Beginner's lighting. What do you want to know?

[Village Idiot]

Let's see if this thread works or if anyone responds to it at all. Ask a question, get an answer. Any question. "Why do flashes make my pictures suck so bad", "what's a flash", "how can I light this situation", etc... There's more than enough knowledgable people on here to explain the answer to any question here.

So....go!

 

[seamus14]

Well, since I need more help than one questions can answers can you recommend some books on the subject. I'd be interested in learning about the use of various types of lighting equipment and it's application.

Thanks

 

[Village Idiot]

Well, since I need more help than one questions can answers can you recommend some books on the subject. I'd be interested in learning about the use of various types of lighting equipment and it's application.

Thanks

As far as lighting application, if you're doing off camera lighting, "Light Science & Magic" is a good book to read through. It shows you how to light certain situations and problems. It's fairly technical and can provide a good base to start off with. I'm not sure of anything as far as books that are for what types of light to use.

What are you planning on shooting?

 

[Rachelsne]

if I am using a reflector (which i have never done yet) how do I know where to place it?

 

[Big Mike]

if I am using a reflector (which i have never done yet) how do I know where to place it?

You ask yourself where you want more light, then you look at where the light is coming from and place the reflector in a position that will reflect some light to where you want it. The closer the reflector is to the subject, the stronger the light will be.

If you are using constant light or flash/strobe lights that have modeling lamps, you can usually see a change on the subject when it's reflecting light onto a spot/area. If you are using Speedlites (hot shoe flash units) then you may have to try a bit of guess and test...but it's usually pretty straight forward as to the direction & angle that you need.

As for where to place/use a reflector for artistic purposes...that's up to you.

 

[Village Idiot]

if I am using a reflector (which i have never done yet) how do I know where to place it?

Another idea could be to imagine the light as a tangible object. You know it's emitting from your flash like a giant ray. Your reflector will catch some of the bounce and aim it where you're pointing it at. You know your reflector is fairly large, doesn't emit it's own light, and so can be no more intense than the source light. Like your flash, any light that comes off of it dies down the further away it is. Treat it as a 2nd less powerful flash. If you want less power from your reflector you pull it back, if you want more you put it closer.

Basically like Mike said, but with a little more visualization involved.

 

[asfixiate]

Great thread VI.

 

[Big Mike]

Good Point 'VI'.

Once we can 'visualize' light...it all starts to make sense. I think that is one of the biggest challenges for beginners especially when using flash.

I can remember a personal 'Eureka' moment when I started to 'see the light' rather than just looking at what the light was hitting. A good example is a beautiful, colorful sunset. Most people will stop and look at the sunset...but a photographer who sees the light, will turn around and see what that light can do.

 

[im_trying11]

what does a softbox do??
will a quantaray speedlight be better than the pop up on the camera

 

[Dao]

I have a old Vivitar 2000 flash. (I bought it long long time ago with my 2MP digicam) I know I cannot use it with my Canon Xti as the trigger voltage is more than 100V (I measured it with my multimeter).

Do you think I can use it as a off camera flash? Or I should better off throw it away. I am planning to get a flash for my Canon. But just want to see if that Vivitar is worth to even mess around.

 

[Jose Saenz]

Yes, great idea for a thread. I'm new to photography and so I'm completely in the dark when it comes to lighting (*cue drummer) :er:.

So out of the million questions that I have so far regarding the subject, I'll just pick one to start off with. Alright...so if I wanted to start doing studio portraits, other than the actual camera, what equipment would you guys say is absolutely essential to begin with?...what would you consider "the bare minimum kit"?

-Jose Saenz

 

[JerryPH]

A little something I could add to this thread:

Flash basics:
http://jerryphpics.blogspot.com/2008/03/2-flash.html

 

[Early]

I heard the term 'feathering' to get softer light on a subject. What is it?

 

[Big Mike]

what does a softbox do??

A softbox uses a diffusion material to spread the light out, the affect of which is to increase the size of the light source...which makes for softer light.

will a quantaray speedlight be better than the pop up on the camera

Certainly. An accessory hotshoe flash will probably be more powerful, it will be higher above the camera and it may give you the options to tilt and/or rotate the head, which lets you bounce the flash (which makes a big difference). Plus, with the right tools, you can use it off camera.

 

[Village Idiot]

what does a softbox do??
will a quantaray speedlight be better than the pop up on the camera

A soft box makes the light soft. Grab a flash light, a napkin, and a ball. Shine the flash light on the ball. You'll see a hard shadow and a harsh direct light. Place the napkin between the flash light and the ball. You'll see a bigger softer shadow and the light will be softer and more diffused as you're making the source of the light bigger.

A soft box operates like that for speed lights and studio strobes but has the added feature of not allowing additonal light to spill over diffuser and onto the scene.

Define better. If it's more powerful and has a tilt head than it has the oppurtunity to be used as a bounce flash and to be used effectively to light subjects and the scene, where as the pop up has a lot of light fall off. Make sure the Quanataray is adjustable manually and see if it has the added benefit of e-ttl metering with your camera. If you want a flash that works automatically, one from the manufacture of your camera may be your better bet.

The guide number tells how far a flash can fire at an aperture of f/1 with the power set to full. To give you an idea, the pop up flash has a guide number of about 40 feet. The Canon 580EX II, being one of the most powerful speed lights on the market at the moment, has a guide number of about 165'. I'd expect the quantaray to have a guide number of about 100'-120'. You can probably find this number by searching on the internet.

I have a old Vivitar 2000 flash. (I bought it long long time ago with my 2MP digicam) I know I cannot use it with my Canon Xti as the trigger voltage is more than 100V (I measured it with my multimeter).

Do you think I can use it as a off camera flash? Or I should better off throw it away. I am planning to get a flash for my Canon. But just want to see if that Vivitar is worth to even mess around.

If you google Canon xti manual pdf, you'll see that the xti's hot shoe is rated for 250v maximum. Most of the newer cameras are rated to take 250v, it's some of the much older DSLR's like the Canon 300D and previous that were rated for the lower voltage levels.

If it's manual, if can absolutely be used as an off camera strobe.

Yes, great idea for a thread. I'm new to photography and so I'm completely in the dark when it comes to lighting (*cue drummer) :er:.

So out of the million questions that I have so far regarding the subject, I'll just pick one to start off with. Alright...so if I wanted to start doing studio portraits, other than the actual camera, what equipment would you guys say is absolutely essential to begin with?...what would you consider "the bare minimum kit"?

-Jose Saenz

Lights, a way to fire them if needed, and a backdrop. The biggest question as what type of lighting do you want? You can get hot lights that stay on all the time and are WYSIWYG when ligthing a subject. You can get cheap small AA battery powered flashes or large studio flashes that are powered by a driect wall plug or a power pack.

The smaller flashes are portable and easier to take with you and move around, but they're less powerful and up until "recently" have had less in the way of popular known light modifiers for them.

The larger studio lights have modeling lights that give you an idea of ratios and what you're going to get when you fire them. There's tons of modifiers and they have big power. The down side is that they require a power sources, can be difficult to manuever, and are not very portable.

You also have to find a way to trigger the strobes. Some camera manufactures have strobes that will fire based on the camera's pop up flash and need nothing else. Some require add ons to fire these proprietary systems. You can also buy cheap little optical triggers that fill fire a flash when it sees another flash fire, this could be your pop up flash. You can also get radio triggers which attach to the camer and then the strobes. They send a signal to your strobes telling them to fire when the camera fires and they clear up most of the wire. Large studio lights usually have optical slaves built in. You can also use other triggers like a pc cable or radio triggers to fire these lights. It all depends on two things: preference and budget.