FINALLY got to play in the studio :) (C&C)

Matt S

Yeah you get to know your equipment. In my studio I don't even have to think much anymore. I know the power settings and placement for each light. And when I move things around, I pretty much know what adjustments are needed. It lets you work much faster. But whenever I am trying something new I go back to building it from the bottom up.

divamum

Just found a fun resource (yeah, I know - I'm probably late to the party and you all know about it already, but just in case somebody reading has missed this one en route, I figure it can't hurt to share!)

Lots of sample lighting diagrams....

http://www.paulcbuff.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=3&sid=4c8ce7f835ed950d06f9292939e87cbc

Scott_Quier

Matt S wrote:

Another way is to set each light on it's own, same procedure just turn off each light after you set it. Turn them all on when ready and shoot.

And this is what I intended, and failed, to convey. Set one light at a time - all by itself, then turn them all on for the last reading, take a couple of shots, adjusting the aperture as necessary to get the exposure you want.

Scott_Quier

divamum wrote:

BUSTED!!! (researchaholic... MOI?! )



Actually, I was thinking more of the actual power setting for the strobe, adjusted via the strobe's controls - half, full etc etc. Aperturewise I've been using 5.6-11 since the bg is clean and I don't "need" the extra light opening up would grant me (and since I was doing SP's and having trouble focusing, I just focused on a bag at f11 and then switched off the AF - the tighter ap meant it was close enough for my purposes; I'd probably open up a bit more if I was behind the camera, just because I like the look it can give more). No, it's determining how high to set the actual strobes themselves before starting the process, and from what you say there's a wee bit of trial and error involved in that (at least until I develop my own "rules of thumb" for particular situations) so I guess I've been on the right track without knowing it....

And yes, I am learning to LOVE the light meter. Stand there, press the button and it tells me exact what to do. Me likey I can see that will now be added to my neverending Shopping List ...

Only someone with those lights has a chance of telling you what power setting you need/want. Only a bit of experience with them will give you the absolute power settings to start at. Sorry.

Matt S

Scott_Quier wrote:

And this is what I intended, and failed, to convey. Set one light at a time - all by itself, then turn them all on for the last reading, take a couple of shots, adjusting the aperture as necessary to get the exposure you want.

Upon a re-read that is exactly what you said, I just missed it. Sorry about that.

divamum

Scott_Quier wrote:

Only someone with those lights has a chance of telling you what power setting you need/want. Only a bit of experience with them will give you the absolute power settings to start at. Sorry.

No need to apologise... in fact, that's REALLY helpful and exactly what I needed to know, because it tells me there's no one "right" answer, and it's just a case of figuring it out by messing with it, not some vital piece of information I missed somewhere along the line.... thumb

Scott_Quier

divamum wrote:

No need to apologise... in fact, that's REALLY helpful and exactly what I needed to know, because it tells me there's no one "right" answer, and it's just a case of figuring it out by messing with it, not some vital piece of information I missed somewhere along the line.... thumb

Exactly - it's all in what you want to produce.