Strobes with light on...

[KKT]

I'm having a weird issue. I have a Speedotron 2401A Pack and am shooting with a Sony Alpha 100 (not that that really matters, I don't think). I fire the strobes with a wireless transmitter adapter on my hotshoe...

The issue is, the only way I can get the photos to look like I want is if I'm shooting in pure darkness and then of course my camera can barely focus. Otherwise, the lights blow my photos out. If I have the shutterspeed up too fast to try and combat this, the photos are black on the bottom half. I try a bunch of stuff like bouncing the lights off the ceiling, side walls, whatever I can, but nothing helps. I do have umbrella's over the strobes to help. I've never used a softbox before though. Could that be the answer? I'm shooting models, btw, in a household environment.

Thanks.

[jdepould]

Shutter speed controls ambient (constant light) exposure, aperture controls strobe exposure. You're using a 2400 w/s pack, which is quite a lot, especially if you're in a small space. Dialing the pack down can help, but you're still putting out a lot of power. Distance from light to subject also affects exposure.

Edit: what ISO are you using? I've seen Joe McNally accidentally try to shoot with strobes at 1600 ... it didn't go well. I've done the exact same thing myself. It happens to the best of us.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by jdepould

Shutter speed controls ambient (constant light) exposure, aperture controls strobe exposure. You're using a 2400 w/s pack, which is quite a lot, especially if you're in a small space. Dialing the pack down can help, but you're still putting out a lot of power. Distance from light to subject also affects exposure.

Edit: what ISO are you using? I've seen Joe McNally accidentally try to shoot with strobes at 1600 ... it didn't go well. I've done the exact same thing myself. It happens to the best of us.

Did this while on vacation. Spent the evening shooting at f/2 and 800iso, then threw my SB onto the camera and kept going... things were almost straight white! Stopping it down and dropping the ISO to 100 fixed it perfectly.

[candleman]

the only time i've had a problem was when shooting a model under street lights with a 3-10 second exposure (getting the cars streaming in the background)

the orange light on the white shirt wasnt overpowered by the strobe, and the wind caused ever so slight halo's on the edges where the clothing was flapping in the breeze.

a shorter exposure fixed it..


basically.. donrt expose for ambient...ignore your in-camera meter and stick to iso100 and your max sync speed.
its easy from there

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by candleman

the only time i've had a problem was when shooting a model under street lights with a 3-10 second exposure (getting the cars streaming in the background)

the orange light on the white shirt wasnt overpowered by the strobe, and the wind caused ever so slight halo's on the edges where the clothing was flapping in the breeze.

a shorter exposure fixed it..


basically.. donrt expose for ambient...ignore your in-camera meter and stick to iso100 and your max sync speed.
its easy from there

Right on - i had just finished writing a long post reply to this topic to try and help figure this out when I read yours and realized I over thought everything. It may be a case of
trying to use non ttl flash when the camera is on program.

[candleman]

Zona, aaah.. Program mode..
i made an assumption (big mistake) that our shooter was using manual exposure and manual flash power setings.
(the way i do it, i never use TTL... my triggers dont allow me and i just dont like it )

KKT, have a look at www.strobist.com
this site will certainly get you going in the right direction.

as for the black half of the image, you're probably exceeding your max sync speed.
it should be around 1/160th or 1/200th for an entry level camera.
but i dont know Sony at all.