Adding a constant light source....your opinion

Greyhound Rick

Hi Everyone,

Would you mind telling me what your recommendation would be for adding a constant light source to my portrait line-up? Ive seen lots of them, but value your opinion and would love to hear what you think regarding brand and price.

Currently, I have SB-800s.


thank you,

Rick

Scott_Quier

This is probably something you don't want to do. To get a constant light (also referred to as a hot light, since most are, indeed, very hot) that will be able to compete/compliment your flashes, you are going to need some major wattage. In addition, the color temperature of the hot-light will be significantly different from that of the flashes - just about ruins it's use for color portraits (you really want all your lights to be similar in light temperature).

I'm thinking you might be better off getting one or more inexpensive (notice, I didn't say cheap) Vivitar manual flashes and some inexpensive optical slave triggers (since you are, right now, working in your home) to trigger it/them for you. You may want to check out this thread for more information - Ziggy and pathfinder are a fount of information.

Greyhound Rick

Thank you Scott!!

Heres what Im trying to do and Im sure you can steer me in the right direction.

Right now I have 3 SB-800s and a backdrop. Ive been setting up like this:

one strobe thru umbrella camera left
one strobe for a rim light camera right behind subject
one strobe either as a backdrop light or with difuser camera right

I can also use the built in flash if I use my D300.

I also have a reflector with a stand.

My problem is that I set the umbrella light to one group, and the other group which includes the rim light and the camera right strobe. If I turn the camera right strobe up high enough to get the proper light on the subject's short side the rim light is too harsh ( I cant move it back far enough) so its kind of like a catch 22.

Maybe I should set the umbrella light and camera right light to TTL and have the rim light set separately to a lower setting. The problem with that is that the TTL setting sometimes produces erratic results (thru the umbrella) so I like to use "M" for that one. I guess I could try snooting the rim light but it will still be pretty hot. Is TTL the answer?

thanks,

Rick

ziggy53

Greyhound Rick wrote:

... Is TTL the answer?

thanks,

Rick

I think using TTL lighting on remote multiple flash can get pretty messy. I greatly prefer manual power at different levels as needed. An incident/flash light meter makes the job of setting up much easier.

Scott_Quier

Greyhound Rick wrote:

Is TTL the answer?

thanks,

Rick

Ziggy beat me to "the answer" - like there's ever only one answer to a photography question. But, in this case, I think you would do yourself a great goodness if you were to acquire an incident/flash meter and set all these flashes manually. There are lots of good meters out there. The one I had recommended to me and that I like is the Sekonic L-358.

Greyhound Rick

Thank you ziggy and Scott!

Will check out the Sekonic L-358.

Is it difficult to learn to use?

Rick

Scott_Quier

Greyhound Rick wrote:

Thank you ziggy and Scott!

Will check out the Sekonic L-358.

Is it difficult to learn to use?

Rick

Note to use the more basic functions. To use some of the more complex, cool stuff - maybe a little. I'm still playing with mine.

ChatKat

Scott_Quier wrote:

Note to use the more basic functions. To use some of the more complex, cool stuff - maybe a little. I'm still playing with mine.

Sekonic has some tutorials online.

NeilL

Scott_Quier wrote:

he color temperature of the hot-light will be significantly different from that of the flashes - just about ruins it's use for color portraits (you really want all your lights to be similar in light temperature).

Scott, this sounds too much like dreaded ORTHODOXY D

Who says?

If you shoot au natural (=ambient) you're gonna get all kinds of light temperatures on the subject. That's worth playing with in a more controlled setting, maybe, as a creative variable.

No?

Scott_Quier

NeilL wrote:

Scott, this sounds too much like dreaded ORTHODOXY D

Who says?

If you shoot au natural (=ambient) you're gonna get all kinds of light temperatures on the subject. That's worth playing with in a more controlled setting, maybe, as a creative variable.

No?

If you start out with you lights of a given temperature you can later modify them with gels - getting different temperatures BY DESIGN. Working from a known position is always easier than from an unknown - which is what one would have when mixing hot lights in with flashes. Just saying...

NeilL

Scott_Quier wrote:

If you start out with you lights of a given temperature you can later modify them with gels - getting different temperatures BY DESIGN. Working from a known position is always easier than from an unknown - which is what one would have when mixing hot lights in with flashes. Just saying...

Yep, take your point. It's helpful to know what the rules are and how to do things by design.

OTOH playing has been a font of serendipitous discovery and creativity