Changing Aperture settings in a studio

donkeymusic

donkeymusic

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Carlo
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Evening,

I have my studio lights set up to work with my camera and use manual mode with 1/125th and F8, Works fine and happy with this setting.

However if i want to reduce the aperture setting to get a shallower dof, then lights are going to be setup correct.

So i presume i need to re-meter? how does this work in practice with models or kids when you can be wasting time metering for every change?

Any suggestions?

thanks for any hep offered.
 
Open up the aperture increase the shutter speed too. No need to adjust the lighting. Shoot RAW and fine tune the exposure PP.
 
Changing the shutter speed will not help if you are using flash heads but changing the iso when alter the apeture can help. I usually set the iso at 200 so i can go up or down a bit.
 
If you are using studio flashes changing the shutter speed will have little or no effect unless you go above the sync speed then you will have part of the frame blacked out by the shutter. You need to turn the lights down one stop for every stop wider you change the aperture then take a test shot and check the histogram and tweek the lights to suit.
 
Forget the Shutter Speed!

When changing aperture you must reduce the power of the light by the same amount. Going from 1/2 power to 1/4 power will allow you to go from f8 to f5.6. To 1/8th power you can go to f4.

You could also switch the flash off and just use the moelling lamp?

Edit - I see it's been said before :) I didn't read the other responses lol
 
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Dave Stone said:
Open up the aperture increase the shutter speed too. No need to adjust the lighting. Shoot RAW and fine tune the exposure PP.
Click to expand...

There's an answer from someone who obviously hasn't used studio lighting.

Assuming you have set up the lighting how you want, metered it, and set your aperture to your meter reading for a correct exposure, there are two ways you can deal with needing to change your aperture.

If needing to open the aperture you can either reduce the power of your lights or you can reduce your ISO (and vice versa if you want to use a smaller aperture).

Changing the shutter speed will only affect how much the ambient light affects your picture. A slower shutter speed will allow more ambient light, faster will allow less. If you go above your maximum sync speed, you're going to start getting black areas across part of the frame.
 
Scarecrow - One point, you are quite right about lowering the ISO however....

you should generally be at the lowest ISO on your camera to start with so changing the aperture is likely to be the only option.

You don't want to go above the sync speed. If using radio triggers, you may find the sync speed is lower than your camera's sync speed. My Skyports (originals) sync at between 1/125 and 1/160th! I can only get to 1/200th with a sync cable :(
 
There's an answer from someone who obviously hasn't used studio lighting.
Click to expand...
Calm down Del!
Well, works for me in MY STUDIO until I hit the max synch speed. Unless I am shooting someone jumping about then I knock out ALL the ambient light and shutter speed becomes irrelevant. I'm guessing he is not shooting in a studio. So, ambient light is going to potentially be an issue so shutter speed maybe too. Having just looked at the A550 it will synch to a max of 1/160 so not much room for maneuver with adjusting aperture & shutter speed.

Lots of practice with the lights. You soon get the hang of what power to use with different camera settings.

Changing the shutter speed will not help if you are using flash heads
Click to expand...

That depends on how much ambient light there is.
 
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Dave Stone said:
Calm down Del!
Well, works for me in MY STUDIO until I hit the max synch speed. Unless I am shooting someone jumping about then I knock out ALL the ambient light and shutter speed becomes irrelevant. I'm guessing he is not shooting in a studio. So, ambient light is going to potentially be an issue so shutter speed maybe too. Having just looked at the A550 it will synch to a max of 1/160 so not much room for maneuver with adjusting aperture & shutter speed.

Lots of practice with the lights. You soon get the hang of what power to use with different camera settings.



That depends on how much ambient light there is.
Click to expand...
The OP mentioned kids so i would assume max sync speed would be needed.
 
... and a big stick
 
Thanks for the comments,

I am in garage/studio and lighting is fine with no ambient light.

I am shooting kids/pets/adults and would like to improve my styling of photography by including a shallower dof to them.

What i want to be able to to do is to achieve the shallow depth of field but wonderd how practical this would be in a studio environment if i have to keep changing light setups, moreso with kids and pets where a pose will only last seconds.

To be fair, my intentions of using a shallow dof are probably aimed more towards teens/adults where i can attempt to style them a bit more.

I am already on the lowest iso, so that cant be lowered, i presume i would have t try and reduce the power settings as i reduce the f stop.

cheers
 
If like myself your lights will not go down far enough there are some work a rounds
1 neutral density filler on the lens (can be expensive to get a good one )

2 neutral density gels on the lights about £6 a sheet on ebay just cut to fit
 
donkeymusic said:
Thanks for the comments,

I am in garage/studio and lighting is fine with no ambient light.

I am shooting kids/pets/adults and would like to improve my styling of photography by including a shallower dof to them.

What i want to be able to to do is to achieve the shallow depth of field but wonderd how practical this would be in a studio environment if i have to keep changing light setups, moreso with kids and pets where a pose will only last seconds.

To be fair, my intentions of using a shallow dof are probably aimed more towards teens/adults where i can attempt to style them a bit more.

I am already on the lowest iso, so that cant be lowered, i presume i would have t try and reduce the power settings as i reduce the f stop.

cheers
Click to expand...

Like I said, try just using the modelling lamp itself. Just get the correct exposure. With the light in he correct position you'll still get a nice catchlight.
 
corbystock said:
The OP mentioned kids so i would assume max sync speed would be needed.
Click to expand...


Why would max sync speed be required?

SS makes no difference.

The flash duration is your shutter speed in the studio.
 
Dave Stone said:
Unless I am shooting someone jumping about then I knock out ALL the ambient light and shutter speed becomes irrelevant.
Click to expand...

So normally you shoot with studio and ambient in your studio? generally you don't want ambient light affecting exposure - can affect colour balance of your images as you're using mixed light.....

i'm not sure you understand what is being discussed? Why would you increase the shutter speed with someone jumping around? The shutter speed is FAR SLOWER than the flash duration - it's the flash that stops motion.


Dave Stone said:
I'm guessing he is not shooting in a studio. So, ambient light is going to potentially be an issue so shutter speed maybe too. Having just looked at the A550 it will synch to a max of 1/160 so not much room for maneuver with adjusting aperture & shutter speed.
Click to expand...

Why not? At f8 and 1/125th ISO 100 you need a fair amount of ambient light to affect your exposure. Only once when I shot in a nursery with sunlight blazing through the window did have an issue with ambient light - i just upped the power of the strobe to f16 - SS stayed the same. No ambient light.
 
paulminus273 said:
If like myself your lights will not go down far enough there are some work a rounds
1 neutral density filler on the lens (can be expensive to get a good one )

2 neutral density gels on the lights about £6 a sheet on ebay just cut to fit
Click to expand...

:thumbs: another good solution.
 
Dave Stone said:
Open up the aperture increase the shutter speed too. No need to adjust the lighting. Shoot RAW and fine tune the exposure PP.
Click to expand...

What a complete load of tosh! Follow this if you want very overexposed images.
 
corbystock said:
To knock out as much ambient light as possible as kids move around quite fast & at 1/125th F8 iso100 can & does affect the exposure.
Click to expand...

Shutter speed cannot and does not affect flash exposure. Only ambient which when using studio lights in a studio setting is not an issue. F8 at iso 100 1/125th is not going to give any ambient unless shooting in front of a window on a bright day.

Easiest way knock down light power, or move them further away if at min power. moving them double the distance from the subject reduces 75% of the lights power output on the subject.
 
corbystock said:
To knock out as much ambient light as possible as kids move around quite fast & at 1/125th F8 iso100 can & does affect the exposure.
Click to expand...

You must shoot only in the day in VERY bright room?!!

Edit - just read the above :-) :thumbs:
 
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EOS_JD said:
You must shoot only in the day in VERY bright room?!!

Edit - just read the above :-) :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Well it must be a bright room as i have taken shots of kids sat down with movement on their hands & feet. I've taken shots with the settings mentioned with no flash to test this & i have got exposure ( not alot but some ) so this will play a part in the final exposure. I am in no way saying that shutter speed has anything to do with flash exposure just that in my home studio with the mentioned settings i still get a certain amount of exposure from ambient light :shrug: note to self, get thicker curtains :)
 
Wow and I thought it was hard using lights.

1/125 ISO 100 F/11 start from there.

Merc
 
some total nonsense in this thread - and some good advice - this is a problem with TP - lots of people who have no idea offer 'advice'! Listen to ding76uk and EOS_JD and you'll be fine!
 
corbystock said:
Well it must be a bright room as i have taken shots of kids sat down with movement on their hands & feet. I've taken shots with the settings mentioned with no flash to test this & i have got exposure ( not alot but some ) so this will play a part in the final exposure. I am in no way saying that shutter speed has anything to do with flash exposure just that in my home studio with the mentioned settings i still get a certain amount of exposure from ambient light :shrug: note to self, get thicker curtains :)
Click to expand...

Movement is not uncommon - all depends on the flash duration but generally flash duration will be much faster than your cameras max sync speed. THe Elinchrom lights I use are not the fastest but still the duration is 1/900th!

Are you at f8 ISO100 or wider aperture?

In a room with anything other than very bright light, ISO100, f8 1/125 will not record any detail.

I only have a home setup too. I have a window behind me and normally all is ok unless sun is streaming in. I close the blinds and my settings don't change. Still 1/125, f8 and ISO100. If I need to I can increase the power but never move the shutter speed.
 
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awp said:
some total nonsense in this thread - and some good advice - this is a problem with TP - lots of people who have no idea offer 'advice'! Listen to ding76uk and EOS_JD and you'll be fine!
Click to expand...

There were a few other useful comments too :)
 
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