Went on a photoshoot with my coworker - we ran into issues at the studio.

[The Stigenator]

So my coworker and I are budding photog's and we have different styles and different equipment but whenever we find a gig that needs a 2nd shooter, we take the other.

The other night I had a shoot, a up and coming LA based 80's rock band and I took her with me.

Our equipment is pretty varied. She is a Nikon Girl, I am a Canon Boy. Yup! She uses a Nikon D80 + SB900 + 18-135,50f1.8 and something else. I use a Canon 40D + 28-75, 50f1.4, 18-55, 28-135, 430EX + Canon 30D bkup. I also have a 85f.18 and a 28f2.8

Evidently I got more equipment than her but thats because we have different shooting styles.

Anyway we ran into issues at the studio. This was MY first ever shoot in a real studio. This was a studio arranged by the band, not a very high end studio, something around <50/hr. They had 1 soft box and 1 head with a white sheet of paper in front as a diffuser, didnt have a umbrella.

First with shot with the standard white background photowall they had. That worked fine except one of the band members was wearing a white suit that blended in with the background. So I had teh guy switch me to a grey background. Here is what the problem came about. All of a sudden I couldnt get rid of the shadows, the softbox was overpowering the other flash. The heads did not have a adjuster. So I ran into the problem where the second flash wasnt really filling in.

Second I have a lot of over exposed pictures of one of the band members, I tried moving him back, moving myself back, it just didnt work. He is the only one that was over exposed.

Third, Vivien's camera didnt interface to the studio flash. Turns out the D80 does not have a PC Flash output, the 40D does. However her SB900 has a PC flash output, but it kept randomly firing, and I couldn't figure out why that was happening. Needless to say she had to use her SB900 flash to try take pics, I ended up using the studio flashes.

Fourth - The flash sync was at 250/s which is normal for external flashes, but even with ISO 100 and F/8 I had over exposed pics. It sucked that the 'helper' at the studio didnt know the equipment, and he didnt have a flocking umbrella on the second head. So needless to say I have a huge patch of white flash on the backwall. Eek!

Fifth - Her SB900 kept over heating! ugh!

Any tips on using a studio flash. I am getting a Calumet Genesis 200 system (unless you can recommend somethign else) for some of my work. Though I prefer the strobist method of using smaller flashes. I just got my remote triggers in today, CTR301P and they work lovely, now I need another few flashes.

 

[Kaido]

Yeah I've held off on the SB900 and stuck with my SB800. I'd like another one if they weren't so dang expensive. I've been thinking about doing some SB600's for strobe #2 & #3 just to cheap out, but I do more video so that's where my mad money has been going into

It always helps to nail down the equipment beforehand. My wife does a lot of photography, weddings and stuff, and we have backups of everything (including a spare camera), double-check all the connections, etc. Even if it's a pain, if you can get to the studio a day early and check the connections to test them to make they all work, that helps tremendously. As you've learned, it's worth the price to nail down the workflow so you don't get burned when you're working. Eek!

 

[The Stigenator]

well next time I'll try nail down equipment, this time we didnt reserve the studio, someone else did.

 

[alfa147x]

Big recommendations on the Genesis 200 kit, it's by far one of my greatest purchases. Also if you are a student or know a student the ESP (student discount) you can get the 2 light kit for $290.

 

[slashbinslashbash]

Ok, I can see a few things wrong here.

Getting the camera closer to or farther from a subject will not change their exposure. A white piece of paper in broad daylight will have the same exposure values from 1ft away or 200ft away. What you need to do is get him further away from the light, not the camera. For each doubling of distance from the light, the exposure halves numerically. I.e. 1ft = f/16. 2ft=f/8. 4ft=f/4. Etc.

Working with studio strobes, you will almost always be working at ISO 100 and f/8 to f/11 range. The shutter speed has nothing, repeat nothing, to do with your exposure (unless you are trying to balance with ambient light, e.g. an exterior window, an incandescent light bulb, etc.). Set your shutter speed to 1/160 or 1/200 and be done with it. Most cameras give a shutter sync speed of 1/250 or 1/200, but if you're unfamiliar with the equipment, it can't hurt to give it a little elbow room and use a slightly slower shutter speed. The lights flash for something like 1/1000th of a second. That sets your effective exposure speed and action-stopping ability. Going from 1/200 to 1/100 second will make no difference whatsoever, but if you get too fast (say 1/320) then you will have visible black bars in the frame due to the shadow cast by the shutter. Play it safe and set your shutter speed to something like 1/160.

So to set your exposure, you really only have two variables on your camera: ISO and f-stop. On the lights, you have the power output and the placement. If you have a bright strobe (250Ws or so) with no adjustments, you will probably end up in the f/11 to f/16 range. As you may know, on a crop body camera f/16 is usually pushing the limits of diffraction. So your photos will end up just a tiny bit softer than they would be ideally. Just deal with it --or dial your ISO down to 50 (if available) to give you an extra stop. Or move the lights twice as far away from the subjects (although this will affect the apparent size of the light, making it seem smaller and therefore harder).

The guy who is overexposed is probably a little sweaty or greasy. Tiny drops of sweat create specular highlights on the skin, which gives a shiny look. Have him wipe off his face, or better, dab him with some powder to dry him up.

Softboxes are usually preferred to umbrellas. Softboxes can direct the light much better. Umbrellas kind of scatter it around randomly, and it's hard to avoid hotspots and dark spots. A big white sheet of fabric is good for a diffusion panel or as a reflector. Umbrellas are not the only available tool in the studio, and they are not the best. About the only thing they have going for them is that they're cheap and very portable. I guess they are also better for lighting large groups while softboxes are more oriented towards individual portraits.

 

[alfa147x]

Softboxes are usually preferred to umbrellas. Softboxes can direct the light much better. Umbrellas kind of scatter it around randomly, and it's hard to avoid hotspots and dark spots. A big white sheet of fabric is good for a diffusion panel or as a reflector. Umbrellas are not the only available tool in the studio, and they are not the best. About the only thing they have going for them is that they're cheap and very portable. I guess they are also better for lighting large groups while softboxes are more oriented towards individual portraits.

What about shoot through umbrellas, I use this most of the time. I bought them because I couldn't afford a 2x softbox kit.

 

[slashbinslashbash]

What about shoot through umbrellas, I use this most of the time. I bought them because I couldn't afford a 2x softbox kit.

Shoot throughs are preferable to bounce umbrellas for most situations. The shoot through umbrella basically acts as a big diffusion panel. However, it still does not have the control of a softbox. With a softbox you can direct the light very precisely. There is a definite line where the light starts and stops, and you can feather the softbox back and forth across your subject to get just the right amount of light on them. This also helps to keep excess light from falling on your background, if desired. (Although you really need grids to have a large degree of control over this -- there are grids available for most brands of softboxes, and for bare reflectors.) In short, it is kind of like using a flashlight with an adjustable focus reflector. An umbrella is like having the focus on its widest setting. The light is kind of scattered over a broad area, with visible hotspots and dark spots. A softbox is a lot more directional.

Of course, many photographers have used umbrellas for many years with great success. Every tool can be useful, but when I got my softboxes, I pretty much put my umbrellas away. Maybe I just didn't give the umbrellas enough of a chance, but I just find the softboxes so much easier to control and to give a nice even light. Not that I really had big problems with the light from the umbrellas -- it was always "ok" -- but it's a lot easier to get lighting that makes me say "wow" with the softboxes.

 

[alfa147x]

Interesting, thanks