I did a little experiment today and tried to light someone and get a nice shallow DOF. Problem was that at ISO 100 and f1.8, I couldn't power down the strobe enough (AB800). I suppose I need to put a ND film on the strobe or something?
I did a little experiment today and tried to light someone and get a nice shallow DOF. Problem was that at ISO 100 and f1.8, I couldn't power down the strobe enough (AB800). I suppose I need to put a ND film on the strobe or something?
Or on the lens... You can also bounce strobes off a darker flat if you don't need the sharper shadows...
if your strobes have a modeling lamp you can just use that instead of popping the flash. I have used it and it works well, just setup your lights with modeling lamp tracking and get the light how you want it then you don't have to worry about shutter sync. Helps to shoot a grey card or use a custom white balance if you do this.
Almost all of the outdoor shots that I took in Malawi were with a full-power flash (to nearly match the strength of the sun) and an f-stop of between 1.6 and 2.8. I stacked a polarizer and an ND4 on my lens. The flash was also shot through a 1-stop diffuser right outside the frame.
Sometimes it takes a bit of fiddling with things to get the right settings/filters/etc, but it's totally worth it and definitely do-able!
I talked to a photographer on Flickr that's been doing it successfully with an Einstein and didn't mention the use of any ND filters. Does an Einstein power far lower than an AB800 does?
I talked to a photographer on Flickr that's been doing it successfully with an Einstein and didn't mention the use of any ND filters. Does an Einstein power far lower than an AB800 does?
Yeah it does.... Hit the PCB site for the specs but it can run a lot lower.
