It’s “Tricky Tuesday,” a way for me to share some of the tricks, tools and techniques that I use shooting portraits in the studio, Also today Barry Staver and I will be recording our next Pixels, Grain and Cookies Podcast. Look for the special Halloween episode real soon now on my YouTube channel.
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.–Edith Wharton
At one of my last Coffee and Cameras get togethers–I know, we need to have another one soon–the group talked about lighting and the disparity in cost between speedlights and monolights. A Canon EL-1 speedlite costs $1,049, a Nikon SB-5000 AF speedlight is $546 and while it might be argued that both speedlights are capable shoe-mount flashes, it can be equally argued that a monolight kit, such as Elinchrom’s D-Lite RX 4/4 Studio Flash To Go Kit, that includes two monolights, two softboxes, lightstands and cases cost $1,179 and is easier to use and will quickly help you get started making portraits. As an aside, the AlienBees 800 monolight, like the one I use in my studio every day costs $349 but, to be fair, that doens’t doesn’t include any lightstands or soft boxes.
Let the Competition Begin
Here are a few features you might want to keep in mind when considering a monolight for your portrait lighting needs. As with all photography gear there are always trade-offs between functionality, ease-of-use, and cost. (Choose any two, as the old expression goes.)
Continuously variable output: Some monolights have power settings of ¼, ½, ¾, and full but sometimes you need more control than that. The aforementioned Elinchrom D-Lite does not offer continuously variable output but the system features digital control in 1/10’th-stop adjustments. Some systems. like the Godox FV200 Hybrid Monolight allow you to smoothly adjust brightness from 0% to 100%.
Proportional modeling light: Most monolights provide a simple on or off switch fir their modeling light that gives an idea of the final lighting effect but may not show the true effect. Some monolights with proportional settings, like the Paul C Buff DigiBee 800 monolights like the ones I use in my studio automatically adjusts their LED modeling lamp output to track and match changes in the flash power.
Fan cooling: Placing the modeling light, power supply, and flash tube inside a housing creates heat. A fan-cooled monolight may be better than an air-cooled model but this sometimes makes the monolight bigger, heavier, noisier and more expensive. That noise may not be the case with some newer monolights where the fan only comes on when needed.
Portability: The ability to have power supply and light head in a single package makes for simple set up and greater portability. That’s why lots of companies offer packages consisting of monolights, umbrellas, light stands and a case for a ready-to-go package. The smaller size and greater portability is also why some people prefer using them even though this kind of package can sometimes be expensive. This debate will continue in a future post…
How I made this portrait: The lighting setup for this portrait of Pam Simpson could not be simpler. The background was the (now former) white wall in my home studio to give this portrait a slightly high key vibe. To make this portrait, the lighting setup used just one of the monolights from the Elinchrom’s D-Lite RX 4/4 Studio Flash To Go Kit along with one of the included umbrellas in shoot-through mode. Once Upon a Time used to be one of my favorite TV shows and here Pam gets into the spirit with this neo Red Riding Hood outfit from UMBA. I used a Canon EOS 60D and EF-S15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM at 55mm with an exposure of 1/125 sec at f/11 and ISO 200.
My book Joe Farace’s Glamour Photography is full of tips, tools and techniques for glamour and boudoir photography and includes information on all of the cameras used as well as the exposure data for each image. New books are available from Amazon for $45.08 with used copies selling for around forty-one bucks, as I write this. The Kindle version is $19.99 for those preferring a digital format.