Ref: Studio/Wedding Lighting

[ron_crawford1]

Many thanks to all of you who responded to my inquiry about studio

and wedding lights. Based on several recommendations I decided to go

with the Photogenic brand, specifically the Photomaster 800 (800 w/s

pack). Being new to this type of lighting, I was wondering if I

might "pick your brain" a little more with some basic questions about

setting the lights up. I honestly bought two lighting books hoping

to have all of this sorted out, but they seem to bypass the most

basic of questions. Question (1)When balancing two or more lights, I

thought you had to meter one head at a time while the others were

off. This system does not allow you to shut off the heads

individually. It's all or none. Unless, of course, you unplug them,

in which case more power is routed to the one remaining. How would

you handle this? (2) This pack has four outlets and two channels.

It has a "common mode" and a "ratio mode"(3:1). What is the 3:1

ratio mode for and when would you use it? (3) When you insert

umbrellas, how close to the light head do you put them? (4) And

finally, when using the modeling lights, how do you adjust the lights

since both are lit at the same time. Shouldn't you adjust just one

at the time? Can you simply just unplug one and then plug it back up

without damaging the pack or lights? Sorry for such a long post, but

I'm green in this area and I need some help. BTW, the owners manual

is worthless. I would appreciate any and all help.

Thanks, Ron

[altaf]

Buy a polaroid back and experiment, it is the only way to learn.

[colm boran]

The 3:1 lighting ratio is a typical ratio used by some portrait

photographers. This essentially means that the highlight areas will

be lit with three times as much light as the shadow areas. I only own

monolights which allow individual adjustment of each strobe/modeling

light, but I would guess that the 3:1 setting on your power pack

causes one head to put out three times as much light as the other(s).

If the heads were placed equidistant from the model, then the main

light would throw 3x the light of the fill light onto the model's

face. This is just a guess on my part, have you tried contacting

Photogenic?

 

I usually put the umbrella as far from the flash tube as possible,

so that the entire umbrella is lit evenly by the flash tube. This

should create a larger light source compared to the flash tube being

right up next to the umbrella surface. The larger the apparent light

source, the softer the light.

 

Again, not being a power pack user, I'm not sure how the intensity

is normally adjusted for each head. But hopefully you can adjust

the distance between the model and the light source(s). The light

intensity will "fall off" dramitcally as you move the light source

away from the model beause light obeys the inverse square law. This

means that if you move the light twice as far away, the light will be

1/4 of its original intensity on the model. Move it three times as

far away, and it will be 1/9 of its original intensity (and so on).

Of course, moving the light away can also make it's apparent size

smaller, which will create harder shadows, so be careful.

 

A good book on lighting is "Light: Science and Magic. An

Introduction to Photographic Lighting". It costs about $30 (including

shipping) if you order it from buy.com or amazon.com. If you're just

getting started, this is an excellent text.

[tony_doucet]

You can measure each individual flash head (more or less) with all of the lights active but you have to try and screen the effects of the other lights out of the measurement. For example, if you want to measure the fill light with your flash meter use your hand or some other gobo to keep the main light from falling onto the meter's diffuser dome. Measuring with "all lights flashing" may be the best method of all in a small studio because it lets you measure the combined effect of the output of your set lights plus all the light that bounces from the studio walls. The advice about Polaroids is very good advice. Always proof out a lighting set up.

Be very careful when plugging or unplugging the flash heads. Some systems must be discharged before the heads can be unplugged (or damage may result) and if your owner's manual doesn't tell you if this is true of your system then assume the worst and discharge the system before removing or attaching any cables. I don't have any magic for you when it comes to positioning lights. I do it with all of the modelling lights turned on. I set the background light first (no reason) and then I set the key light. Hair and fill come next. This is only setting for position NOT for balance. I guess it took a little getting used to, but if I can do it so can you.

Setting umbrellas is not an exact science, but FWIW I try to set them so that most of the light ends up in the umbrella. The flash heads have 60 degree reflectors so I set the umbrellas so that there is more or less a 60 degree cone with the circumference of the umbrella as its base.

[lu_vu2]

Many thanks to all of you who responded to my inquiry about studio and wedding lights. Based on several

recommendations I decided to go with the Photogenic brand, specifically the Photomaster 800 (800 w/s pack).

Being new to this type of lighting, I was wondering if I might "pick your brain" a little more with some basic

questions about setting the lights up. I honestly bought two lighting books hoping to have all of this sorted out, but

they seem to bypass the most basic of questions. Question

 

Ron, I do not the Photogenic brand. However, I have a Norman system similar to what I have. Mine is more powerfull but I bet you to technique I use could help you.

 

(1)When balancing two or more lights, I thought you

had to meter one head at a time while the others were off. This system does not allow you to shut off the heads

individually. It's all or none. Unless, of course, you unplug them, in which case more power is routed to the one

remaining. How would you handle this?

 

Yes, you do have to plug in one at a time. Move the lights to the positions (angle and distance) that you desire. You do not care that the all power is being routed to the light that being plugged in since you are working on the ratio at this point. After you have all light metered the ratio you wanted then plug all the lights in, with the light meter dome facing the camera, meter your incident reading. That is the reading you have to set your camera at. If you record the position of the setup and the the positions of the knobs on the power pack, you do not have to do this over again.

 

(2) This pack has four outlets and two channels. It has a "common mode"

and a "ratio mode"(3:1). What is the 3:1 ratio mode for and when would you use it?

 

Common Mode this all lights has the same power. If you use one light, with your power pack = 800 W/S, the light can put out max 800 W/S. If you use 2 lights, each will have max output of 800/2=400 W/S.

 

Ratio Mode is a bit easier to use. Lets review the ratio (for 2 lights at the same distance to the subject):

1:1 means two light has the same power.

3:1 means main light has twice as much power as fill (one stop difference between main light and fill. How do I get 3:1 on this one? On the main light angle you would measure the main of 2 plus the fill of 1 = 3 total vs. 1 of fill)

5:1 means main light is 4 times as powerful as fil (2 stops difference)

...

 

The ratio is personal preference. I like 4:1 or 5:1 ratios for the portraits.

 

(3) When you insert

umbrellas, how close to the light head do you put them?

 

Use umbrellas if you want the light to be soft. You normally want to umbrellas out as far as possible without having the light to spill out of the umbrellas

 

(4) And finally, when using the modeling lights, how do

you adjust the lights since both are lit at the same time. Shouldn't you adjust just one at the time? Can you simply

just unplug one and then plug it back up without damaging the pack or lights? Sorry for such a long post, but I'm

green in this area and I need some help. BTW, the owners manual is worthless. I would appreciate any and all

help.

 

Modeling lights are use for two purposes - to see the light ratio and to focus. I put mine on ratio mode to see the light ratio then turn them on high after the light ratio is achieved to focus.

 

Have fun,