I am off to a mate to do a photo-shoot in his studio. Just friends needing a few good LinkedIn photos. So it will be an interesting learning curve today.

Question, do I need a lens-hood in a studio?

Also, what are the pros and cons of continuous vs flash lighting (using the same lights)?

Cheers

double post, sorry

I'd like to add to the above by saying continuous light is much hotter. In a short while the studio will get uncomfortable.

A con of flash is sync. You can only shoot max 1/200 or 1/250 of a second.

I'd like to add to the above by saying continuous light is much hotter. In a short while the studio will get uncomfortable.

A con of flash is sync. You can only shoot max 1/200 or 1/250 of a second.

Why do yo see this as a con I've never seen a need to shoot faster in a studio environment?

Its a genuine question what kind of stuff do you do that needs it I'm interested.

Quote from: Pauws99 on June 27, 2015, 08:22

Quote from: memakephoto on June 27, 2015, 07:36

I'd like to add to the above by saying continuous light is much hotter. In a short while the studio will get uncomfortable.

A con of flash is sync. You can only shoot max 1/200 or 1/250 of a second.

Why do yo see this as a con I've never seen a need to shoot faster in a studio environment?

You said above that flash freezes action. Depends on the action. There's some action that 1/200 isn't fast enough to freeze. You've never seen a need to shoot faster which is good for you. I have and sync speed is a con.

But keep in mind that it isn't the speed of the shutter that matters when freezing action; it's the speed of the strobe.  Most strobes have a t.1 time (time to for the light to fall to 10% power) that's much shorter than your max sync speed.  As an example, my Einsteins have a t.1 time of 1/1700 second at half power.  If your room is dark enough, your shutter can be open for many seconds without affecting exposure.  Put the camera on a tripod, set the exposure for 5 seconds, press the shutter and then trigger the strobe manually some time during that interval.  You'll be able to freeze action, or when combined with ambient light, get a blurred motion leading to a frozen moment.  This last is an excellent use of the rear curtain firing option, where the flash fires just before the shutter closes instead of when it opens.

You couldn't freeze hair movement because of long flash duration, it has nothing to do do with flash sync. I don't know what flash brand you are using, but the cheaper ones, like Chinese ones, have too long flash duration. Try flash output keeping to its minimum, since the flash duration is shortest at the minimum output.

Quote from: Dook on June 27, 2015, 11:27

You couldn't freeze hair movement because of long flash duration, it has nothing to do do with flash sync. I don't know what flash brand you are using, but the cheaper ones, like Chinese ones, have too long flash duration. Try flash output keeping to its minimum, since the flash duration is shortest at the minimum output.

It doesn't matter if brand is Chinese, USA or european, what matter is t.1 time, and my not very cheap but Chinese IGBT strobes I use have very short t.1 so I can freeze things like jump, flowing hair or other actions shots.

You however need to be in dark studio with no lights leaking when flash is not active. It's good to close lens to f8-f11 with lowest possible ISO (but it's typical for studio shots).

well, I don't know of a Chinese brand that delivers 1/12000s like Profoto pack 7a and 8a do. Anyway, saying OP to close his lens to 8 or 11 means nothing. In complete darkness it could be not necessary, in full bright studio it could be not enough.

Quote from: panicAttack on June 27, 2015, 11:36

Quote from: Dook on June 27, 2015, 11:27

You couldn't freeze hair movement because of long flash duration, it has nothing to do do with flash sync. I don't know what flash brand you are using, but the cheaper ones, like Chinese ones, have too long flash duration. Try flash output keeping to its minimum, since the flash duration is shortest at the minimum output.

It doesn't matter if brand is Chinese, USA or european, what matter is t.1 time, and my not very cheap but Chinese IGBT strobes I use have very short t.1 so I can freeze things like jump, flowing hair or other actions shots.

You however need to be in dark studio with no lights leaking when flash is not active. It's good to close lens to f8-f11 with lowest possible ISO (but it's typical for studio shots).

well, I don't know of a Chinese brand that delivers 1/12000s like Profoto pack 7a and 8a do. Anyway, saying OP to close his lens to 8 or 11 means nothing. In complete darkness it could be not necessary, in full bright studio it could be not enough.

Complete darkness and focus? I was talking about dark studio with only some modeling lights to help focusing. Then you dont have to prefocus. Full bright studios are not for freezing actions unless you have continuous lights.

You don't need 1/12000 for people shots, trust me. t.1 below 1/2500 is enough. 12000 is more for balloons filled with water stuff.

I post rarely, just when I can help someone. Go back to my first post, I just wanted to help OP with some reasonable info. And then you jump in like you want to fight (Chinese or not Chinese, what?). Is it complete darkness or not, you can't give so general advice, like 8 or 11, since you don't know the valuo of   light in his studio. Who said a bright studio is for freezing action? You didn't even read my post properly. What's your goal here? To fight? Or you are just bored?

no fight, peace! you should read my first post, then you should read your first about that he need 10k dollars strobes to freeze motion and incorrect flash duration statement. You were not helping him with that info and I was just correcting that. Now read all your and mine post and see who is getting offensive here

I was just saying that to freeze most people action studio shots, you can do it with any IGBT strobes. You were also wrong about flash duration, voltage-controlled flashes have shortest t.1 duration on maximum power level, IGBT strobes and regular hot-shoe flashes have  shortest duration on minimum power. So your advice was very general and incorrect so I tried to correct you, nothing more.

He can close aperture just enough when he take shot to see clear black frame when reviewing image on his camera. It's easier to do so with slightly lit studio and f8 or so closed aperture shooting in sync speed then doing it in complete dark room without any light source with f1.4 or so because it takes longer. Focus, turn all lights of, shoot.

And one more thing(not just for you), it isn't the same freezing motion of water drop flowing from top of your frame to bottom (for that you need shorter then 1/5000), compared to one full body length person jumping with hands and feet only moving in small part of the frame (1/2500 is more then enough).

Quote from: Dook on June 27, 2015, 15:32

I post rarely, just when I can help someone. Go back to my first post, I just wanted to help OP with some reasonable info. And then you jump in like you want to fight (Chinese or not Chinese, what?). Is it complete darkness or not, you can't give so general advice, like 8 or 11, since you don't know the valuo of   light in his studio. Who said a bright studio is for freezing action? You didn't even read my post properly. What's your goal here? To fight? Or you are just bored?

no fight, peace! you should read my first post, then you should read your first about that he need 10k dollars strobes to freeze motion and incorrect flash duration statement. You were not helping him with that info and I was just correcting that. Now read all your and mine post and see who is getting offensive here

I was just saying that to freeze most people action studio shots, you can do it with any IGBT strobes. You were also wrong about flash duration, voltage-controlled flashes have shortest t.1 duration on maximum power level, IGBT strobes and regular hot-shoe flashes have  shortest duration on minimum power. So your advice was very general and incorrect so I tried to correct you, nothing more.

He can close aperture just enough when he take shot to see clear black frame when reviewing image on his camera. It's easier to do so with slightly lit studio and f8 or so closed aperture shooting in sync speed then doing it in complete dark room without any light source with f1.4 or so because it takes longer. Focus, turn all lights of, shoot.

And one more thing(not just for you), it isn't the same freezing motion of water drop flowing from top of your frame to bottom (for that you need shorter then 1/5000), compared to one full body length person jumping with hands and feet only moving in small part of the frame (1/2500 is more then enough).

Good. You finally admitted that your 8 11 advice was pointless.
The same goes for you throwing in numbers like 1/5000s, 1/2500s. You do not know the speed of person's head and hair movement. You do not know the speed of water. So you do not know if 1/5000 will be enough. Maybe you need less, maybe you need more, depending on the speed. Not to mention the distance between the subject and the sensor and the part of the frame it occupies, which you mention in the example of a person, but not in the example of water.
I'm not saying your numbers are not good  general info or a good staring point. But they are far from precise.
For flash duration you are completely right. I was referring to power packs.