studio strobe vs. hotshoe strobe

Big Mike · Dec 2, 2008

Strobe = flash

Most commonly, I'd say that 'strobe' more often refers to a 'studio' style light and 'flash' more often refers to a 'hot shoe' type unit. But either ways is OK.

JerryPH · Dec 2, 2008

Strobe, flash speedlight monolight, all mean the same just that some are powered by wall sockets and others are powered by batteries.

monolights are 110v
speedlights are battery powered

flash and strobe are generic.

Oops, see, even we cannot agree 100%... lol

goodoneian · Dec 2, 2008

you guy's do make some good points, yes. but shooting somewhat close pictures of people like the example with my sister isn't the only thing i would like to do while outside and want to over come the sun.

in the case with my sister, i was using an umbrella so yes i knew i would loose some light.

when ever i do any kind of skate boarding, i shoot bare and zoom the head between 85 and 105mm, since for most situations i just want to light the skater, and not much of the ground. example:

for this shot the falsh was around 10-15 feet to the right of him. my flash wasn't on full power, but i didn't really need it for this situation since it was right before sunset and very cloudy and close to dark.

Village Idiot · Dec 3, 2008

I was using a B800 with a softbox to light a guy on a bike jumping off the back of a truck at about 1:00PM last summer. I had it cranked all the way up and still could barely get the power I wanted.

goodoneian · Dec 3, 2008

hmm well maybe i'll look into the b1600

goodoneian · Dec 3, 2008

JerryPH said:
I just cannot see myself hauling wires, monolights and batteries to a skateboard park for several hours.

i don't go to skate parks, if i was going to be hauling anything it would be to like a random ledge or rail, so it would be planned out and i could easily take it out of my trunk

bigalbest · Dec 3, 2008

In this picture I am using an AB1600 at full power with the small reflector that came with it. It was shot at f13 and the light is just out of the picture. When competing with bright sunlight, the more power the better. The AB1600 is a 660 watt light and I still find myself craving more power in situations like this. You can find the output in f stops for all the AB monolights here, along with other specs.

JerryPH · Dec 4, 2008

I'm sincerely wondering how much the picture would have changed if an aperture of F/8 (and an appropriate lowering of light power) would have been used instead in the example above?

I know that the background would have been a little lighter, but there is already nothing about the background that is adding to the picture in this case... indeed it is distracting a little, no?

BTW, cool ride!

bigalbest · Dec 4, 2008

JerryPH said:
I'm sincerely wondering how much the picture would have changed if an aperture of F/8 (and an appropriate lowering of light power) would have been used instead in the example above?

I know that the background would have been a little darker, but there is nothing about the background that is adding to the picture in this case... indeed it is distracting a little, no?

BTW, cool ride!

At f8 the background would have been brighter not darker. And while I agree about this background adding nothing, I think this is a good example of a properly exposed shot using strobe light against heavy sunlight.

And thanks, I love my sandrail.

JerryPH · Dec 4, 2008

goodoneian said:
...it would be planned out and i could easily take it out of my trunk

Have a friend handy to help you, that's always a good idea in these cases... and if you are using an umbrella/softbox/whatever, make sure you use plenty of sandbags to keep the whole thing from falling over in a breeze.

I think I would crap myself if I had invest in something like that to see it tip over and crash onto concrete or asphalt.

Village Idiot · Dec 4, 2008

We lose at least one umbrella due to wind or bumping at most strobist meets.

goodoneian · Dec 4, 2008

JerryPH said:
Have a friend handy to help you, that's always a good idea in these cases... and if you are using an umbrella/softbox/whatever, make sure you use plenty of sandbags to keep the whole thing from falling over in a breeze.

I think I would crap myself if I had invest in something like that to see it tip over and crash onto concrete or asphalt.

i treat my gear kindly haha, i obviously don't want to break anything either

tsaraleksi · Dec 4, 2008

JerryPH said:
Have a friend handy to help you, that's always a good idea in these cases... and if you are using an umbrella/softbox/whatever, make sure you use plenty of sandbags to keep the whole thing from falling over in a breeze.

I think I would crap myself if I had invest in something like that to see it tip over and crash onto concrete or asphalt.

Watching a strobe on a stand fall in the wind is really really painful. Luckily the umbrella acts to retard the fall enough that it won't do a ton of damage.

goodoneian · Dec 4, 2008

yeah, i have broken one umbrella due to the wind. luckily my flash was fine, but the umbrella wasn't

i learned my lesson on having an umbrella up high even when the wind is hardly blowing though

Big Mike · Dec 4, 2008

That is one reason I don't like using umbrellas outdoors.

I think a lot of people are too afraid of just using bare flash. If you position it right, you probably don't have to worry about the hard quality of the light. And you get so much more power/range.