more lighting practice.

[ronlane]

Ron is that 360 flash really rated for 360ws, that's a powerful little gadget. My studio lights are all 160ws and I've never found them lacking in power?

I don't know enough to say that is it actually 360ws but it is a powerful little gadget. My studio lights are supposed to be 300ws. Again, probably not a full 300ws but I can throw some light with them.

I am wanting to get rid of them and get an Xplore600.

 

[Derrel]

Ron is that 360 flash really rated for 360ws, that's a powerful little gadget. My studio lights are all 160ws and I've never found them lacking in power?

From the Adorama page specifications for the Streaklight 360:

Strobe Output
360 watt seconds
Guide Number
262ft/80m ISO 100 (Standard Reflector)
Power Supply
External Lithium Battery and compatibles*
Recycle Time
0.05 2.6 seconds
Flash Duration
1/300 1/10,000 sec
*******

The Guide Number output of 262 in Feet with ISO 100 is quite a potent flash...that compares very favorably with other legitimately-specified (meaning not over-hyped numerically) studio type flash units.

 

[ronlane]

Thanks @Derrel. They will blind you for sure. I just wished I could turn them down more.

 

[Derrel]

Thanks @Derrel. They will blind you for sure. I just wished I could turn them down more.

Yes, and yes. Too much power is a real, actual issue these days, and if you use ISO 200 as your baseline, then many flash units could be too powerful. The minimum power level available varies from brand to brand and model to model. I find that with my 400 Watt-second packs, I often end up dividing 400 Watt-seconds by 2 by using half power, and then using three or four lights, so...it's nice to have some low power output options.

One of the single-biggest issues with 300- or 400-Watt second flashes is whether they offer something "normal", like only going to 1/8 power as the lowest possible output, or if they allow really throttling down, to say 1/32 or to possibly as low as 1/128 power,etc..

If one used ISO 200 as his baseline...a camera that allows dropping the ISO level to say 50, would be very helpful if one's lights were frequently too powerful.

It might be an option to look into sheets of neutral density filter material that could be made into a sheath that fits around the flashtube.

 

[smoke665]

Too much power is a real, actual issue these days, and if you use ISO 200 as your baseline, th

I maybe looking at this wrong but In all the studio practice I've done so far I've never had a problem with using the 160ws lights even in a one light setup. I don't ever recall raising power up to even 3/4 of output. When I went to 5 lights I thought about going up in output, but the ability to dial them down was a major concern. Maybe if I were lighting a larger area or using outside to overcome the ambient light then they would be of benefit but in my close quarters no.

 

[adamhiram]

In all the studio practice I've done so far I've never had a problem with using the 160ws lights even in a one light setup. I don't ever recall raising power up to even 3/4 of output.

Same here - I use speed lights, which I would guess are somewhere in the ballpark of 75-100ws equivalent, and I rarely need to go above 1/2 power on my key light. Even at full power, switching to Eneloops has brought my cycle time down from 10s to just over 2s, which is very workable. That being said, I'm with @ronlane - I'd love to add at least 1 Godox/XPLOR AD600 to my setup!

 

[ronlane]

Too much power is a real, actual issue these days, and if you use ISO 200 as your baseline, th

I maybe looking at this wrong but In all the studio practice I've done so far I've never had a problem with using the 160ws lights even in a one light setup. I don't ever recall raising power up to even 3/4 of output. When I went to 5 lights I thought about going up in output, but the ability to dial them down was a major concern. Maybe if I were lighting a larger area or using outside to overcome the ambient light then they would be of benefit but in my close quarters no.

I understand, I have way more light than I need with these studio lights, that is why I don't use them as much. The lowest power is too much. I don't need the Xplor 600 but it has far more control on the light output than the cheap ones do. That light for me would be a workhorse for both indoor studio and outdoor portrait work. It will be the outdoor is when I see the benefits of it. With the on-board battery, it can go outside without electricity that the studio's require.

That being said, I am looking at the AD200 (Godox/Adorama) lighting. It is about $300 for a 200 w/s flash that can be set up bare bulb or speed light. The cool part is that it is the size of a speedlight. With it, I can get another one of the S-type mounts that @adamhiram mentioned up above and have a second light with a bowens mount.

In all the studio practice I've done so far I've never had a problem with using the 160ws lights even in a one light setup. I don't ever recall raising power up to even 3/4 of output.

Same here - I use speed lights, which I would guess are somewhere in the ballpark of 75-100ws equivalent, and I rarely need to go above 1/2 power on my key light. Even at full power, switching to Eneloops has brought my cycle time down from 10s to just over 2s, which is very workable. That being said, I'm with @ronlane - I'd love to add at least 1 Godox/XPLOR AD600 to my setup!

As I stated, I'm also considering the AD200 as well. With my 360, it and a speedlight of the same brand, I can use the R2 Pro transmitter and control all three from my camera. I think the power outputs of these three would work well in the area that I have to use for indoor portraits when I add in the reflector, if neeed. (Oh and at $300, I can get 2 of them for the price of one AD600, lol)


That all being said, for now I will continue to work with what I have and come up with some solutions that I can make work to produce quality portraits/headshots in my home.

 

[ronlane]

Update from last nights practice session.

I took @tirediron 's advice and decided to stick with one lighting set-up at a time and try to get really comfortable with it. So here is the one that I am and will be working on for a while.

1 - Key light = Streaklight 360 with a 38" Glow Octabox on camera left about 45 degrees and about 3-4 feet away from the subject. (Set at 1/8th power, metered to f/8.0 at 1/250, ISO 200)
2 - fill light = Flashpoint Zoom speedlight with a pop-up 2 foot softbox on camera right about 3-4 feet from the subject. (Set about 1/32nd power, metered to f/2.0 at 1/250, ISO 200)
3 - hair light = Adorama Budget Studio strobe with a 2 foot softbox behind subject on camera right about 5-6 feet away. (Turned to lowest power, metered at f/9 at 1/250, ISO 200)

I used the white velour with them and it turned out a light grey due to all the light in the room.

I will post photos of the results this evening after I go back and try to re-create it this evening. I will post a couple of images from both nights.

1. Key light only.



2. Hair light only.



3. Fill light only.



4. Combined



5. With red shirt.

 

[ronlane]

This evening I spent about an hour working on this again.

It is the same set up with one exception. On the hair light, this time, instead of the soft box, I made a snoot out of construction paper to "aim" the hair light and keep the spill to a minimum. I used a white paper and I think I need to add a black over the top of it to help cut the light that escapes.

 

[tirediron]

Update from last nights practice session.

I took @tirediron 's advice and decided to stick with one lighting set-up at a time and try to get really comfortable with it. So here is the one that I am and will be working on for a while.

1 - Key light = Streaklight 360 with a 38" Glow Octabox on camera left about 45 degrees and about 3-4 feet away from the subject. (Set at 1/8th power, metered to f/8.0 at 1/250, ISO 200)
2 - fill light = Flashpoint Zoom speedlight with a pop-up 2 foot softbox on camera right about 3-4 feet from the subject. (Set about 1/32nd power, metered to f/2.0 at 1/250, ISO 200)
3 - hair light = Adorama Budget Studio strobe with a 2 foot softbox behind subject on camera right about 5-6 feet away. (Turned to lowest power, metered at f/9 at 1/250, ISO 200)

I used the white velour with them and it turned out a light grey due to all the light in the room.

I will post photos of the results this evening after I go back and try to re-create it this evening. I will post a couple of images from both nights.

1. Key light only.

View attachment 158972

2. Hair light only.

View attachment 158971

3. Fill light only.

View attachment 158970

4. Combined

View attachment 158973

5. With red shirt.

View attachment 158974

Nicely done Ron, and thanks for showing the 'light by light' series. This shows just each light plays into the overall scheme!

 

[tirediron]

This evening I spent about an hour working on this again.

It is the same set up with one exception. On the hair light, this time, instead of the soft box, I made a snoot out of construction paper to "aim" the hair light and keep the spill to a minimum. I used a white paper and I think I need to add a black over the top of it to help cut the light that escapes.

View attachment 158976

View attachment 158977

I think you've just about got this dialed in, Ron! My only thought is that the background seems too bright, especially in the second image. Is that all spill from your snoot?

 

[ronlane]

This evening I spent about an hour working on this again.

It is the same set up with one exception. On the hair light, this time, instead of the soft box, I made a snoot out of construction paper to "aim" the hair light and keep the spill to a minimum. I used a white paper and I think I need to add a black over the top of it to help cut the light that escapes.

View attachment 158976

View attachment 158977

I think you've just about got this dialed in, Ron! My only thought is that the background seems too bright, especially in the second image. Is that all spill from your snoot?

Thanks John. I think I am getting close. The background is bright in the 2nd one because I left it alone. There is very little spill from the snoot, it is more from the key light. I'm as far back as I can get the background. In the first one, I masked off the background and used a curves layer to lower the background color. I decided to leave the 2nd one as is just for reference. (Then forgot to put that in the narrative.)