Secrets to Studio Strobes?
May 7, 2019 08:27:49 #
berchman wrote:
Thank you so much for this link which is fantastically good. Posing, for me, is the most challenging part of studio portraiture, and this is just what I needed. Of course, interacting with the subject to bring out natural expressions is essential.
You need to find an assistant (female) that can help with the posing, take a little time to get comfortable with your subject then things will go a lot smoother.
May 7, 2019 08:30:24 #
berchman wrote:
Thank you so much for this link which is fantastically good. Posing, for me, is the most challenging part of studio portraiture, and this is just what I needed. Of course, interacting with the subject to bring out natural expressions is essential.
You're welcome. I'm still learning how to utilize a posing workflow. This is where you are able to use small deviations to create a lot of looks in a short period of time. I still refer to the posing link with Frank/Joe frequently. Frank is a portrait/lighting master.
Manglesphoto wrote:
You need to find an assistant (female) that can help with the posing, take a little time to get comfortable with your subject then things will go a lot smoother.
Good recommendation. This will also help with light positioning and small wardrobe adjustments that would otherwise be inappropriate.
May 7, 2019 08:37:43 #
Lots of good information Haydon. There is a lot of good information and so many things to try and play with. Harrington does some nice stuff with a minimal amount of equipment. That helps those just beginning with portraits.
I can also recommend a 7’ parabolic umbrella as an interesting way to create soft light if placed close to the subject...less than 2 feet away. They do require a good stand or assistant to hold though.
I can also recommend a 7’ parabolic umbrella as an interesting way to create soft light if placed close to the subject...less than 2 feet away. They do require a good stand or assistant to hold though.
May 7, 2019 08:50:48 #
berchman
Loc: South Central PA
Manglesphoto wrote:
You need to find an assistant (female) that can help with the posing, take a little time to get comfortable with your subject then things will go a lot smoother.
I'm strictly an amateur hobbyist so I am photographing only friends and acquaintances. So no assistant, but I don't need one since I'm not doing sexy.
May 7, 2019 10:53:42 #
Haydon wrote:
I personally would not use a 150-600 lens in a st... (show quote)
Best suggestions yet!!
May 7, 2019 11:14:58 #
A book that I like is Light-Science & Magic by Hunter, Biver & Fuqua. Learn to use that light meter (Sekonic or other) to get different exposure values to create separation of subject from background. Practice shooting black objects against a black background (BOB) and white objects against a white background (WOW). Get them to separate but still looking like a black or white objects and backgrounds. Studio work is rewarding and fun because you can control so much (light, color, exposures, sets etc.)
May 7, 2019 11:22:02 #
Chris you said the magic and oft hated word...light meter😎
May 7, 2019 11:23:29 #
MrT wrote:
I bought 3 used Elinchrom BX 500 Ri monolights alo... (show quote)
Some generalities:
The size of the light source relative to the size of the subject controls specularity and shadow edge acuteness.
(Specularity = tendency of a light source to create a speck-like reflection of itself because it is relatively far away from the subject. Think: sun reflected off of a chrome bumper, or flashtube in small reflector reflected off of a shiny forehead or bottle. The reflection is called a specular highlight. It is usually pure white in a scene... the ONLY thing that is normally pure, completely detail-free white.)
(Shadow edge acuteness is how abrupt the transition from diffuse highlight to shadow areas of a scene are.)
A 5" reflector is more specular than a 20" beauty dish reflector.
An 11" pan reflector, even with a diffuser, is more specular than a 32" silver umbrella.
A silver umbrella is more specular than a white satin umbrella of the same size.
Aiming the light source through an umbrella is more specular than bouncing light off the inside of it.
Without using a black back cover on a white umbrella, you'll probably send so much light through the umbrella that it changes your lighting ratio and colors the scene with whatever color it bounces off of.
If you understand the inverse/square law (radiation dissipates with the inverse of the square of the distance from the source), you'll be able to "string" your lights for repeatable setups. Meter once, tie knots in a nylon cord at 1, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16 feet... That will give you the f/stop for each distance, allowing you to work quickly when moving/testing lights. (Metering for final exposure is certainly recommended!)
If you haven't used your strobes in more than a week, turn them on and let them idle for 30 minutes. Then flash them 10-15 times, allowing double the recycling time between pops. This helps "form" the capacitors in them, ensuring long life and consistent output.
May 7, 2019 11:37:20 #
There are no "SECRETS" in portrait photography. All the techniques
are out in the open in books, online information, audio-visual
tutorials, classes, lectures and everywhere else where information
about photography flows. If it ever happened or was done by somebody,
somewhere or someplace, somebody wrote about it, bragged about it,
talked about it and/or published it.
Problem is, whenever a question like this arises, folks become too
preoccupied with equipment suggestions and the conversation
immediately goes to softboxes, Octaboxes, reflectors, gobos, strings
and things, all GOOD. but the basics of lighting, SEEING light are
oftentimes either passed over or neglected or assumed and that's BAD!.
Or... everyone gets into philosophy..." capture the personality of the
subject"..." relax the subject"..." have fun! Those two are GOOD
pieces of advice, however before you can get into the more
sophisticated aspects of the art, YOU GOTTA KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!
There are basics of lighting, posing and exposure technicalities that
may seem "old school", too rudimentary or seem like too many rules to
apply but once you grasp these principles, many of the required skills
will become second nature and the creativity can begin to take over
because you no longer need to worry about the equipment and the
basics.
My first "academic" recommendation is to Google "Joseph Zeltzman
Portraiture Lessons". Joe was a grand master of classical portraiture
and a great teacher. I participated in his classes and workshops when
I was beginning my career in professional photography. His teachings
were second to none in the basics of fine portraiture. Joe was a
prolific, predominant and highly regarded and decorated studio portrait photographer and a consistent and sought after teacher but he never wrote a book or capitalized on his classes.
for which he charged only modest fees. Upon his retirement (at nearly
100 years old) he authorized the online lessons and they are
absolutely FREE to download. It's all there and very definitive and
concise. Of course, there are references to film but all the lighting
and posing aesthetics are universal. Learn then with almost military
precision and the relax them- if you know the "rules and regulations"
you will know exactly how and when to break them!
Joe's work is classical artistry but it is very "straight-laced" as
compared to today's stylizations, but in my way of teaching, the first
thing to master in portraiture is to become a "photographic marksman"
or accomplished "archer". At first it's lie becoming accurate with a
firearm or bow and arrow- where exactly to aim the camera, how to
support it, how to place the lens in relation to the face and body of
the subject, the body mechanics of camera handling and how to instruct
the subject to maintain a comfortable pose that is aesthetically
pleasing- there is a whole lot of body mechanics involved. There are
postures that work well and those that create awkward poses. You can't
be a good director if you don't know exactly how to direct! There is
some science and mechanics that lead to art.
Lighting! Umbrellas and softboxes are great tools- they are called
"light modifiers", however, first you should understand un-modified
light. Some grumpy old guys, like me, used to call some of these
modifiers "idiot lights" because they just spread light all over the
place and real finite lighting never happens. I do love my umbrellas
and the other gadgets but once you knew how to control a simple
lighting unit with a dirty old parabolic metal reflector, you will
know all the "secrets" and your umbrella and softbox work will improve
as well. One of the most valuable accessories you can buy for your new
lights is the simple stock metal reflectors and a set of barn doors.
So...if you wanna learn all the "secrets" from this old portrait
geezer, here's you "homework": Download the Zeltsman Lessons- as my
grandchildren say " they are very COOL! Then, besides that, look up
and define these terms." The FEATHERING of the light", "Chiaroscuro "
and "Angle of Incidence". If you grasp and master these techniques
you will have the means of rendering textures, creating dimension and
depth and making you portraits pop off the page.
FYI- There is a section, right here on the Hog, dedicated to
Professional and Advance portraiture. All interested folks are welcome
to join in with the conversations there, swap ideas, ask questions,
answer questions, and post work for fun or critique. There is a nice
group there- no snark and no trolling is allowed. Everything else
goes!
Learning portraiture requires some discipline but it's fun too. It's
like a vacation trip, half the fun is getting there, that is, if the
car doesn't break down, there is no turbulence in the flight or you
don't get seasick! To the OP, I hope you grand-kids are willing models-
mine are beginning to hide when I show up with the camera.
The KIS theory is best- Keep It Simple! The least gear that gets in
between you and your subject is best. Any good camera with a lens
ranging in focal length within the 50mm to 105mm range, depending on
your sensor format and working distance will do the job. A few lights
and knowledge of background management will facilitate the yielding of
amazingly good portraits- the creativity and people skills are up to
you!
are out in the open in books, online information, audio-visual
tutorials, classes, lectures and everywhere else where information
about photography flows. If it ever happened or was done by somebody,
somewhere or someplace, somebody wrote about it, bragged about it,
talked about it and/or published it.
Problem is, whenever a question like this arises, folks become too
preoccupied with equipment suggestions and the conversation
immediately goes to softboxes, Octaboxes, reflectors, gobos, strings
and things, all GOOD. but the basics of lighting, SEEING light are
oftentimes either passed over or neglected or assumed and that's BAD!.
Or... everyone gets into philosophy..." capture the personality of the
subject"..." relax the subject"..." have fun! Those two are GOOD
pieces of advice, however before you can get into the more
sophisticated aspects of the art, YOU GOTTA KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!
There are basics of lighting, posing and exposure technicalities that
may seem "old school", too rudimentary or seem like too many rules to
apply but once you grasp these principles, many of the required skills
will become second nature and the creativity can begin to take over
because you no longer need to worry about the equipment and the
basics.
My first "academic" recommendation is to Google "Joseph Zeltzman
Portraiture Lessons". Joe was a grand master of classical portraiture
and a great teacher. I participated in his classes and workshops when
I was beginning my career in professional photography. His teachings
were second to none in the basics of fine portraiture. Joe was a
prolific, predominant and highly regarded and decorated studio portrait photographer and a consistent and sought after teacher but he never wrote a book or capitalized on his classes.
for which he charged only modest fees. Upon his retirement (at nearly
100 years old) he authorized the online lessons and they are
absolutely FREE to download. It's all there and very definitive and
concise. Of course, there are references to film but all the lighting
and posing aesthetics are universal. Learn then with almost military
precision and the relax them- if you know the "rules and regulations"
you will know exactly how and when to break them!
Joe's work is classical artistry but it is very "straight-laced" as
compared to today's stylizations, but in my way of teaching, the first
thing to master in portraiture is to become a "photographic marksman"
or accomplished "archer". At first it's lie becoming accurate with a
firearm or bow and arrow- where exactly to aim the camera, how to
support it, how to place the lens in relation to the face and body of
the subject, the body mechanics of camera handling and how to instruct
the subject to maintain a comfortable pose that is aesthetically
pleasing- there is a whole lot of body mechanics involved. There are
postures that work well and those that create awkward poses. You can't
be a good director if you don't know exactly how to direct! There is
some science and mechanics that lead to art.
Lighting! Umbrellas and softboxes are great tools- they are called
"light modifiers", however, first you should understand un-modified
light. Some grumpy old guys, like me, used to call some of these
modifiers "idiot lights" because they just spread light all over the
place and real finite lighting never happens. I do love my umbrellas
and the other gadgets but once you knew how to control a simple
lighting unit with a dirty old parabolic metal reflector, you will
know all the "secrets" and your umbrella and softbox work will improve
as well. One of the most valuable accessories you can buy for your new
lights is the simple stock metal reflectors and a set of barn doors.
So...if you wanna learn all the "secrets" from this old portrait
geezer, here's you "homework": Download the Zeltsman Lessons- as my
grandchildren say " they are very COOL! Then, besides that, look up
and define these terms." The FEATHERING of the light", "Chiaroscuro "
and "Angle of Incidence". If you grasp and master these techniques
you will have the means of rendering textures, creating dimension and
depth and making you portraits pop off the page.
FYI- There is a section, right here on the Hog, dedicated to
Professional and Advance portraiture. All interested folks are welcome
to join in with the conversations there, swap ideas, ask questions,
answer questions, and post work for fun or critique. There is a nice
group there- no snark and no trolling is allowed. Everything else
goes!
Learning portraiture requires some discipline but it's fun too. It's
like a vacation trip, half the fun is getting there, that is, if the
car doesn't break down, there is no turbulence in the flight or you
don't get seasick! To the OP, I hope you grand-kids are willing models-
mine are beginning to hide when I show up with the camera.
The KIS theory is best- Keep It Simple! The least gear that gets in
between you and your subject is best. Any good camera with a lens
ranging in focal length within the 50mm to 105mm range, depending on
your sensor format and working distance will do the job. A few lights
and knowledge of background management will facilitate the yielding of
amazingly good portraits- the creativity and people skills are up to
you!
May 7, 2019 11:39:56 #
More generalities:
A soft box is generally more specular than a same size umbrella. Use large soft boxes with removable internal and external diffusers, for more versatility.
Variations on soft boxes and umbrellas are available. The Westcott Halo is an example. It can be a "shoot through" umbrella or an indirect, reflected source softbox, depending upon how you orient your lighting instrument inside it.
You can "choke up on" the umbrella shaft to control beam angle and therefore intensity and fall-off at the edges of the beam.
It really helps to have a bunch of different test targets for exposure, lighting ratios, white balance. A really great tool for achieving near-perfect color is the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport. A quick white balance tool is the Photovision One Shot Digital Calibration Target.
It helps to pay attention to the COLOR of your floor. Top portrait pros use neutral gray carpet or linoleum, or a checkerboard of 12" black and white tiles. What you don't want is a brightly saturated color of floor to bounce colored fill light under the subject's chin and eyes!
If you are coming to portraiture from a film background, know that some of the practices used by film photographers simply don't work for digital capture. Digital cameras have linear response to light. Film has an extended, somewhat flattened-out, S-shaped sensitivity curve. This requires compensation to get the same results with digital cameras that you did with film.
A studio with controlled, consistent lighting is one of the few environments conducive to use of straight-from-the-camera JPEGs. With care in lighting setup, metering, white balance, and camera menu setups, you can make quite decent portrait JPEGs without the need for post-processing. OF COURSE you can do better with raw files and post-processing, but do you need to? The nature of the application will tell you which way to go.
Finally, all that stuff E.L. Shapiro said? It's gold!
Photography is often described as 95% technique, 5% art. The 5% art is the most important part.
Learn by reading, watching, and doing. Practice what you read about and watch.
A soft box is generally more specular than a same size umbrella. Use large soft boxes with removable internal and external diffusers, for more versatility.
Variations on soft boxes and umbrellas are available. The Westcott Halo is an example. It can be a "shoot through" umbrella or an indirect, reflected source softbox, depending upon how you orient your lighting instrument inside it.
You can "choke up on" the umbrella shaft to control beam angle and therefore intensity and fall-off at the edges of the beam.
It really helps to have a bunch of different test targets for exposure, lighting ratios, white balance. A really great tool for achieving near-perfect color is the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport. A quick white balance tool is the Photovision One Shot Digital Calibration Target.
It helps to pay attention to the COLOR of your floor. Top portrait pros use neutral gray carpet or linoleum, or a checkerboard of 12" black and white tiles. What you don't want is a brightly saturated color of floor to bounce colored fill light under the subject's chin and eyes!
If you are coming to portraiture from a film background, know that some of the practices used by film photographers simply don't work for digital capture. Digital cameras have linear response to light. Film has an extended, somewhat flattened-out, S-shaped sensitivity curve. This requires compensation to get the same results with digital cameras that you did with film.
A studio with controlled, consistent lighting is one of the few environments conducive to use of straight-from-the-camera JPEGs. With care in lighting setup, metering, white balance, and camera menu setups, you can make quite decent portrait JPEGs without the need for post-processing. OF COURSE you can do better with raw files and post-processing, but do you need to? The nature of the application will tell you which way to go.
Finally, all that stuff E.L. Shapiro said? It's gold!
Photography is often described as 95% technique, 5% art. The 5% art is the most important part.
Learn by reading, watching, and doing. Practice what you read about and watch.
May 7, 2019 17:05:35 #
<Thanks. My kids had a ball while I was experimenting this weekend.>
My experience tells me that they will get over this very quickly! You will soon pull out your camera and your family will all disappear.
<Finally, all that stuff E.L. Shapiro said? It's gold! > by Burkphoto
I totally agree and Burkphoto has excellent advice as well.
After over 40 years of professional photography, I am still learning. Take sample photographs of your "best work" every year and then date and save it so you can look back on how much you have learned.
Have fun and enjoy the ride.
My experience tells me that they will get over this very quickly! You will soon pull out your camera and your family will all disappear.
<Finally, all that stuff E.L. Shapiro said? It's gold! > by Burkphoto
I totally agree and Burkphoto has excellent advice as well.
After over 40 years of professional photography, I am still learning. Take sample photographs of your "best work" every year and then date and save it so you can look back on how much you have learned.
Have fun and enjoy the ride.
May 7, 2019 18:49:13 #
Notorious T.O.D. wrote:
Chris you said the magic and oft hated word...light meter😎
LOL one of my favorite words :)
May 8, 2019 23:05:16 #
CamB wrote:
Not wanting to mess with light readings and extra ... (show quote)
Thank you for your reply. I'm going to use the string trick. Regards Steve
May 8, 2019 23:20:23 #
CO wrote:
There are a few things I use with my studio strobe... (show quote)
Thank you for your reply. I have been thinking about different softboxes. They seems to give more control and I can see the difference moving them makes easier than with umbrellas. The two that I have are 26"x 26" no grid. They seem OK but a little small I have 3 umbrellas 32" and 48" (I think) but it seems that I can point them anywhere and it does not seem to make a difference. I'm using a white 15' x 25' x 8' room as a studio. I will probably add the strip softbox first. I had not though about a beauty dish.
I have been looking at reflector holders. I will look closer.
May 8, 2019 23:28:52 #
CO wrote:
I have four books about studio photography by phot... (show quote)
Thank you for your reply. Looking I'm only finding used copies so I will look harder. I have not tried Kindle so maybe this is the time to try it. Steve
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