Strobe Metering Newbie

[heathorchard]

Sorry for asking this ridiculous question but I'm just a little confused by how to properly meter the strobe kit I just got. I've already looked

through the lighting themes and haven't found an answer to this specific question. So, it's like this. I have a Speedotron 1205 pack with two

heads and two umbrellas. I took a short three day lighting class where the instructor taught us how to meter using his Novatron monoblocs.

He would turn on the key light, adjust till he got a perfect reading, then turn it off and fire up the fill light, which he adjusted until he got

another perfect reading, and so on until he had 4 lights individually metered. Then when he turned them all on at the same time they were

all set and ready to go. My problem is that since I'm using a pack system and not monoblocs, I can't just turn off a light. To do that I have

to actually unplug it from the pack, which then changes the amount of power going to that light and thus, my exposure also changes. And

then when I plug the second light back in it changes again. If I try simply pointing the lights away from the subject one at a time I still get

bounce off the walls which makes my reading inaccurate. So what I've been doing for now is just tyring to use the ratios shown on the

Speedotron pack and taking one reading with both lights on and reflectors already in place. Is this the correct way to go about this. Sorry

for being such a newb but a little clarification would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

-Heath

[wayne_f1]

Not everyone turns them off anyway. It is not uncommon to stand at the subject to do this metering, in a way that your body blocks the light from the fill while you are metering the main, as much as you can block things. The flash meter is pointing at the light you are metering and should get a pretty good look at it.

 

I turn my monolights off, and I have never tried this,which is just a wild crazy thought about multiple lights... it is in the back of my mind that if I had a cardboard box about 1x1x1 feet, open on just one side, it could be a shield, and I could meter from inside it aimed at the target light, while being shielded from the others.

[brooks short]

Heath,

 

Just shield the meter with your hand or a black card so that it only sees the light you want to meter.

 

You also might try some setups without a fill light. Use white reflectors, foam-core works well, to fill shadows. This frees up your second light for use as a background light.

 

Congratulations on your Speedotron 1205 pack. It's a great light and will last for decades. At some point you might want to get a second pack which would also solve your metering issues.

[barry_kenstler1]

Heath,

 

When I am using my pack system with two heads and umbrellas, as your system is configured, I carry along one piece of heavyweight black aluminum foil (CInefoil) that I can place over the front of either head to block light while metering the other. You just adjust the light positions, the pack ratio settings, and power trim until you get what you want. I turn off the modeling lights when doing this as a precaution. I usually use a small strip of gaffer's tape to hold the black foil flap in place. It's not a high-tech solution, but it works.

 

Brooks is clearly biased toward Speedotron, but he's right. The Speedo Black Line is great gear at a great price. Good luck!