Studio flash advice please

[mark_beaumont]

<p>This is potentially going to be one of those stupid questions that I'm sure I should know the answer to, but for some reason just can't think what it is at the moment!<br>

Using studio flash, is there any way to reduce power even further than the lowest setting? I really like using shallow DOF at big apertures, but the lights are always too powerful. Am I missing something really obvious? or is the only answer to buy much weaker lights?</p>

[garry edwards]

<p>Yes. Neutral density gels over the lights (to control individual lights) or a neutral density filter on the camera, to reduce the effect power of all the light.</p>

[hjoseph7]

Move the strobe further back if you got the room.

[garry edwards]

<p>Moving it further back changes the quality of the light and makes it harsher</p>

[savan_thongvanh]

<p>Here's an obvious one, do you have your ISO all the way down?</p>

[silverdae]

<p>Also try shooting with only the modeling lights on. That may be too low, depending if you are on a tripod or not and what your subject is. I know on most stobes you set the model lights to be proportional to the flash output, so you can keep you modeling with only the modeling lights on. Remember to adjust you WB.</p>

[nabet_baez]

<p>So what do you guys suggest... putting filters on the lights or on camera?</p>

[devon_mccarroll]

<p>Mark, just out of curiosity, can you tell us what brand and ws size the lights are? Are you using any modifiers, like softboxes?</p>

[brooks short]

<p>".....So what do you guys suggest... putting filters on the lights or on camera?...."</p>

<p>Either or both if you need to.</p>

[mark_beaumont]

<blockquote>

<p>Mark, just out of curiosity, can you tell us what brand and ws size the lights are? Are you using any modifiers, like softboxes?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Well ok, they were Alpha's an English make, 1K with soft box!!!</p>

<p>I'll use weaker lights next time.</p>

[alonzo_e]

<p>There's not really good answer unless we have a better idea of the environment you are shooting in and the camera settings. <br>

The ISO, distance, lens, body choice all weigh into the equation..</p>

 

[model mayhem gallery]

<p>I can never really notice the shallow DOF when shooting in studio. I find it more irritating than useful in that the focusing also becomes much harder. I know I am probably not describing this correctly because i am not a student of photography but self taught. However, I use light falloff to create the shallow DOF look. In other words I blow out the background with hard light or color it with a pastel gel. I set my main ligh to just enough power to light the subject but not the back ground. I use the highest shutter speed my camera will sync to and the lowest aperture for me on A canon 5D mark II it is ISO 50. By closing the aperture down more it makes the light fall off sharper therefore making anything 3 - 4 feet behind the model much darker than the model. Opening the aperture would mean I would get a lot more ambient light making it harder to control my lighting zones. If I am outdoors where the background is really far a way I use a big aperture but I have not had good success with this technique in studio. What I mean by lighting zones is the space between the model and my backdrop lights. If model is too close to backdrop light will bounce back onto the model, also my foreground lights will spill onto the backdrop washing out any colored gels I may use. To get crisp shot though I recommend a smaller aperture F5.6 - F8 works great for me.</p>