BetterPhoto Instructor Insights

Types of Strobes

By John Siskin

There are three basic types of professional strobe equipment. The units that are most like the proprietary strobes are the battery powered strobes. In fact quantum makes a unit that has the 2 or 3 times the power of a Canon unit but is still dedicated this is Qflash T5D. Unfortunately it is rather expensive, as are the other units in this class from Norman (200C & 400D) as well as the units Lumedyne makes. One exception is the Norman 200B, which is only available used. These are about $150 on EBay. The great thing about this stuff is that it is totally portable. They are easy to set-up anywhere. A couple of downsides, there is a limit to the amount of light these units can pump out, really they are only a couple of stops brighter than a proprietary strobe. Another problem is that if you don’t have a charged battery you don’t have a light. Lastly most of these units don’t have modeling lights, which are not critical, but are helpful.

Norman 200B rig, John is behind all the equipment! © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

The next group of strobes are called monolights. Unlike the battery lights that have a separate battery pack and the studio strobes that have a separate power pack these lights are self-contained. They plug directly into the wall; this is a tremendous advantage on location. They also have more power than the battery units frequently four times more and as much as eight times more. Most of these units have a continuously variable power output switch. This allows you to control the output frequently by 5 stops. These units generally take all the fancy accessories: softboxes, umbrellas, reflectors, barn doors, grid spots, and snoots. They offer a wonderful level of control over your lights. There are a large number of manufacturers; Calumet makes some good ones called Travelites, I have some of these. There are also lights called Alien Bees several of my students have had these. They seem like good lights but they don’t give clear information about their power levels. You want to look at real watt-seconds not effective watt-seconds (see one of my blogs of a few weeks ago for more info on watt-seconds). I also want to mention Patterson/Interfit from B&H. Some of my students have had good experiences with these and they are very inexpensive! There is less of this stuff used than the studio or power pack lights and it is more expensive used as a result.

Calumet Travelight 750 © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

Finally there are studio strobes, also called powerpack systems. These units have multiple heads that plug into the power pack and the pack plugs into the wall. I have a lot of this gear it is sturdy and provides a lot of light. I use the Norman 900 series lights these put up to 2000 watt-seconds into a single strobe head, this is roughly 35 times more light than an on camera proprietary strobe! These take all the accessories you would ever want. There are a number of terrific manufacturers: in addition to Norman be sure to check out Speedotron and Dyna-Lite. If you are looking in the used market, Norman 900 series equipment is often very inexpensive on EBay. This gear can be a little more difficult to deal with on location since everything plugs into packs rather than into the wall; however the extra power can make all the difference on some jobs.

Norman 5 © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

Norman P2000D Power Pack © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

I would make a decision about equipment based on what your goals are and what your pocketbook has to say.

Thanks, John Siskin

Silhouettes and Sunsets

by Jim Zuckerman

It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful images can be hiding in my photo library, waiting to be discovered. Often years after I go on a photography trip, I revisit the images and discover something that was there all the time but I hadn’t seen it up until now.

Such was the case with the photograph of the sunset in Zimbabwe and the shot of an eland at a waterhole in Namibia, both of which I took in 2001. Just yesterday I came across the photo of the eland, and I thought to myself what a wonderful graphic shape it presented. The problem with this picture, of course, is that the background is extremely messy and detracting from the overall shot. There was nothing I could have done about it at the time. I was in a blind that was situated in a place that made it virtually impossible to get a clean shot, and although I photographed a lot of animals here I was really disappointed in the results.

I decided to use the pen tool in Photoshop to precisely cut out the eland, and then I searched for an African sunrise or sunset in my files into which I could insert the selection. I found one that I’d taken at Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, and then I pasted the eland into it. I turned the selection into a silhouette by filling it with black, I reduced it in size, and then I moved it into place.

In my Creative Techniques in Photoshop course here at Betterphoto.com, I explain how to do this in detail, but here you can see the incredible potential in combining subjects with striking graphic shapes with great backgrounds. The results can be very exciting.

Buying Used Strobes

By John Siskin

I have been answering questions about lighting gear, which is a good thing, because I teach lighting classes. I wanted to write about the used Norman 200B equipment, because it is a cheap answer to many lighting problems. I use a lot of diffusion in my lighting, so I like strobes with power. A Norman 200B has about 4 times the power of an on camera flash. I would like to have even more power, but I also like flexibility, and the 200B has that, because it doesn’t depend on being plugged into a wall. Several reasons I like these units: very very fast recycle time, 200 watt-seconds (lot of power for a portable) good selection of accessories including several reflectors and a snoot, works on a variety of batteries, you can hook one up to a car battery or to $12 sealed lead acid batteries, and the 200B has cheap replacement strobe tubes.

Prime Cut Resturant on Rodeo in Beverly Hills I used 5 Norman 200B lights to illuminate this shot. The client was happy! © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

The down side is that the new ones are 15 years old so if you buy on EBay you may have to buy and sell a few to get a good system. They are also rather heavy. I have 7 heads and 5 power packs, a great location system. I work with this system all the time! One hint for buying used: do not buy a power pack with a broken fuse, this is usually an expensive repair. Expect to pay about $150 for a full kit on EBay. It is not a ridiculous risk to buy it used. I would purchase gear on EBay; I have bought Norman gear on EBay in the past with good success. If you do buy bad equipment you have the choice to return it, repair it or sell it to someone else, depending on the circumstances of your purchase. Should you choose to have something repaired be sure you work with a professional strobe repairman, not a camera repairman or a camera store. I use Holly enterprises when I have a problem; their phone number is (818)892-9020.

This is a Norman LH2 with the glass diffusion dome © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

Here is a list of what I would try to get:

Norman Umbrella Stand Adapters, these fit onto standard light stands and the LH2 Norman head. The also hold umbrella, which is really helpful. There are other stand adapters that will work. The LH2 head uses a standard 1/4X20 thread.

Light stands, one for each head, these do not need to be a particular brand but they do need to be strong, so don’t scrimp here.

Sync cord. There are wire or wireless options here; wireless is very nice. Use optical slaves for additional strobes.

Reflectors and light panels.

Norman 200B rig © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

Brownies for Who's Brownies Shot with Norman 200B Strobes © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

Happy Holidays!

John

Extension tubes and telephotos

By Jim Zuckerman

Extension tubes are known for enabling photographers to do macro work. They are tubes that come in various sizes that fit between the camera body and the lens, and you can use them individually or in combination for extreme close-ups.

These tubes can also be used in conjunction with a telephoto lens to reduce the minimum focusing distance. For example, yesterday I went to the zoo to try out a new lens I bought, the Canon 500 f/4 telephoto. The minimum focusing distance of this lens is 14.8 feet (4.5 meters), and when I was photographing a clouded leopard my close proximity prevented me from focusing on the cat. I was about 10 to 12 feet away.

I took one of the extension tubes from the set of three and placed it between the super telephoto and the Canon body. All of the metering functions work correctly with the tube, and I was now able to focus without changing my camera position. The extension tube reduces the light reaching the chip, but it’s a small price to pay for the frame-filling shot of this beautiful animal.

Strobe Power

By John Siskin

I teach several classes about lighting, so I wanted to take a few words to try to help everybody understand some of the basic things about strobe lights. A professional strobe actually has very few controls. Strobe power output, model light output, on/off for the model light, on off for the internal slave and power, and not every strobe has all of these. The most important control is strobe power output; on some strobes this is the only control! Not only is it the most important control; strobe power is the most important factor in what strobe to buy.

Calumet Travelight 750 © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

The whole problem with talking about strobe power and buying strobes is that the units we use to discuss power don’t make a lot of sense. Of course it’s not like f-stop numbers such as 2.8, 5.6 and 11 make a lot of sense either. In the case of strobe power we use watt-seconds, which doesn’t measure light at all, but measures electrical power. Watt-seconds are used to designate the power of a strobe unit, say 600 watt-seconds, in the same way that the maximum aperture is used to discuss the light gathering capability of a lens. Photographers have a way of talking about light output from a strobe that really measures light, it’s called guide numbers. The problem with guide numbers is they are affected by the reflectors and diffusers you put on a light; so a light with a brighter reflector will have a higher guide number. The idea of the watt-second ratings is that all strobes have a similar efficiency at turning electrical power into light; this is true. Some of the manufacturers have think that they have more efficient systems for reflecting the light so they should give themselves higher watt-second ratings, calling their ratings things like effective watt-seconds, this is an unfortunate and confusing practice. The problem is if you are using a soft box or other diffuser the advantage of a brighter reflector goes away, since you aren’t using a reflector.

Small Light Source Set-up © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

One of the questions I get asked is how much light is enough? The answer depends on how you use the light, direct or diffused. In the studio I use a lot of diffusion, often both an umbrella and a light panel, so I get lights with at least 600 watt-seconds. For location work I use light more directly so I can get by with lower power lights; I often take 200 watt-second battery powered lights on location. As with purchasing any equipment it is important to understand your goals for the equipment. I am fortunate enough to have different lights for different jobs. If I had just one sort of light it would be monolights of 600 watt-seconds or more.

Have a great weekend!

John

Chow Puppies in Dreamland

by Jim Zuckerman

I took some pictures of my neighbor’s Chow puppies last weekend, and it was a lot of fun. There’s really nothing more delightful to interact with and photograph than puppies, but they can be incredibly frustrating because they never stop romping, chewing on things, and generally causing mayhem on a photo set. I’ve learned, though, that when they play for a long time, they get completely pooped out and, like children, they crash. And when they are in that very sleepy state, they can be posed and manipulated to a certain degree and they just don’t care what’s going on because they are in a semi-stupor. I never thought I’d ever get good shots of these guys, but I was really happy with my pictures.

I used a single strobe softened with a white umbrella to light the mini set, and my wife worked with the puppies to pose them in cute ways.

Exposure With Strobes

By John Siskin

Lance, B&W, 5:1 Hard Light The higher ratios look better in Black &White than color © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

There are two separate things that digital cameras meter: continuous light quantity and light color. Since strobes are not continuous camera meters don’t read them. In teaching classes here at BetterPhoto.com® I keep trying to find ways to say that when you use strobes you need to control your exposure manually. When you use a strobe meter you get a response that tells you how to make a middle density, but it doesn’t tell you how to make it look right. There is no automatic way to make it look right, only the application of brains can do that. When I make a shot with strobes and a digital camera, the first thing I do is to put the camera on manual and ignore the camera meter. The only things I pay attention to are the proof image on the camera back and the histogram. These two tools tell you more than a strobe meter about your image. Let me suggest a plan for seeking the right exposure:

1) set the shutter speed to the sync speed,
2) set the aperture to your middle aperture, whatever that is on the lens you are using,
3) take a picture, it will be wrong that’s ok,
4) move the aperture dial to let in more or less light based on test exposure 1, you can look at the histogram to help determine how much to change the aperture, but the proof image should tell you if you need to change a lot or a little,
5) more test exposures and changes of light placement and light power until the strobes are right,
6) change shutter speed to balance values between existing light and strobe light, this will require more test pictures.

This same technique will work if you are mixing strobes and daylight. This was why the Polaroid bill was so high with film cameras, we used to call this using the polameter. With digital cameras these test exposures are free, so we should not be afraid to make them.

Small Light Source Set-up Norman 200B © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

The digital camera also meters light color. This is what the white balance is for. It is one of several ways to control color in the digital camera. For instance, if you are taking a digital image of a dramatic sunset on auto color the finished picture will probably be disappointing. If you manually set the color to the daylight preset, your camera has several presets, the sunset would have more of the color saturation you perceive. The neutral grey card allows you to set the camera to the actual color of the light. If I am doing something with more complex light color I take a shot of the grey card first, with the complex light. I will save this file and shoot my job. When I am doing the post work, I will use this first shot to balance all of the images I did in this set. The way you do this depends on the software in your camera.

Products that Make Photography Easier!

© Brenda Tharp. All rights reserved.

As a traditional song goes, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"...yet whether it's Christmas, Kwanzaa, or Chanukah - the season is a time of gift giving, and gifts that support creativity in the individual are the best ones to give, AND get! Here's a list of products that I have found useful in helping us all make better photos:

1. The LumiQuest Soft Screen. This diffuser is designed for the built-in pop-up flash of many digital cameras and it's produces a wonderful soft effect. No more harsh shadows around the edges of your portraits, or lurking hulks on the wall behind your subjects! The diffusion of the flash also helps to cut back on glaring hot spots - like the glare off an apple, the edge of a metal surface, etc. Visit - www.lumiquest.com/softscreen for more info on this great product!

2. The UPstrap. Shoulder straps for cameras have a tendency to slip and slide when walking around with them on one shoulder, and I find that frustrating. I have used several types over the years that say they'll grip tightly, but one product that works very effectively is the UPstrap. I can walk around secure in the knowledge that the camera will stay put on my shoulder. I used it walking all over Tuscany in September and found it excellent. This strap really works! Check out www.upstrap-pro.com for more info.

3. The Lens Baby 3G - I've written about the Lensbaby before, with pictures, and now they've gone and improved it yet again! I was always challenged by trying to keep the focus spot I had for more than one frame, even when on continuous frame shooting, but now you can lock the focus on the lens - and shoot from a tripod so you get more images with the same sweet spot in focus! This allows you to bracket your exposures without losing your focus. It's a sure conversation piece by it's design, but it gets the job done and gives you a unique effect. Visit www.lensbaby.com for more info.

4. The Flash X-tender. For anyone doing wildlife or bird photography with 300 mm or longer focal lengths, there is often the need to create a catch light or to fill the shadows of the scene - be it a nest, or the chest eye shadows of an animal. Enter the Flash Extender! This product has a fresnel lens that is mounted to the front of two plastic extensions that place it out from the head of the flash, and allow the light to be focused and projected much greater distances than the normal flash head would throw the light in the scene. Up to three stops of light can be gained using this product. I have found it indispensable for doing wildlife or bird photography in low light conditions, and also to fill in the shadows on a high contrast situation. While it's a specialty product, it's a necessary accessory for long lens users.
Visit www.naturescapes.net

5. The POD - bean bag support for compact digital cameras. This little support is a terrific companion for a compact digital. So often we don't need to carry a tripod but find that a little more support would be so helpful in getting a steady picture. I carry the yellow one for use with my Canon Elph and the red one for use with my larger compact camera. Enter "The Pod", designed in Canada and now sold through Bogen Imaging. See www.bogenimaging.us and search on 'the pod' to see the three sizes and descriptions.

6. The Lens Pen. For my compact digital camera, the Lens Pen has been a handy way to keep the front element clean and brush away any dust that might mess up the contacts or the camera's closing mechanism. It's amazing how easy it is to get a fingerprint on the little lens as we grab and go with these cameras! But the Lens Pen takes care of that problem quickly and fits in the little case I have for the camera and extra batteries. Visit www.lenspen.com for general info and look for it in most good camera stores.

7. On the more expensive side, but worth every penny - here are two Singh-Ray filters I find very useful.

A. The Lighter Brighter Circular Polarizer. This filter allows more light in so you can more easily see your composition with the filter on, yet it still does the great job of cutting down glare and shine off everything from shiny surfaces. Great for saturating the colors in fall foliage - even when the leaves are dry on the trees. Also great for cutting back the glare of wet rocks in streams or along the ocean's edge.

B. Gold-N-Blue Polarizer. This specialty filter adds gold or blue hues to polarized light; it can make blue skies pop, or enhance the reflective colors in a stream, and much more. Visit www.singhray.com for more info on their great lineup of filters.

Check out the difference in these two pictures.

Straight Polarizer. © Brenda Tharp.

Gold-N-Blue Polarizer. © Brenda Tharp.

Well, the list is longer than space or time permits here, yet I really only keep things on it that I think will enhance my abilities to express what I see.

Hope you have a great week of photography and a wonderful holiday season, everyone!

Brenda

Adding the Moon

by Jim Zuckerman

The simple technique of putting a moon into the sky above a landscape or cityscape can enhance the image a great deal. However, the technique is not that simple in reality because too often the moon doesn’t look real. Some photographers make it too large, and too often there is a thin dark line around it from its original background. In addition, the moon is frequently overexposed and it looks like a white disc. Retaining some lunar detail is important. The correct exposure for shooting the moon in a clear sky is 1/250 at f/8 with 100 ISO.

In my Advanced Photoshop Techniques there is a lesson devoted to placing the moon as well as other objects, like lightning and fireworks, into a night or twilight sky. The secret is that you don’t have to cut around the various objects before they are pasted into the sky. Instead, the blend modes can be used to make the insertion of the celestial objects look correct.

Make sure when you do this that you make the composite as astronomically correct as possible. For example, don't put a full moon in a sky with a sunset glow because that never happens. A full moon rises in the sky opposite the setting sun.

The two photos included here, the twilight photo of Mojacar, Spain and the night shot of the duomo in Florence, Italy were good without the moon, but with that additional component they are so much more compelling.