of a fast-moving object are desired. With the camera shutter open and the hot lights on, the streaks are created when the object moves. The streaks get bigger as the object decelerates. To generate the frozen image, the flash is triggered just before the shutter closes. Strobes usually light the leading side of the object, while hot lights illuminate the trailing side (which prevents the streaks from bleeding too far into the frozen image). Color balancing the two sources is optional. Nov 13 08 11:25 am Link Stobes with good modeling lights! Nov 13 08 11:25 am Link i wonder what creativity has to do with the stuff you use https://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thread_id=155848 tb Nov 13 08 11:26 am Link I have used both but at the moment I am using hot lights more. I like being able to completely see things in real time. I know with digital you can always look at the camera but I have just had some good luck lately with the hot lights. I like strobes too, but if you are on a good streak you hate to switch I suppose. Natural, strobes, or hot lights all will work. It is just a matter of understanding and using all three. Nov 13 08 11:29 am Link I started as a DP, so seeing the look in advance is where I come from... But hot lights aren't practical for stills, IMO. To get the 'look' you get from lots of light you need tie-ins or gennys or huge amounts of avail power. HMI's are really the only sensible choice and they're expensive to rent, worse to buy, and a bitch to schlepp and rig. I love the way they look, though...budget, crew, and power permitting. And now it's digital...so the WYSIWYG has miraculously happened after all, even with strobes. We can even retire our light meters! (said that just to stir the pot a bit with the old transparency shooters  ) B Nov 13 08 11:33 am Link i use hot lights because that's what i have. Creativity has nothing to do with the kind of lights you've got though, its how you use them and what's in your head. Nov 13 08 11:33 am Link strobes but i suppose i need to start experimenting with hot lights. i do have a boom stand and light but ended up using a strobe on it to get this shot  Nov 13 08 11:43 am Link whatever I feel like using, but I know what the lights are going to do I shot this one blind, the modeling lights weren't working, the space was also very very small  Nov 13 08 11:48 am Link Jeff Cohn::X-Pose.net:: wrote: I disagree. Strobes offer more flexibility, hence more creativity, in that you can use the shutter speed to control the ambient light while using aperture to control the effect of strobe light. You can't control hot lights the same way because of their constant light. Nov 13 08 11:48 am Link Jeff Cohn::X-Pose.net:: wrote: I understand what you are saying, however...when the model is sweating from the hot lights, and squinting because of all the bright light she has to contend with - THAT affects creativity. Nov 13 08 11:50 am Link Here's what I did: 1. Start with natural light (because I didn't really "get" strobes!) 2. Move the camera and model to understand how the light works 3. Get some simple modifiers to controll the light now that you "get it" 4. Get some "hot lights" (and shoot on cold days!) to get the WYSIWYG 5. Rent a studio with some friends to learn strobes 6. Read EVERYTHING you can on photography and lighting 7. Use what will work best with what you're trying to do! Creativity and equipment have nothing to do with each other, but the more you know, the easier it is to get the image in your head out onto film or digital sensor. It's like the old saying about sculpting; You start with some granite, and chip away everything that doesn't look like the sculpture! You just need to understand what tool does what! I know some great photographers that only use natural light (with modifiers), and some really bad ones that have $10,000 in strobes! Nov 13 08 11:59 am Link Jcolman photography wrote: You seem to be confusing creativity with having options. Many times creativity comes from a lack of options. Many times creativity comes from having variables to play with. The two are not connected.. Nov 13 08 12:09 pm Link I much prefer strobes for working with models. Hot lights (at least those that I can afford) just won't give me the output I need for my work. Also, even when shooting with studio strives, I rarely use the modeling lights to judge the lighting. It's all by instinct and metering. Nov 13 08 12:19 pm Link Peter Claver wrote: No, I don't think I am confusing the two. I agree that creativity comes from using the options at hand. I have both strobes and fresnels to work with but I find that strobes offer more choices, hence more creative ways to light a picture. Nov 13 08 12:21 pm Link DSP Productions wrote: The first word in your title negates the latter two and your post above. Nov 13 08 12:23 pm Link I agree with most, different tools for different jobs. BUT, I have really been eyeballying those new westcott 900w spider lights lately, before I've stayed away from "hot lights" because of that "hot" part. The westcotts though dont have the heat issues, and now up to 900w, is pretty usable power. just my 2c.. and no I dont work for westcott... Nov 13 08 12:31 pm Link I use everything from natural sunlight, strobes, on camera flash, hot lamps, flashlights, car headlights, street lamps, house lamps, you name it - if I see an interesting shot I'll use whatever light is at my disposal to capture a great shot. But to answer your question, my preference is hot lamps because my background is in motion pictures. James Christopher www.ModernCitizen.com Nov 13 08 01:00 pm Link yes ... sometimes ... depends I hope that helps. Nov 13 08 01:03 pm Link Hot lights for paying headshot and portrait clients since most squint and donât like flashing lights, strobes with models unless their holding products then itâs both and with just product shots itâs all strobes. Strobes freeze, hot lights add motion  Nov 13 08 01:16 pm Link Awesome Headshots wrote: I've shot hundreds of portraits (for pay) - with both strobes and hot lights. Subjects squint with hot lights, not with strobes. Nov 13 08 01:55 pm Link Tobias Steiner wrote: I ask because I have an easier time shooting a basic picture with strobes but when it comes to getting creative, I have a hard time controlling the light to do what I want it to. Any tips? Nov 15 08 10:03 am Link I'm wanting to move back to hot lights. Nov 15 08 10:08 am Link I shoot exclusively with hotlights. Almost always tungsten. Nov 15 08 10:09 am Link I find strobes easier but sometimes prefer the results I get with hot lights. Nov 15 08 10:11 am Link I like my tungsten hotlight for dramatic one-light self portraits that people seem to dig  Nov 15 08 10:12 am Link I dont like hotlights... I like more natural or if were inside, strobes. I think natural outside is really nice, but I have seen many photos w strobes outside and think its great also! Nov 15 08 10:13 am Link Natural light when it's available and 2 or 3 small strobes when it's not. J Nov 15 08 10:15 am Link What's nice about shooting faces with hot lights is that the pupil shrinks and you get lots of iris.  The biggest advantage with hot lights is the ability to focus the light. You can completely change the character of the light without moving it. Nov 15 08 10:50 am Link White meat or dark? Nov 15 08 12:49 pm Link I shoot strobes and natural light. but I have continuous lightning to light up my backdrop til I get enough strobes to light it up Nov 15 08 01:34 pm Link DSP Productions wrote: Yes. DSP Productions wrote: Examine how you light with strobe to how you light with continuous. What is the difference? Is one using different modifiers than the other? (An umbrella's light is very similar to that from a softbox, but spreads light around more indiscriminately--that can be a large factor in many environments. A direct reflector vs a grid vs a softbox has even more impact. Nov 15 08 03:32 pm Link |
