Home Studio Photography

[alice_lum]

Hello, I have beem taking some photos with my Rebel Xsi and One AB 800 with Oct softbox and another AB 800

umbrella.

 

I usually, set it on AV and f/2.8 and the lights is on the lowested setting on white background. I usually get good

lighting for a baby. Is there a better setting? because sometimes it doesn't look that bright (I'm trying to get High

key photo)

 

Sorry if I sound stupid..

 

Also, I shouldn't put it on that setting for group shots because someone in the back gets blurred. Could you experts

give me some advise on this?

 

 

Thank you in advance..

 

Alice<div></div>

[Matt Laur]

Don't use ANY "settings" that are aimed at a particular result. In the studio, you have the time and motivation to take complete control over the exposure. Set the camera's ISO, aperture, and shutter speed manually. The shutter speed is really just a function of your sync capabilities, and any need you might have to limit or include the room's ambient light. Probably ISO at 100, and shutter right around 1/125 or 1/200 is right for you. Then, stop the lens DOWN (to a higher number, and thus a smaller aperture... say, f/8) so that you get more depth of field and thus better focus on a group.

<br><br>

But of course, as you stop down the lens, you're allowing in less light. Turn the strobes' power UP until you get the exposure right. If you don't want as much depth of field, open the lens up more, and lower the power on the strobes.

[charlesheckel]

Matt's advice above is correct. In looking at your photo, I don't see a problem with exposure per se, but I do notice you are using a core lighting--even lighting from both sides--so that your shadows are in the middle of the baby's face. One consequence is that you don't have catchlights in the eyes, which add to the sparkle and animation in a portrait. I'd suggest using the umbrella or the softbox from camera position just above one of your shoulders, so they reflect in the baby's eyes. There should be enough wraparound light that the background will have no shadows, though it may be a little darker. If the shadows on the baby's face are too dark, a large piece of white foamboard on the other side of the camera will bounce the mainlight enough to make them transparent. When learning portrait lighting, it's less confusing to start with one light and see what it does.

[charlesheckel]

Edit: "the umbrella or the softbox" should be "either the umbrella or the softbox", "so it reflects . . .".<p>To expound a little on Matt's recommendation above, your flash duration is much shorter than your shutter speed, so a shutter speed slower than 1/500th of a second should have very little effect on the flash exposure. Since you're stopping action with the flash duration, even a very long exposure that you could not handhold will end up sharp. The "ambient light" Matt refers to is any existing light from continuous sources, which will be influenced by your choice of shutter speed (and could possibly degrade sharpness in a very long exposure).<p>To see this in action, put your camera and flash in manual mode and take a series of flash pictures that include existing light. Keep the aperture the same, and vary the shutter speed. You'll see that the light from the flash is the same in each, but the existing light appears brighter as the exposure gets longer.

[seismiccwave]

The Alien Bees are manual flash. They give out a specific amount of light when flash. You adjust the flash level by the

slider in the back. When you set your camera to Av setting at f2.8 you are telling the camera you want to use the

aperture priority mode with aperture setting at f2.8. So the camera light meter will tell the camera to use a specific

shutter speed determined by your ambient light. However your ambient light while setting up the portrait is not quite the

same as when the two Alien Bee fires. So you will be prone to get over exposed photographs.

 

The best way to use Alien Bees in the studio is to control the light and the camera yourself. First synchronize the flash

to the camera. So you use something like 1/60 to 1/200 or even 1/250 shutter speed for some camera. Now you adjust

your desire depth of field to your liking. Then you adjust the two Alien Bees output until you get the exposure you want.

[redlionimages]

I have the exact same lights and camera and the response that Hansen Tsang is basically accurate. You must first syncronize your Alien Bees to the camera and to do that you must place your camera on Manual. You need to take it off of Aperature priority mode. Set your shutter speed to sync at either 1/200 or 1/250 maximum and then adjust your aperature based upon the light setting you place on your Alien Bees. If you want the shallow depth of field you can set your aperture at 2.8 but you will probably need to really limit the power setting on the Bees depending on distance from the subject. As you increase the power settings you will need to stop down the lens. I have found shooting at ISO 100 at F8 and 1/250 I can get crisp images with my lights in a 20 foot room and the Alien Bees set about 1/4 power.