Lighting 101: Be the Flash
One of my (and, I suspect, many others') biggest gripes with using small, battery powered flash used to be the lack of modeling lights.
The fact is that modeling lights need lots of juice. And juice wither comes from the wall - as in AC - or from big, heavy batteries. And stop-gap measure modeling lights, designed not to use much juice, usually do not put out that much light anyway.
So, if you want extreme portability, lose the idea of modeling lights. You do not need them anyway.
You know what hard light looks like. You know what soft light looks like. So, no need for a modeling light for previewing on that front.
What you want to know is (a) where will the light fall, and (b) will there be reflections?
Reflections are pretty easy. Light works like a pool shot. Light will reflect off of a subject at the same angle (but in opposite direction) that it struck.
That is why we learned to light eyeglass wearers at an oblique angle. The reflections are still there. They are just angled to go harmlessly away from the camera angle.
You can also pop the flash and "eyeball" the scene - especially shiny or glass areas - to check for reflections, too. Just make sure you are looking from the same position from which you will be shooting.
It is easier than you think. Try it.
Now, where will the light fall? That one is different, and is the main reason most people use modeling lights.
This is another really easy workaround.
You are already used to walking around a looking at your scene from a few different points of view to choose your camera angle. (You should be, anyway.)
You need to get in the habit of doing this with your light, too. A good time to do it is while you are setting up your lights.
The difference between your camera angle and your lighting angle will determine much of the quality of your photo, so consciously considering both angles is a good habit to get into.
But, more importantly, when you are looking at the scene from your lighting angle, you see exactly what the light will see. Which, with a little practice, will eliminate your need for a modeling light.
Last I checked, (and absent your working near a black hole) light travels in a straight line. If you are looking at the scene from the same perspective that your light will see it, you become your own modeling light.
With a little practice, it is a very fast procedure. Especially if you are folding the process into that of setting up the lights.
I know it may sound a little kooky.
Just try it.
Next: Don't Let Good Light Ruin a Photo
The fact is that modeling lights need lots of juice. And juice wither comes from the wall - as in AC - or from big, heavy batteries. And stop-gap measure modeling lights, designed not to use much juice, usually do not put out that much light anyway.
So, if you want extreme portability, lose the idea of modeling lights. You do not need them anyway.
You know what hard light looks like. You know what soft light looks like. So, no need for a modeling light for previewing on that front.
What you want to know is (a) where will the light fall, and (b) will there be reflections?
Reflections are pretty easy. Light works like a pool shot. Light will reflect off of a subject at the same angle (but in opposite direction) that it struck.
That is why we learned to light eyeglass wearers at an oblique angle. The reflections are still there. They are just angled to go harmlessly away from the camera angle.
You can also pop the flash and "eyeball" the scene - especially shiny or glass areas - to check for reflections, too. Just make sure you are looking from the same position from which you will be shooting.
It is easier than you think. Try it.
Now, where will the light fall? That one is different, and is the main reason most people use modeling lights.
This is another really easy workaround.
You are already used to walking around a looking at your scene from a few different points of view to choose your camera angle. (You should be, anyway.)
You need to get in the habit of doing this with your light, too. A good time to do it is while you are setting up your lights.
The difference between your camera angle and your lighting angle will determine much of the quality of your photo, so consciously considering both angles is a good habit to get into.
But, more importantly, when you are looking at the scene from your lighting angle, you see exactly what the light will see. Which, with a little practice, will eliminate your need for a modeling light.
Last I checked, (and absent your working near a black hole) light travels in a straight line. If you are looking at the scene from the same perspective that your light will see it, you become your own modeling light.
With a little practice, it is a very fast procedure. Especially if you are folding the process into that of setting up the lights.
I know it may sound a little kooky.
Just try it.
Next: Don't Let Good Light Ruin a Photo
__________
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Posted at 12:21 PM.
9 Comments:
For those tricky shoots when you dont have the time to "see" the flash... the Canon 550ex will become a modeling flash for 1 second if you press the camera depth-of-field preview button.
on my Nikon D70 or D200, the DOF preview will also cause a camera mounted SB-800 to exhibit this behavior (even when you bump it by accident!)
Not just camera mounted. I tried this out with my SB-800 set to be remotely fired from my D80 and (making sure I turned Modeling Flash back on in the options - as I hate it) the DOF preview models the light. It's pretty nifty.
Does anyone agree or disagree with the idea of using regular flashlights as a modeling lamp? I've found that while it won't show you the correct beam spread, you can shine it from the location of your strobe and get an idea of how the shadows will play out. It's an extremely inexpensive DIY alternative to modeling lamps and they can easily be bungee'd to a stand next to a strobe.
I'd agree with the use of regular flashlights, or torches as the british call them I think, not for visualizing cast shadows, but more for positionning your reflectors... I wanted to use my lastolite as a bouncing device for my hotshoe mounted SB25 (sorry don't own a sync cord yet), held by a bystander while i focused...A flashlight tied on a speedstrap would have been handy
It's my understanding that even near a black hole light travels in straight lines. It's actually space that's curved. Only the outside observer sees it as "bent". So if you're near the black hole too, you'll see space as bent, and all of the light you see will also be bent and thus from your perspective everything is normal.
I think if u have tool for translate in more language, very helping for somebody.. Please many people like me can't speak english well..
@ Aknal- try using Google translate site:
http://translate.google.com/#
Enter a webpage URL, then choose the language. It works very nicely.
Excellent bit of advice - very simple and very useful, I will definitely make this part of my routine.
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