light meter question

we just purchased a light setup from alien bees. and we will be purchasing a light meter. but how exactly do you measure the strobe and ambient....do you measure both...or one...and it you measure the strobe, do you flash the lights at a certain stop and measure that....iam so confused.

There are meters for ambient, meters for flash, and there are meters which can do both either separately and/or simultaneously.

Yes you set the power control on the Bee(s), and trigger them. They can be triggered from a PC cord from the flash meter, by slave flash, by pressing the fire button, or by a wireless system.

I suggest you go here and browse some of the clear manuals that Sekonic has nicely put on-line. The Sekonic L-358 is a good meter that does flash and ambient simultaneously. It displays the proper f-stop, with the percentage of light provided by the flash, along with a bar graph showing the flash, ambient and total exposure with one reading. It can also do things like averaging and differencing multiple flashes.

I agree with Daveh, The sekonic meters are awesome the L-358 is top notch but at around $270. U.S. dollars it's a little pricey for a beginner. The Sekonic L-308II should work out well for you and it's about $100. cheaper. I have a L-308II that I carry in my camera bag as a back up at all times it is quite a piece of gear.


Okay here is the quick crash course in flash metering.
1.) Set up lights using the modeling lights as a guide for positioning.
2.) Set meter to proper ISO, flash mode and correct shutter sync speed.
3.) Double check meter settings. Seriously do it.
4.) Connect PC sync cord to meter. Position meter as close as possible to the location of the subject/model with incident dome facing strobe(s). Trigger strobe(s) from button on meter.
5.) Read meter and adjust lighting power and repeat step 5 until you get fstop you are looking for.
6.) Check meter settings one final time and do one final meter reading and then do it again.
7.) Set camera to Manual mode, dial in correct ISO, shutter and aperature settings. Double check settings. Connect sync cord to camera. Point and Shoot. Repeat as desired.


A couple of notes.
The Canon 10D has a reversed polarity PC socket which requires a reverse polarity PC sync cord. I recommend using a wireless triggering system. You can read about them in my post here.
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=11529
The 10D will sync up to 1/200th but I recommend shooting at 1/90th to 1/125th. The reason is many lower priced flash units have a slower flash discharge rate with a longer flash duration than pro units. They kind of ramp up to the full discharge. You want to give the flash unit enough time to discharge all the light it can.
If you are concerned about ambient light changing the exposure value or look of your flash images then take an ambient reading before you take a flash reading and adjust accordingly.


I am sure I've forgotten something so if anyone else wants to jump in an add something be my guest.
I hope this helps.
Good luck to you with your new lighting set up.

i bought that sekonic...the $270 one but paid 219 at B&H. i am confused when you said "Set up lights using the modeling lights as a guide for positioning". Also, can you flash the lights using a 550 as a master and setting the 2 alien bees to slave or is it better to have a sync cord.

re: the 550/ab setup...

i didn't have a great amount of luck letting the 550 trigger the strobe...but did have VERY good results using the ab 800 with a sync cord (actually using the pocket wizard wireless setup) i was still able to use the ettl of the 550 and shoot at f/11 @ 1/200 and get great results and skin tones with fairly consistent exposures (unless the 550 failed to flash the exposure was perfect)

(although i didn't have a big problem getting proper white balance with a grey card with my D-60, i was really not all that happy with using the custom white balance method with the 10 d (i didn't have a lot of time to fiddle with it) something struck me about it not being the best idea but i guess the results are all that matters, right?

but i AM curious to know if others have had a similar experience...

bob

the pocket wizard is used to setup a few lights and have them trigger thru that right? as oppossed to having the 550 do it....so how much would a sync cord cost for the 10d....man this is starting to get expensive man....and why does everyone try to shoot at f11 and 1/200th. i thought the light meter told you what f and shutter speed to puit it at. these may sound liek dumb questions, but maybei will inderstand once i have the whole setup. thanks you guys for all your help!

to be honest...i arrived at the f/11 @ 1/200 via trial and error...typically i'd be doing shooting f/11 at 1/125...but my 10d (soon to be sold) has the occasional canon focus problems

the sync cable is available from b&h or alien bees...although i've read about the polarity difference with the 10d (i really don't know much about it) i have used the cable direct into the 10 d with no problem...i just like having the wireless control so i don't have to have a leash attached to me

bob

When the other guy said to adjust the lights using the "Modeling light" that means if your strobe has a modeling light (usually a regular light bulb in addition to the flash bulb) you turn on the modeling light and point the unit in the direction you want it. ( I hope this makes sense ). A "Modeling" light doesn't stand for Model as in a good looking subject, it stands for modeling as in forming the light the way you want it. This gives you an idea of where the "flash" will hit when you turn off the modeling light and just use the flash portion of the unit.

I hope this makes sense, if not ask me and I'll try to explain it better.

Good luck, Rod

You're right on there Rod. Modeling lights "model" how the flash will light the subject. They are a great tool for visualizing the final image. I would be lost without modeling lights. They save a lot of time and wasted film/pixels.

This might sound stupid, but why not just use the modeling lights as your source of light? why use a flash at all, i guess i never understood that.

Modeling lights are usually just 150-250 watt tungsten bulbs. They're very dim and have low color temperature.

You'll need a stationary subject, tripod, if you want to get some DOF and you'll need to color correct which can be a problem if you've got a window or you're taking a picture of something that emits light of its own.

There's a certain convenience to being able to work at 1/200 and f11 or even smaller and have a daylight balance. With my modeling light alone, I need a 1-2 second exposure at f11.