strobes?

metroshane · Aug 26, 2003

Can someone explain strobes to me and why I need one?

tr0gd0o0r · Aug 26, 2003

oriecat · Aug 26, 2003

Me neither (I know nothing about artificial lighting) but I've got 10 minutes to kill, so let's see what I can google up...

Dew · Aug 27, 2003

im no expert, i can only tell you the difference i notice...

oftentimes i prefer natural lighting for "mood" portraits and such .. but sometimes im going for a more brighter, "magazine" look ... sometimes natural light just doesnt do it ...

i know for my "self" portraits (since im of darker skin with bright red hair) ... most of the time i come out underexposed if its later than 4pm shooting indoors with natural light

tonight my hubby and i were shooting "self" family portraits ... he's a bit brighter than me

... so most times he's overexposed and im underexposed ... so i have to put the strobe near me to take it up a notch

oriecat · Aug 27, 2003

Ok, here's the gist of my research til now... from what I am reading, such as this thread at photo.net, strobe is another term for a flash, although mainly used when off camera. So it's like your continuous hot studio lights, except they are flash instead of continuous. That thread has a LOT of info in it, relating to portraiture and use of strobe.

I also found a lot of info about strobe and high speed and underwater photography, as strobe is very good at providing a lot of light, allowing really fast shutter speeds to stop action.