silly question

sorry but I do not have nor have ever used strobes.

When you have say a 3 strobe set up of Alien Bees, subject sitting on stool, back ground in place, how do you meter the stobes (make them fire) when you are standing in front of the model with your hand held meter in hand?

First of all, it's a great question. Pocket Wizards remote triggers are a good way to do it. The transmitter that can mount on the hotshoe has a test button on it that will work even off the hotshoe. Or, you can buy a pocket wizards radio module for select sekonic flash meters.

Pocket Wizards Transmitter/Receiver set

Sekonic L-358 Flash Meter

Sekonic Radio Transmitter compatible with Pocket Wizards

Hope that helps

FlipsidE

thanks, it would appear that I have ventured into a very expensive hobby ;-(

Another question. How does the meter handle the modeling lights (100w incandes) they are on I am assuming when you are holding ur meter. Do they shut off instantly once you fire the stobes, hense the meter pics up only the stobes?

Now that's a great question and one that I unfortunately don't know the answer to. I'm sure someone else will be able to give ya a great answer for this question. And, yes, you'll be amazed at how much money you can spend on photography very quickly

FlipsidE

The strobes will overpower the lights assuming that you use a fast enough shutter speed.
Personally, I have a strobe meter but don't use it anymore. With digital, I can see the pic right away!
Plus, given equal powered lights, if one is 8' away & I move it 11 feet away, the light falls off by 1 stop. See the relationship? 4- 5.6- 8- 11- 16; there's one stop difference between them.

so then do we really NEED a meter when using strobes? getting confused

I think it all depends. I personally would probably say that it's best to use one. Say you are photographing something very reflective. What you get back in the camera may not truly show you where your exposure should be. If you use a flash meter right in front of the reflective surafce, you'll probably get a better exposure reading.

But, there are people on both sides of this argument, and you'll probably hear more from both sides as this thread continues.

FlipsidE