How much light?

[crystal_smith5]

<p>I have a small room in my home (13x13) that I use as a studio to photograph my own 2 children. Lately I am finding that the outcomes vary greatly. Some pictures turn out over exposed and others too dark. I want to find a happy medium and am thinking that I need to invest in some strobe flash softboxes? I am wondering if that will give me more even lighting. My next question is if I get those how many watts of light would be sufficient? I currently use 2 umbrella continuous lighting with 300w each, 100w overhead, some natural light coming in at my right and my flask for some fill. I am having a problem with my flash sometime being too much. Any suggestions would be so appreciated!!</p>

[john_deerfield]

<p>Why does the outcome vary? Simply having more lights (and flat lighting really shouldn't be the goal) isn't going to make your outcomes any more consistent. I might suggest posting a shot you are happy with and a shot you are not.</p>

[wholephotography]

<p>I am rather new to the home studio myself, but I thought long and hard and went strobe from the beginning, and a friend went hot light from the start... He is in a similar situation as you.. time of day cause instability in his sessions.. has had to learn to compensate for it.<br />I purchased the PhotoBasics StrobeLight Plus outfit from FJ Westcott, especially since they are based in Toledo, and I am less than 10 miles from them. They have been great about discussions on my goals and everything. I have owned the system for 14 - 16 months and the only thing I can say is I have outgrown the quality of the photobasics line. I have family and session all over, so I wanted to setup and tear it down often, that was too much for the stitching and fabric the softboxes are made of. So.. I am currenlty upgrading using the same strobes with the WESTCOTT Pro line softboxes. Worth the cost if you want to be mobile. <br />I also use Pocket Wizards to trigger them, but you can hardwire them cheaper. All in all including the 3 light strobe kit, 2 pocketwizards, and the Pro softboxes, I about $2000 total in my lights and rely on them often! <br />Visit my site here or at <a href="http://www.wholephotography.com">www.wholephotography.com</a> to see some of my results, I am very happy with my strobes.</p>

[wholephotography]

<p>Here is tonights client, and a sample 3 light setup in my basement.</p><div></div>

[nathan_stiles]

<p>The OP never said she wanted flat light, just more "even lighting". Which, I would assume she means more consistant from the previous sentences, but she may mean even coverage-- perhaps she's got hot spots on the ear?</p>

<p>Someone will probably tell you how many watt-seconds a 100 watt blub is equal to, but I'd guess roughly about 10 to 20 ws. So if you get a 200 ws flash, you'll have enough power to overcome the ambient and shoot portraits at ISO 100 and 200.</p>

<p>If you current flash is too much, you are probably not shooting in manual mode and your TTL is getting tricked for some reason. When you get the stobes, you'll need to go manual.</p>

[nathan_stiles]

<p>Oh, you may also consider posting this in the Lighting forum first next time (but don't double post). I normally go there first and didn't realize this was in the Portrait/Fashion forum. I just figured you'd get more lighting experts there *shrug*</p>

[crystal_smith5]

<p>Thank you guys... Nathan, you are right on.. I mean more even coverage I am getting bright spots on the ears, nose and forehead. I just didnt want to purchase a set of softboxes only to find that I need more light...</p>

[mike_g11]

<p>Hi Crystal.<br>

A lot of books have been written on this (I have paid more than one authors' dinner bill). I have gone to a bunch of seminars too. Interestingly, I pick up some pointers but often learn the most by "playing around" with my lights.<br>

A couple of questions. First, you mentioned wanting more consistant results. Do you use a light meter? Metering your lights will give you the exact exposure you will get. I found when I got my meter and began using it, I got much more consistent exposures.<br>

Next, without seeing some examples, it is kind shooting in the dark to add some advice. Although I have 6 strobes, I seldom use more than 1 with a reflector for fill. My favorite strobes have no more power than your continous ones. Based on your numbers, I don't believe the issue to be not enough light. I actually suspect there is too much light and it is hitting in areas you don't realize and picking up tints and/or loosing intensity thus causing inconsistant results. More than one of my books recommends using one light, get used to using it by know what happens when you move it here, or there. What does it do if you use a bare bulb as opposed to shooting through an umbrella. Once you can see what that light is doing, add another and experiment with it. Ultimately, you will find a setup you like for your style, and can consistantly reproduce it. Also don't try to eliminate all the shadows, they are wonderful for giving dimension & charactor to the subject(s).<br>

If I knew how to post an image in a forum, I would show you a one light setup I used for some college hockey player headshots I took for their sports program about 3 days ago. Due to where I had to work (ice rink lobby) and very small spot (about 10x10') for lights, backdrop and me I could not use more than 1 or 2 lights. I chose 1 light, shot into an umbrella, with a reflector for fill on the opposite side.<br>

Feel free to PM me and I can recommend some books.<br>

Mike</p>

[nathan_stiles]

<p>For trouble shooting tips, it's not a light meter problem, it's not shooting in manual mode. If she was in manual mode but didn't meter, then a whole set would be exposed incorrectly. She stated that only some pictures are wrong-- in which case her EV is being changed by the camera. Even if you meter by hand, if the camera has control it doesn't help the situation.</p>