Carl, it seems a bit odd that you got it today and you're now asking how it's different from softboxes and umbrellas? Mmmmm Interesting
The only thing I can tell you is that since you have it, play with it. Do a test shoot where you use a fixed subject and photograph it using all three options. Look at the results and decide which you prefer. I think you'll find that each has a purpose that it works 'best' for.
griffitg wrote:
I almost feel sorry for people that stumble across this post and have to catch up with where we are now. :-)
This thread has become its own forum.
The beauty dish tends to give you more contrast than a softbox, and is quite effective for high-key lighting. It was also give you that old glamour look from the 40's. Placement of the dish is subject to your taste and objectives.
griffitg wrote:
Carl, it seems a bit odd that you got it today and you're now asking how it's different from softboxes and umbrellas? Mmmmm Interesting
Bought it out of curiosity - still in the box, unopened. How would this question be any different from the typical "What are the best lenses" or "Is there something wrong with this lens" questions?
Again I have it and want to know, from others' experiences, is there anything I should be looking for that would be different from a softbox or umbrella - I may not have a chance to do a compare for a week or so. Is that too much to ask?
If my question was out of line, please let me know and I will delete it - I value YOUR expertise!
New setup picture from me. Just recently added a soft-gold reflector to the collection. Purchasing a AB1600 in about a week too since the 2 AB 800's just aren't cutting it with the octadome for f/16.
2 Backdrop strobes (one AB-800 one AB-400)
Hairlight (sometimes with 20 degree grid, othertimes not) (AB-400)
Key light (AB-800 @ f/16)
Soft-gold (or was it white-gold) 72" reflector
Plexiglass (4' x 8')
Oh, and check out the example poses at the models feet. Learned that one from an FHM photographer. We keep books of shots from different magazines.
The main part of this studio is 11.5X23 feet not including our audio area; there is an office to the right and a storage room and three piece bath beside the audio booth and in front of all that is a reception area. I have a Manfrotto backdrop, Nikon SB800 on stand with umbrella, Manfrotto boom with cheap flash, another more powerful 320 flash with Manfrotto stand and umbrella. We also do video - so I have a couple of pots and one adjustable 500watt tung/halo lamp. A large reflector, my dad's 45 year old tripod with Manfrotto adaptor and a Manfrotto video tripod with 503 head and dolly (Sony DSRPD170 camcorder). My cameras are an old Pentax K1000 and Nikon D70.....
This is the other end where I have our computer and audio interface:
Here is one of my models (Emily) as she recorded a radio ad for us last year that played on a Toronto radio station for over one month. We also recorded an album (folk music) in this studio just to prove it could be done. I have to be a "Jack of all trades" here and am only now learning to use the D70 and take good pictures.....or trying.
Some equipment I had to compromise on as much of my money goes to a small newspaper we put out, the albums we are obligated to produce and I have a thirty minute TV show that looks like it will air in September and the processing for this is a killer..... For those with an interest - here is a clip of the intro to the show shot in our studio (about 4k): Click Here
One other thing.....
I fished out an old story about how we made up our office/studio - You can find it here. My primary interest is photojournalism (published a little book on it last year) and I was in the dark room back in 1974..... Lost all knowledge and no darkrooms now.....Anyone still have a darkroom - I still remember the fun we had fooling around with exposure and blowups and stuff like that. So what if the paper went yellow quickly.....heheheheheheeee.....
J.A.F. Doorhof wrote:
Hi,
Why shoot on f16 ?
Almost all digital camera's are alot softer about f11/f13 than below.
I try to get all model shots arround f8-f11.
It's something new I'm trying. I always used to shoot at f/8, but then I chatted with this FHM guy. He always shoots everything at f/16. The idea being that making sure you hit focus is more important. You can always blur an image aftwards (film or digital). Also a lot of shots have stuff where the model's feet are not on the same plane as their head. Best to get them both in focus and then blur parts if you want. I mean I still use different f's if I'm looking for a special effect, but for the most part I'm sticking with f/16.
No. It's not slowing down, it's just that all the new people are still reading through the 60+ pages and waiting to finish before posting their images.
so that's an interesting comment. 10x15 is too small to shoot portraits. My question to the assembled folks here is what is the acceptable minimum for portraits?
hmm, my last post, out of context, makes no sense whatsoever! Lets try again...
Someone way back in this thread made the comment that a 10'x15' room is too small to do portrait photography. I'm curious as to what folks think is an acceptable room size.
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2 x AB400
1 x AB800
1 giant softbox
2 umbrellas
2 reg stands
1 HD stand + boom
5 in 1 reflector
Lightmeter
Black 9' x 30' backdrop
White 9' x 30' backdrop
Backdrop stand
The Lighting Cookbook
Soon to order a few more things.
Here is the entrance to our studio. This place gets used as a studio and will do so again in a few hours as I have someone presenting an album to a Rock and Roll singer (The old SX70 and busted tripod are just props for the entrance.....). Funny thing is that I will get my key lighting from a window in the door that faces this entrance and I get background lighting from that little window on the left. I can get away with no extra lighting in this place!
Another complication is that the presentation and later plublicity photos taken in the regular studio will be recorded on video as part of a small documentary I am making. So I have to use continuous lighting with two pots and one adj. lamp in the front. The video camera I use does not need any external lights as it is really sensitive; but I am wary of letting multiple flashes go off when recording.....so it has to be constant lighting unless someone with experience can tell me otherwise. Here is a photo of the camera for those not into video (Sony DSRPD170):
It is almost three in the morning and I am cleaning up the studio for the session tomorrow (including the bathroom....am I the only one doing this... ).
I was supposed to show you some setup and photos of the session like the others did - but we had a power outage and had to cancel..... All that work cleaning up the place and setting up down the toilet!
To make matters even worse, I was moving back the flashes to the usual positions when the Nikon SB-800 decided to slide out of it's metal mount and fall onto the thin linoleum over concrete floor! I heard the sickening crash of plastic and batteries spilling out of the unit. Horrified, I was relieved to see absoultely no damage to the flash! Not a scratch! I spent sometime marveling over the engineering that Nikon put into their products. So I put the flash back into the shoe and cinched it up again and about five minutes later - the flash decided to loosen and drop to the floor again! This time I hear the sicking sound of plastic busting and found a totally wrecked battery door and batteries spilled out all over the place..... Once again I marvelled at Nikon's quality as there seemed to be no damage again to the main unit. This time, a very close look showed a small crack around the hinge, but not a critical fault and I could not get the thing to open up under stress so it may just stay that way for the life of the unit. See if you can find the crack - it is in the middle of the picture and I sharpened it up a bit - you can hardly see it:
So - having won the "Darwin Award" today; I replaced the metal mount with the cheap plastic Nikon mount and used the fifth battery door and was back in business (I will see if I can get a replacement door next week):
Flimsy but the pin keeps it from falling. There was also the visit to the video store where I almost bought this JVC 1/2 chip broadcast/eng camcorder at firesale price until the owner came by and told the salesman he won't let him give it away.....
All in all - one crappy day.....but my studio is very clean.....
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