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Newby back...need help for next step



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 13th 04, 08:37 AM
Gene Palmiter
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Default Newby back...need help for next step

Hi all

Ok...I have an alien bee on order...but have my flash meter now. As
mentioned...its a cheapie, but shooting digital I just didn't see the need
for a good one that I don't expect to use that much. Its a learning tool. I
have come to expect little by way of documentation now-a-days but what came
with this meter was pathetic. It merely shows what the buttons do.

So...If I use 2 or 3 monos do I meter them one at a time? Crap...I don't
even know enough to know which questions to ask. How do I get started?

--
Thanks,
Gene Palmiter
(visit my photo gallery at http://palmiter.dotphoto.com)
freebridge design group
www.route611.com & Route 611 Magazine


  #2  
Old November 13th 04, 04:08 PM
McLeod
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On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 07:37:56 GMT, "Gene Palmiter"
wrote:

So...If I use 2 or 3 monos do I meter them one at a time? Crap...I don't
even know enough to know which questions to ask. How do I get started?


I don't know what type of meter you have but if it has a hemishperical
dome you should meter one light at a time. If it has flat disk or a
dome that retracts into the meter you can meter each light while the
others are on, by aiming the meter at the light source.
  #3  
Old November 13th 04, 05:03 PM
dadiOH
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Gene Palmiter wrote:
Hi all

Ok...I have an alien bee on order...but have my flash meter now. As
mentioned...its a cheapie, but shooting digital I just didn't see
the need for a good one that I don't expect to use that much. Its a
learning tool. I have come to expect little by way of documentation
now-a-days but what came with this meter was pathetic. It merely
shows what the buttons do.

So...If I use 2 or 3 monos do I meter them one at a time? Crap...I
don't even know enough to know which questions to ask. How do I get
started?


You can check individual output of each light to establish a desired
lighting ratio but your final reading should be with all lights...

A. from subject toward camera (if reading incident light)

B. of subject (if reading reflected light)

In the case of incident (which I preferred) you can vary the reading
depending on goal or effect desired. For example, toward camera will
give you an average; pointing toward main light will give you an
exposure favoring the highlights (more low key effect); toward the
fill will favor the shadows (more high key effect).


--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.05...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico


  #4  
Old November 13th 04, 05:03 PM
dadiOH
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Posts: n/a
Default

Gene Palmiter wrote:
Hi all

Ok...I have an alien bee on order...but have my flash meter now. As
mentioned...its a cheapie, but shooting digital I just didn't see
the need for a good one that I don't expect to use that much. Its a
learning tool. I have come to expect little by way of documentation
now-a-days but what came with this meter was pathetic. It merely
shows what the buttons do.

So...If I use 2 or 3 monos do I meter them one at a time? Crap...I
don't even know enough to know which questions to ask. How do I get
started?


You can check individual output of each light to establish a desired
lighting ratio but your final reading should be with all lights...

A. from subject toward camera (if reading incident light)

B. of subject (if reading reflected light)

In the case of incident (which I preferred) you can vary the reading
depending on goal or effect desired. For example, toward camera will
give you an average; pointing toward main light will give you an
exposure favoring the highlights (more low key effect); toward the
fill will favor the shadows (more high key effect).


--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.05...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico


  #5  
Old November 13th 04, 05:21 PM
Gene Palmiter
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Default

The meter is from that famous high-tech company ...interfit. Got it from
B&H. It does have a dome...and from metering one at a time I can come to
some sense of the ratio.,..ok...that's a place to start. An I point the
meter at the camera. Makes sense.

Thanks

"McLeod" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 07:37:56 GMT, "Gene Palmiter"
wrote:

So...If I use 2 or 3 monos do I meter them one at a time? Crap...I don't
even know enough to know which questions to ask. How do I get started?


I don't know what type of meter you have but if it has a hemishperical
dome you should meter one light at a time. If it has flat disk or a
dome that retracts into the meter you can meter each light while the
others are on, by aiming the meter at the light source.



  #6  
Old November 13th 04, 10:50 PM
David Dyer-Bennet
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Default

"Gene Palmiter" writes:

Hi all

Ok...I have an alien bee on order...but have my flash meter now. As
mentioned...its a cheapie, but shooting digital I just didn't see the need
for a good one that I don't expect to use that much. Its a learning tool. I
have come to expect little by way of documentation now-a-days but what came
with this meter was pathetic. It merely shows what the buttons do.

So...If I use 2 or 3 monos do I meter them one at a time? Crap...I don't
even know enough to know which questions to ask. How do I get started?


The most common way to meter flash is to take an incident reading
firing all the heads at once. I imagine your units have built-in
slave sensors that are active whenever a wired trigger isn't connected
to them, so that's the easiest way to read the light; the flashes all
*want* to go off at once anyway.
--
David Dyer-Bennet, , http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/
RKBA: http://noguns-nomoney.com/ http://www.dd-b.net/carry/
Pics: http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/ http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/
Dragaera/Steven Brust: http://dragaera.info/
  #7  
Old November 14th 04, 01:00 AM
Gene Palmiter
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Posts: n/a
Default

do.

So...If I use 2 or 3 monos do I meter them one at a time? Crap...I don't
even know enough to know which questions to ask. How do I get started?

The most common way to meter flash is to take an incident reading
firing all the heads at once. I imagine your units have built-in
slave sensors that are active whenever a wired trigger isn't connected
to them, so that's the easiest way to read the light; the flashes all
*want* to go off at once anyway.


Right ...all have work as slaves. I plug one into the camera. I cannot see
doing all this with a model present....just seems it might take awhile.
OK....if I meter with them all going....then how does that show the
relationship between them?


  #8  
Old November 14th 04, 01:03 AM
Randall Ainsworth
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Default

In article , David Dyer-Bennet
wrote:

Say what? Not the main? If taken at face value this seems to me be
guaranteed to produce exposure more than a stop off.


Exposure is based on the fill light. That's the foundation you start
from, then add the main to achieve whatever lighting ratio you're
after...and then add whatever accent lights are desired.

Now, I should probably qualify this. With film, you did densitometer
tests to determine where the shadows should fall on the curve. With
digital, it would be different. I haven't used my studio stobes with
digital yet so I can't say.
  #9  
Old November 14th 04, 03:48 AM
Randall Ainsworth
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Default

In article Nixld.978$063.56@trndny03, Gene Palmiter
wrote:

This is the first time something here didn't sound right. The fill is
usually less than the main? Oh...maybe you mean its determined by the
fill....and adjusted from there.

No...that can't be right...maybe you mean....if the main is the light by the
camera then it fills the face...the fill then lights up the
shadows....not....it must be brighter than the main....and casts the
shadows? So by metering off the fill you are metering off the brightest
light....is that how you mean it?


In a basic two-light setup, you have one light (generally large and
soft) that is the fill light - or the shadows if you will. The main
light is what provides direction. For a basic 3:1 ratio, the main
should be one stop brighter than the fill and both are on the same side
of the camera.
Short lighting is preferable for most people - where the side of the
face to the camera is in shadow.
  #10  
Old November 14th 04, 03:48 AM
Randall Ainsworth
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In article Nixld.978$063.56@trndny03, Gene Palmiter
wrote:

This is the first time something here didn't sound right. The fill is
usually less than the main? Oh...maybe you mean its determined by the
fill....and adjusted from there.

No...that can't be right...maybe you mean....if the main is the light by the
camera then it fills the face...the fill then lights up the
shadows....not....it must be brighter than the main....and casts the
shadows? So by metering off the fill you are metering off the brightest
light....is that how you mean it?


In a basic two-light setup, you have one light (generally large and
soft) that is the fill light - or the shadows if you will. The main
light is what provides direction. For a basic 3:1 ratio, the main
should be one stop brighter than the fill and both are on the same side
of the camera.
Short lighting is preferable for most people - where the side of the
face to the camera is in shadow.
 




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