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I shoot exclusively with strobes so here are my thoughts from reading over this thread: hot shoe vs. monolight vs. powerpack - Each have their own advantages and disadvantages. Hot shoe flashes are extremely portable, run off AA batteries, you can put them places you can't put other lights, and are relatively cheap but the quality of light is not that great (they have tiny little "|" shaped bulb whereas larger strobes have a huge "O" bulb, makes a huge difference in most cases), your options are limited with modifiers, there are no modeling lights, and they are not very powerful. Pack and head systems (Profoto, Broncolor, etc.) have insane amounts of power, have all the controls in one central place (the pack), packs can be used as sandbags, the heads are extremely lightweight, almost always have modeling lights, and you only need one trigger (PW or whatever) per pack. The downsides are they limit where you can place lights, some have limits on how you can split up the power (ie. you can't drop one head 1/3rd stop by itself without redistributing the power among the other heads), and are usually pretty expensive. I prefer packs for working in the studio. Monolights (White Lightning / AB, Travelites, etc.) basically have all the circuitry that is in the pack inside each head so you just plug each light into it's own socket. Upsides are you can put lights wherever you want without having to worry about the location of a pack, almost always have modeling lights, you have an extreme amount of control over the output of each head, you can distribute the heads among different breakers on location, and are in general more portable than pack/heads. Downsides are the heads themselves are heavy (makes your stand top heavy pretty quick), the controls are on the actual heads, and you need a trigger for each. I prefer monolights for on location work, which is mostly what I do - I own a bunch of White Lightnings. Hot lights loving suck and for still photography you shouldn't even really consider these an option unless you just happen to have a poo poo load of HMI lighting laying around for video work. Doing poo poo the ghetto way with work lights is almost not even worth it. I can't imagine that buying hot lights is any cheaper than just going with Alien Bees. ConfusedUs posted:Does anyone have any experience with the Alien Bees vagabond II power pack? I have owned the I and II. The I served me well for about 2 years before it died (PCB just sent me a version II for the cost of shipping). The II is a huge improvement, it recycles a lot faster, is built better, lasts really long (don't think I've ever run out of juice actually, even with multiple heads firing for a few hours), and it is easy to switch out the actual battery part so you can have multiples for a long shoot. For location work they are great, I use mine almost every time I shoot - actually last night I used it to stick a head in an elevator which otherwise wouldn't have been possible. Makes a great stand weight too. I highly recommend it. Mannequin posted:In my naivety, I didn't realize that grids were meant to restrict the light to such a degree. I thought grids gave a checkered-type pattern as an effect. I didn't realize they could restrict the light to things like just a person's face. I use grids more than anything else. If you point a head with a bare reflector at a wall it will light up the whole wall. Grids restrict and "focus" it down (that's how I think of it in my head) to a smaller spread, so a wide grid like 60 degrees will give you a more manageable source to point at something or a 10 degree one will let you "spotlight" a single thing. They are also a pretty hard light so they are good for adding things like really controlled rims. quote:When are softboxes a necessary part of the lighting equation? I want to get some but they're expensive and I probably don't need them, especially since I don't really have people to photograph. (What are the good brands? Alien Bees?) They're never "necessary". I own softboxes but pretty much never use them, it's all about how you work and what you're trying to achieve. I think a lot of people just go straight to pointing softboxes at things because that's what you're "supposed to do" which to me is boring light. Personally I think they are way overused and that there are more interesting ways of achieving the same result. Plus they are a bitch to setup on location. I would stay away from everything PCB makes except the lights, my experience has been that everything else is cheap crap that they just add on for people who don't want to do the research and buy from somewhere else. I use Photoflex and they are good for the money, if I used them more I would get something nicer. quote:How do I improve on my lighting? Just practice? I feel like I've been practicing for a while now and I still don't completely get it. Personally I think reading about lighting and looking at Strobist diagrams is pointless. The Strobist obsession with diagrams and exact instructions is so loving retarded, you can look at a million diagrams and still not know how to light things for poo poo. What really helped me when I was learning was to get tearsheets and ads from magazines and try to recreate it PERFECTLY, even if it takes hours of fiddling. Plus you can pick things that have light you are interested in, and if you are solving lighting problems that a pro already did you are building that kind of high-level skillset. It's helpful because instead of following some amateurs diagram from Flickr you are working through the same problems that a professional already did. That's what lighting really is - problem solving - which is why diagrams are useless, it's like looking at the answer to a math problem without working out the steps yourself. Actually taking a situation, having an end goal in mind, and then working through it is the most helpful thing you can do. When I do shoots now I still follow that process for getting the image - first start with an idea or image in my head and then work toward resolving that with whatever resources I have. Google pre-visualization and what Ansel Adams had to say about it, that is one of the most important things to being a photographer IMO. I would also recommend moving up from hot shoe flashes because it will give you more flexibility and control. You can still use the small flashes in conjunction with other lights (I do this a lot) but by themselves they don't give you many options. evil_bunnY posted:Maybe a better way to look at it is considering shutter speed as a tool to balance ambient and strobe light. This is how it was taught to me and how I think of it in my head when I do shoots: you are really doing two exposures at once, one is the flash exposure which happens at the speed of light (more or less) and one is the ambient light which is slower. You start by figuring out the aperture for the flash, then you either dial the shutter up or down to bring in the ambient. brad industry fucked around with this message at Dec 14, 2008 around 21:11 |
| # ¿ Dec 14, 2008 21:04 |
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| # ¿ May 18, 2013 14:23 |
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I don't have a vendetta against the Strobist guy or anything even though I knock him a lot - I just think it is wise to take everything he says with a huge grain of salt. You have to remember where he is coming from - he used to go out and shoot several portraits a day, with zero budget / crew, never worked in the studio or had much experience with other types of equipment, and the only things that mattered were how fast and portable it was. For what he did his solutions are really great, but he comes off as "this is the One True Way" which is bullshit. If he had been shooting advertising or something it would be different, but (no offense to PJ guys, I mean this in the nicest way possible) journalism is pretty low-end work conceptually and when your poo poo is printed at a ridiculously high screen in a newspaper or a 72dpi web image then you don't have the same considerations as say, an editorial photographer shooting a portrait for a magazine where you are not in and out in 5 minutes, you have a week to plan it, and a week to do post and edit. I'm not saying it's the wrong or right way to do it, just that it has different goals, different end product, different ways of working and approaching a problem. I like reading the blog but he has kind of tunnel vision on how things should be done. Of course now he is selling seminars and adspace instead of shooting so it makes sense why he puts so much emphasis on things like diagrams - you can sell it.
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| # ¿ Dec 14, 2008 21:35 |
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Woops meant to edit instead of reply again.quote:How do you figure out what modifiers are compatible with what lights? I may just be retarded but when I go to B&H I can't ever figure out which things are going to attach correctly to my Alienbees. Is there some kind of chart somewhere, or will everything just go on everything else? All umbrellas are the same, so are softboxes (you just need the appropriate speedring). Other things you need to figure out what kind of mount your lights have and if whatever modifier you are buying will fit it. For grids just buy the AB ones, they snap into the standard reflector they come with (and they are decent quality, grids are simple and kind of hard to gently caress up). Get a set of different degrees - I think I have a 10, 30, 45, and 60 (?) and I tend to use the tighter ones more but that is just how I work. I think AB / WL stuff is also compatible with Broncolor modifiers but I would google that before buying anything.
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| # ¿ Dec 14, 2008 21:43 |
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Yeah it makes no sense to go with hotshoe flashes because of price. I think people just assume smaller = cheaper. I know PLENTY of professionals who use AB's (in fact I know a lot of people who have Profoto packs in their studio and a set of AB's for location) - they are solid lights, inexpensive, great customer service, and they just give you so many more options than small flashes. Small flashes are great for a lot of situations but it's hard to beat the versatility of a monolight. If you have the extra money get the White Lightning's, they are built like tanks and I think the extra features are worth it.
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| # ¿ Dec 14, 2008 22:17 |
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The Fomo posted:What are the extra features the White Lightnings have over the AlienBees monolights? I was thinking about buying another small strobe, but this thread has me reconsidering. No plastic, couple of extra stops in range, better modeling lights, I think a few other minor things. The AB's are basically stripped down versions of the WL line. ConfusedUs posted:Brad: This isn't everything and it's a little disorganized because I had a shoot yesterday:  I use Pelican cases which are heavy but cheap/awesome/have wheels. For stands and modifiers I use Calumet stand bags and I have a Hensel soft case for my beauty dish (not shown, I also have another smaller Pelican case for my ringlight which a friend borrowed). The "GRIDS" thing is a Calumet pouch, I use one for grids and one for batteries/cables/spare bulbs/PW poo poo. That cylinder bag on the left has reflectors, speed rings, and power cables - I have 2 other ones (one for extension cords, one for random grip poo poo and diffusion material). Sometimes I use a Lowepro backpack for the camera stuff that's lighter, depends on what I need to bring or how much I think it'll get thrown around. One person can unload all this + my other crap from a car in two trips.
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| # ¿ Dec 15, 2008 03:39 |
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dakana posted:For people looking into AlienBees, something to consider is that there is a 10% discount off of your entire order if you are a U.S. student. This applies to all students, not just photography/art majors. Calumet gives a pretty steep discount on stands, bags, etc. if you are a student (I think you have to be studying photography). Luk3 posted:With that package, how do you attach the umbrellas to the lightstand / strobe? With hotshoe setups you have an umbrella swivel that you attach the umbrella to, what is the equivalent here? There is a place to attach the umbrella on the light itself. For accessories yes you should buy from somewhere else - I have a mix of Calumet and Avenger stands that I like a lot. Triggering the best solution is Pocket Wizards but that is also the most expensive. The Vagabond is just a battery and a special inverter in a convenient package. For what you get the price is really good, I looked into just buying the parts seperately and building one but it was going to end up costing the same. Not all inverters are pure sine wave (which is what works best with strobes) so that is basically what you are paying for. ConfusedUs posted:I've got one of those five-section Bogen lightstands Strobist is always going on about and I love it. The thing is tiny, weighs next to nothing, but the legs are sturdy and you can sandbag the gently caress out of it (or, as I usually do, have my assistant hold it). I've seen these and I don't recommend them for monolights. They are fine for small flashes but monolights weigh a couple of pounds, especially once you add a modifier, and top heavy stands are bad news. You don't need solid metal ones but get a standard studio stand that's not going to blow over every time there's a breeze. It's a lot easier to carry around a bunch of stands that are moderately heavy than it is to carry light stands AND sandbags.
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| # ¿ Dec 15, 2008 18:47 |
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The larger Pelican cases have big, sturdy handles that pull out so you can roll them. I just balance the other bags against that. I almost always have an assistant to help with that kind of stuff. I would never put a bunch of poo poo on my back (or let an assistant do it), a lot of lighting stuff is heavy and that's a bad habit.. even a lot of the smaller Pelican cases have wheels so there's no reason to not just roll things when possible.
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| # ¿ Dec 15, 2008 22:36 |
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The big Pelican case in that pic I posted on the last page is a 1650 which holds 3 WL heads, I think it's about ~$100. You could probably fit 3-4 AB heads in it or the Vagabond (which has a strap so it's fairly easy to carry).
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| # ¿ Dec 16, 2008 02:09 |
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I have a Sekonic L-558 meter, it has a PW built in - you set it to flash mode with the correct channel and then point the dome ball thingie at whatever light you want to meter and do an incident (light falling on the object) reading. The dome recesses into the meter so it's pretty easy to just get one light at a time even if all of them are going off. In the old days you would proof on Polaroids but now we have digital. I don't even really know what "TTL" is, strobes just fire at whatever power you set them at and are can be triggered a lot of different ways - I use Pocket Wizards. You can just look at the LCD/histogram but I like to meter it and know for sure so I can keep track of the ratios in my head while I get things adjusted.
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| # ¿ Dec 16, 2008 03:40 |
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Strobe flash bulbs are circular, usually they stick a normal hot light bulb in the middle of it so you can approximate what the flash is going to look like without having to fire it. Decent strobes will have the modeling light on a dimmer so it tracks the output of the flash. Really they are only useful in a dark studio - I mostly use mine as indicators for when the heads have recycled (the modeling lights turn off until they ready to fire again). If you do a lot of tabletop stuff they make life a LOT easier, I don't really use them all that much for the work I do. I like mixing light sources so occassionally I will use a head with just a modeling light (and tape over the optical slave so the flash doesn't fire) if I want to warm something up or whatever. edit: aw gently caress you guys, beaten twice
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| # ¿ Dec 16, 2008 19:00 |
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Yes the modeling lights are usually overwhelmed by ambient light. I mostly just turn them off on location because it's a drain on the battery. They are useful for studio work though or when you are learning and moving lights around. Cannister, my WL's go down to 1/128 and I don't think I've ever turned them down that low. You can always throw some ND filters on them to decrease the power if you want to do a shallow DOF.
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| # ¿ Dec 16, 2008 19:38 |
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w/s are totally meaningless. It's like measuring how fast a car is by how much gas it burns. The AB and WL lines have the same inner circuitry poo poo so they are comparable but between brands it's a guess at best.
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| # ¿ Dec 16, 2008 20:22 |
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That is a pretty good summary of the differences. I kind of disagree about the weight being an issue for location work, once you are carrying multiple cases and lots of stands/modifiers out to a location the difference between your case with the heads being 50lb v. 60lb is kind of moot. Not that the AB's are flimsy, but if a stand is going to get blown over I would much rather it be a WL head - whatever they are made out of is indestructible. If you are going to be in a studio all day I would think you would want a pack and head anyways, pulling lights down to do adjustments would get old quick. Anyone here used PCB's Zeus line? I have not heard a single thing about them since they came out with those. notlodar posted:I don't know of a more scientific way of looking at it. I've seen this done before: you set up a bunch of heads on the same stand at the same distance in the same room with a basic, bare reflector and then just meter it. If strobe companies were really interested in giving useful information they would do something like that and tell you what f/stop they got at 10 feet or whatever. TsarAleksi posted:I like the modeling lights 'cause that way I can make sure the strobes are turned on... because I'm dumb. I saw that 5D2 Laforet video was lit with the modeling lights on some Profoto packs (I'm not sure which or what wattage those bulbs are). When I upgrade I was planning on fooling around with it, the 250w bulbs on the WL are pretty drat bright even with a big softbox on.
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| # ¿ Dec 16, 2008 23:18 |
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The grids and beauty dish are fine, I have both. It's everything other than that you have to stay away from.
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| # ¿ Dec 17, 2008 17:37 |
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Photoflex stuff is a lot better - not amazing like Chimera or Profoto - but definitely a big step up from the AB stuff and they cost about the same.
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| # ¿ Dec 17, 2008 18:50 |
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I have the ABR800. I mostly use it as a very slight fill (like, turned all the way down) and not as a main light - here is what I think of it: It's heavy as gently caress (obviously since it's a monolight), if you are doing a long shoot you will probably have to mount it on a tripod. It's also plastic like the AB's and to me it feels cheap - I have broken several of the knobs and other plastic bits (they always replace them for free). Light wise it is just as good as any other ringlight I have used. I've never tried one of those Ray Flash or Orbis things but for the price it is a great light. This is probably the only thing I've bought from PCB I wasn't 100% happy with but it works great even though it's heavy and kind of fragile, I will probably end up replacing it at some point in the future. I think if you only have one light you would be better off getting another B800 or whatever rather than a ring, I didn't get one until I had 3 other heads and I knew I needed one to add this subtle pop I was looking for. Get some more experience with lighting under your belt before you go for a specialized thing like that. It's really easy to over-use a ringlight and even though you can mount it on a stand it's not as versatile as a normal head.
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| # ¿ Dec 18, 2008 19:04 |
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If you are doing group shots where you are a decent distance away from them a ringlight is going to look exactly the same as an on-camera flash honestly, you would get the same light with a flash on a bracket/hotshoe. What I would do in that situation is set up a large softbox or shoot-through umbrella directly behind you which is easy to shuffle around. If you keep the stand low and shoot from directly in front of it you will get the same benefit as a ringlight - I worked for a fashion guy once who would set up the most massive softbox he could rent, stick it right on the floor, and then sit down and shoot from in front of it - it was his way of getting the same benefits of a ringlight without having the same "ringlight look" as everyone else or having to deal with being tethered to a large, heavy piece of equipment all day. I have borrowed that technique a lot and it is a much less heavy-handed (and easier to control/vary) solution. The reason I bought one was because I do a lot of editorial stuff where you never know what the location is going to be like. I have been in a couple of situations where I had my back up against a wall with no room to set up lights around me and some sort of on-camera flash was the only option for fill. Personally I think that all these cheaper options for ringlights are going to open the floodgates for lovely shots - it's already becoming a really stale look in the editorial world - and that unless you are using it in a subtle or unique way you are not going to benefit from it. IMO get some other lights first and then if you think your work would benefit from it go for it. brad industry fucked around with this message at Dec 18, 2008 around 20:19 |
| # ¿ Dec 18, 2008 20:17 |
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While we are on this topic, what's the cheapest/most powerful option for a battery powered flash? I want to pick up a couple to use only off-camera with PW's to supplement the strobes I already have.
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| # ¿ Dec 19, 2008 19:02 |
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What kind of sync plugs do they have? I need to be able to hook up a PW some way.
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| # ¿ Dec 19, 2008 19:45 |
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^ Those are Quantums I think. I have a couple of hotshoe->PC adapters laying around so maybe I try one of those Sunpaks. I just want to be able to duct tape a small flash in weird spots. edit: drat, $50 on ebay. I should've just bought one of these instead of renting last time. Mannequin posted:And I WON'T MENTION NAMES but somebody here said "professionals don't use Nikon, they use Canon." His or her name rhymes with Mad Industry, whoever that is. WELL YOU WERE WRONG BUSTER! nikon sux no care brad industry fucked around with this message at Dec 19, 2008 around 20:06 |
| # ¿ Dec 19, 2008 20:04 |
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SoundMonkey posted:That's pretty much what I use them for - if I want a flash to throw into a mud puddle to get a cool shot, it's going to be the Sunpak. They're also quite a bit smaller and lighter than a 285HV, so I use it on-camera a lot, usually bouncing off the ceiling. I think I posted this in the PAD thread a while ago, I was only able to get this shot because I brought a 580 along, there was no way to stick a monolight+battery pack inside the cockpit of this thing.  The front glass was tinted really, really dark but I just cranked up the 580 full blast and had no problem getting the inside of that to pop.
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| # ¿ Dec 19, 2008 20:13 |
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I usually have a reflector on. There are no rules or anything, try it both ways and see what the difference is.
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| # ¿ Dec 19, 2008 21:56 |
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To me it looks like a large softbox or octabox and then fill cards on the side. You can tell the angle of the light source by the shadows on his face. The larger and closer the light source the softer light you will get.
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| # ¿ Dec 23, 2008 17:47 |
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Yeah that is a lot of money for what it is, and I bet that stand and umbrella are the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel as far as quality goes (that is usually how any kind of kit is, they give you cheap-o accessories to increase their margin as much as possible). Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think you can even mount a softbox to a hotshoe flash. The way it works on strobes is you buy a speedring, which attaches to the modifier mount on your light, and then the speedring has places for the softbox poles to attach to. Even if you could do it it seems like a bad idea to me, softboxes and speedrings are heavy - I can't really imagine how it would work in a way that wouldn't (eventually) damage the flash. Plus I doubt a hotshoe flash has enough power to light up anything other than a really small softbox without shooting at a ridiculously low f/stop. I've never seen a softbox/speedring that attached to the stand like Verman said either. I would go with an Alien Bee (cheapest one: $225) and get a decent used stand or softbox on Ebay. If you're going to be lugging stands and modifiers around anyways the difference between a hotshoe flash and a monolight is minimal.
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| # ¿ Jan 5, 2009 21:48 |
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You didn't come off as short, it's cool. Lighting gear never goes obsolete and makes much more of a difference than anything else you could buy so just keep that in mind. I mean, look at the gear thread where dudes drop thousands on L glass or the latest and greatest body for tiny, meaningless gains in sharpness or whatever. I use (and love) my Vagabond battery pack for shooting in the middle of fields, but of course that's more money 
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| # ¿ Jan 6, 2009 00:57 |
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I can't even imagine what kind of bizarre, ghettotastic setup you would need to rig together 3 hotshoe flashes to a modifier. Imagine trying to actually set that up on location vs. just screwing a head on a stand. Plus now you have to buy 3 triggers and god forbid you need more than one light source (or have to adjust the power on 3 seperate tiny menus! jesus). For the price of 3 hotshoe flashes and 3 triggers you could just buy a strobe and battery pack and have money left over. Maybe this just seems obvious to me because I do it all the time, but the biggest pain in the rear end with shooting on location isn't moving heads, battery packs, and cords around it's light stands. At least you can put heads in a rolling case and just sling a battery pack over your shoulder - stands and modifiers are heavy and awkward to carry. You're going to be bringing stands out no matter what, seems kind of silly for the battery pack to be the determining factor. brad industry fucked around with this message at Jan 6, 2009 around 04:05 |
| # ¿ Jan 6, 2009 04:02 |
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Gambl0r posted:But wouldn't that mean you're only 1/3rd of the way to the setup you would have with the 3 hotshoe flashes? Spending 1/3rd of the money is definitely one advantage, I would think. Yeah but a decent hotshoe flash costs just as much (or more) than some of these entry level monolights like the AB's. Unless we're talking some of the low powered, really cheap ones which are kind of apples and oranges anyways. It's already been pointed out that the quality of light and flexibility of strobes is higher even when things like power are equal. I'm not saying don't buy hotshoe flashes, just do the research and figure out what works best for whatever you want to do. A lot of this stuff seems like it should be cheaper or more portable on paper but once you actually cart it out to a location and use it the pros and cons become obvious and things like an extra 10lbs vs 10 second recycle times make a lot more sense. I highly recommend that you guys who have never used some of this equipment rent a few things first and play around with it before you make a decision. I know not all cities have rental houses, but if you do it's really a lot cheaper than you would think. Most places only charge you for one day if you pick up on a Friday and return on Monday.
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| # ¿ Jan 6, 2009 06:43 |
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evil_bunnY posted:It completely depends on the application. Yeah, and even then it depends on how you work and what you're going for. The fun but also hard about lighting is there are no rules, there are a million ways to arrive at the same solution, and there are also a million different solutions. This is another good reason to rent, so you can see what you like and how you want to light things. Even with softboxes there are lots of different shapes, sizes, and accessories (baffles, grids, etc) to modify them and they all have different light. Anyways, without knowing anything about what you want to do or how you want to work, I would say good stands are essential no matter what. I like Avenger (higher-end Bogen) and the mid-level Calumet ones (which are basically the same but cheaper). Good bags and cases for everything if you are going to be shooting on location - Pelican cases are really, really cheap considering the insane quality. For everything else I like the padded Calumet pouches, bags, etc. Get stuff with wheels and lots of handles and come up with some kind of system to store everything - otherwise you will constantly be searching through tangled messes of poo poo trying to find what you need and when it's time to pack up you'll eventually lose something. A good light meter is essential - I know a lot of people wing it using their LCD but really understanding what's going on is crucial. I like Sekonic but there are lots of others. Personally I think you should get one with a Pocket Wizard built in even if you don't currently own PW's - you probably will eventually, and if not if you rent or go in someone else's studio everything will be PW based. Good triggers. I know PW's are insanely expensive but they're the standard and they work in every situation, every time. There are a lot of other options now which I don't really know anything about, really anything wireless just makes life 100x easier. brad industry fucked around with this message at Jan 6, 2009 around 19:12 |
| # ¿ Jan 6, 2009 19:05 |
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IsaacNewton posted:SoundMonkey, you've had your 'bees for a little while now, are you ready to show off some of your stuff? :P Yeah this thread needs MORE PICZ
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| # ¿ Jan 7, 2009 00:15 |
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^ Sounds good to me, you can do a lot with one light.SoundMonkey posted:I need a model to sit on the chair and type something, then I'd get some ideas. 
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| # ¿ Jan 7, 2009 08:45 |
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SoundMonkey posted:Or even just ask on the forums - we're from all over. Any Vancouver goons are more than welcome to play with my AB400 a bit. Yeah if any dudes in the Bay Area want a free education in lighting gear I always need assistants for personal shoots where there isn't much of a budget (I'm doing one tonight in Berkeley actually, and have another next weekend). poopinmymouth posted:Love this one. It's a lot more natural than some of the other more posed stuff you've posted.
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| # ¿ Jan 9, 2009 20:20 |
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Jahoodie posted:Hey brad industry, just saw this on wired.com and thought of your speed car shoot: I dunno about trend, that dude was probably in the same situation I was in and came to a similar solution (huge rear end space, large & interesting object that needed hard light, nowhere to hide the light sources without way more grip equipment that I would even know how to use, limited time). I think it's interesting how some photographers see the same things in different situations - I like how he got those highlights on the concrete right under the wings, I noticed the same thing on my shoot and angled the lights to make the bike thingie I shot 'glow' a little and pop from the rest of the environment. For the shot I did I actually sketched out beforehand what I wanted and I intended from the beginning to include the light sources in the frame. Who shot that BTW? If only Wired would stop firing their photo editors right after I send my promos maybe I could actually do a shoot for them  quote:Just out of curiosity do you usually shoot at an ISO of 400? That seems high when you have control over the lighting, why not just bump up the w/s and keep your ISO low? I may be anal about noise but I always shoot at ISO 50 when I am in the studio. I always shoot at 100 (or 50 on those MF backs if that's what is native, I think the Leaf ones are 50 and Phase One is 100). I think once or twice I have bumped up to 200 when I wanted to bring in some really, really dim ambient light and was dealing with super long shutters. Anyways I did a personal shoot last night and here is a super rough (pretty much straight out of the camera) outtake of the prop we built. This took about 2 hours to set up, reminded me that styling and subject matter is usually more important than the light (which for this was really straight forward and took about 2 minutes to setup). I put two large softboxes on either side (I almost never use softboxes) because I wanted the long highlights on the side of all the glassware: 
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| # ¿ Jan 10, 2009 21:57 |
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friendship waffle posted:that's really good, but I'm torn on the ceiling I included it for balance, it doesn't work vertically without it. But that file is pretty much straight RAW with no processing, here is the actual shot (I think, I'm torn between this pose and 2 other frames):  Still not done... need to do a lot of retouching and comp in a bunch of  bubbling liquids and poo poo from other frames.
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| # ¿ Jan 12, 2009 02:17 |
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Yes it's for fun/portfolio. That shot I have been throwing around in my head for the last month and I finally pulled everything together to do it this past week, I am trying to get as much new stuff as possible into my new-year-promos that are going out in the next few days. I treat personal shoots the same as jobs (ie. I set a budget, find assistants/stylists, rent or buy props, rent a van, etc.). I just think of myself as the client. I try to shoot personal stuff at the same level as the jobs I want to get hired to do. Thanks dudes. Like I said if any of you guys are in the Bay Area you are more than welcome to come assist on these shoots.. I am doing another one next weekend that involves renting a pocket bike and having a model ride it at a windmill like Don Quixote.. that one will be a lot of fun and I'll buy you dinner/beer  .
brad industry fucked around with this message at Jan 12, 2009 around 03:20 |
| # ¿ Jan 12, 2009 03:14 |
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^ Nope she's just standing next to the cart.
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| # ¿ Jan 12, 2009 17:41 |
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Because in pack-and-head systems all the electronics are in the pack. With monolights everything is in each individual head. So the pack is expensive as gently caress because it's the equivalent of buying 4 heads or whatever. Also Profoto is ridiculously priced because it's all super-precision and engineered to fire the exact amount of light every single time in every single situation (ie. your AB might be 1/16 or 1/8 stop off every once in a while but a Profoto head is always dead on and always perfect color). Buying Profoto is like buying Pocket Wizards, you get it because it working perfectly every single time until the apocalypse comes is more important than anything else.
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| # ¿ Jan 15, 2009 07:38 |
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^ Elinchrom poo poo is sweeeeet.Cannister posted:You know, that's the second comment on SA that I've gotten about that and I just don't see it. I lurve me some rim lights. Meh. I've noticed that unless you light things super flat and boring that someone will always go "durr distracting". Some people just think that the goal of using studio lights is to just eliminate all shadows or anything that could possibly be seen as interesting. Look at how many people in the PaD thread automatically go "BLOWN OUT HIGHLIGHTS OMGGGG!!!" any time there is a visible rim light or specular highlight in any image.
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| # ¿ Jan 15, 2009 19:55 |
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^ That looks nice. If you ever get the chance I really like the way that strip-light softboxes look as rims. Tziko I wasn't talking about you specifically, no worries. It's just something I've noticed. No matter how well exposed or intentional someone, somewhere will have a problem with it.
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| # ¿ Jan 15, 2009 22:13 |
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It looks like he used a ringlight as a fill but I don't really see what is tacky about it? That series of portraits is great. Have you not seen any of Nadav Kander's work before? He is pretty much a genius.
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| # ¿ Jan 16, 2009 07:08 |
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| # ¿ May 18, 2013 14:23 |
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ShutteredIn posted:I went and looked at his site and remembered a lot of the work there before. I do really like a lot of the other stuff I just think the whole ringlight halo effect is way over used. Heh looks like we were wrong, no ringlight. Also APE is hilarious. http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2009/01...ind-the-scenes/ brad industry fucked around with this message at Jan 16, 2009 around 16:44 |
| # ¿ Jan 16, 2009 16:39 |
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