- Using Studio Flash (Called Strobes)
- What to Do When You Can't Turn Your Strobe Power Down Any Further
- Firing Your Studio Strobe Wirelessly
- Softening Harsh Studio Strobes
- Where to Position Your Main Light
- Adding a Hair Light
- Getting a Different Look Without Moving the Lights
- Want Softer, More Even Light? Feather It!
- Studio Backgrounds
- Using a Pop-Up Collapsible Background
- One Background, Three Different Looks
- Getting Super-Saturated Background Color
- Reflectors: When to Use Silver or White and Where to Position It
- Using Grid Spots
- How to Use a Light Meter
- Which Mode Should You Shoot In?
- How to Set a Custom White Balance In-Camera
- Rim-Light Profile Silhouettes Made Easy
- Using a Fan for Windblown Effects
- The Advantage of Shooting Tethered
- Using a Gray Card to Nail Your Color
- Don't Light Your Whole Subject Evenly
- How to Light a Couple or Small Group
- Big, Beautiful, Wrapping Light
- Edgy Lighting for Athletes
- Hurley-Look Headshot Lighting
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Which Mode Should You Shoot In?
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When it comes to shooting with studio strobes or flashes, this is the one time I would absolutely recommend that you shoot in manual mode. The reason is you need to set both the f-stop and shutter speed independently, and manual mode easily lets you do just that. Start by setting your shutter speed at 1/125 of a second (a good, safe speed that will sync your camera with your flash unit, no sweat). This shutter speed, in a studio, is a “set it and forget it” setting. Now all you have to worry about is setting your f-stop. So, set your shutter speed to 1/125 of a second, your f-stop to f/11 (great for studio portraits because everything will be in focus), and then take a shot and see how it looks on your camera’s LCD monitor. If it’s too dark/too bright, don’t change the settings. Instead, just raise/lower your flash power until the lighting looks right to you. Of course, you could just use a light meter to tell you exactly which f-stop to use for the power setting you currently have on your flash (if you’d rather not mess with changing the power of your flash).
Why You’ll Love Rolling Light Stands
At some point, you’re going to wind up buying light stands for your studio. Make your studio life much easier and buy light stands with wheels. Two big reasons why: it’s much faster and easier to roll them around than pick them up and move them, and they’re much safer. Lights are top-heavy. When you pick one up to move it, it’s easy to bang it into something, or lose balance and topple the whole rig over.