Show us your setup and the final result!

Well done. As you realized, getting to a higher camera angle helps with large groups like that. Gets all the faces closer to the plane of focus.

You did well. Only thing I'd change is to bounce the light into the ceiling.

Several years ago I had a similar situation, large group in a room. Only option was to have the club staff bring in a ladder for me to climb up toward the ceiling. I bounced two AB800s off the ceiling above me.

dmward wrote in post #18000524
Well done. As you realized, getting to a higher camera angle helps with large groups like that. Gets all the faces closer to the plane of focus.

You did well. Only thing I'd change is to bounce the light into the ceiling.

Several years ago I had a similar situation, large group in a room. Only option was to have the club staff bring in a ladder for me to climb up toward the ceiling. I bounced two AB800s off the ceiling above me.

"Ceiling"?

PhotosGuy wrote in post #18000544
"Ceiling"?

It's a really high one.

Martin, Great job on the Mom's day shoot. I couldn't tell for sure but I think your daughter enjoyed it.

Did you have to do any chimping at all for these? I don't remember all of the pros and cons of HSS vs. using ND filters but it seems to me that a nice ND filter would allow you to save some time using the meter, making it a bit more scientific etc. I wonder if you will gravitate to using your filter more.

Thank you so much for your setup description; I found it very helpful.

I did have one other question..... was this much of a workout for your Rovelight? Do you recall what power you ended up using?

Cheers

MalVeauX wrote in post #18000500
Heya,

I love how informative your posts are! Thanks - gives me plenty to look at and a place to start as I begin to figure out my lighting (already used some of your previous advice on purchases too from other threads you have posted in)

mpstan wrote in post #18000634
Martin, Great job on the Mom's day shoot. I couldn't tell for sure but I think your daughter enjoyed it.

Did you have to do any chimping at all for these? I don't remember all of the pros and cons of HSS vs. using ND filters but it seems to me that a nice ND filter would allow you to save some time using the meter, making it a bit more scientific etc. I wonder if you will gravitate to using your filter more.

Thank you so much for your setup description; I found it very helpful.

I did have one other question..... was this much of a workout for your Rovelight? Do you recall what power you ended up using?

Cheers

Heya,

She actually played ball with us, we shot for about 15~20 minutes total. Only because she allowed it.

Zero chimping. This is why I'm not using HSS right now. It's just so much faster, and easier for me, to setup my light where I want it, set my aperture where I want it for depth of field, and meter the light to be what it should be exactly to get the right results without even needing to see the histogram. If it meters at F8 and I needed F8 to get appropriate exposure, it will be correct (or very close at least). If I can get the right exposure at sync speed (1/200s) with a single 3 stop ND filter, I do it now, because it's simply faster (literally, two pops of the light and I have exposure dialed in exactly; zero actuations of the shutter needed). In this case, my aperture was F2.8 and I applied a 3 stop ND filter to get ambient light down to my sync speed of 1/200s. To get the strobe light correct, place it first so distance is constant, then meter it at the location of the subject. In this case, I turned on my light, set it to 1/8th power to start, and metered it one time (I trip the light with the RF603 with it's test button). I got back a reading of about F5.6~F6.3-ish (there were a few 10th's in there). So I increased the output of the light to 1/4th, and metered again, and the light meter read F8 (per the image, I snapped that to show what I metered as the final output of the light). No histogram review needed for this at all. Just two test firings of the light itself, and the light meter, and I was where I needed to be. If I used HSS, I would have had to just set the power, take a shot, look at the histogram, and chimp again and again until the histogram (the only tool in the field that would be at all viable in my case) read appropriately and even then it would be off likely, so I'd have to have wiggle room in RAW to get it just right. This is a totally fine method, I used to do it, still do it sometimes. But it takes more time, and time is something I had very little of when dealing with a 2.5 year old in a time frame where light was falling and we had maybe 30 minutes to do the shots before the flowers would have been in total shade (which I did a few in the shade even still just for fun, they're on my flickr). To do the HSS test shots and get it right, I would have needed mom & baby at the subject location and endure waiting on me--sweating in the heat, nats & bugs flying around, and a 2.5 year old doesn't wait for anything, so even if it took me only 2~3 minutes, that's a life time to a 2.5 year old who wants to do something else. Again, she played ball with us, so it worked out. But, I did it the way I did it to avoid wasting that time in front of them with them just standing there waiting on me. This way, ND + meter, had zero down time for the models. They walked out, went to the designated location (marked by a rake), I took a single test shot, reviewed it to ensure composition and light and every thing was close enough to continue, and then I joined them with my remote shutter release, and away we went.

I got the Rovelight for the HSS. I started with it that way. These days, I'm using ND filters and normal manual output, because I can use a light meter. That's the only reason. I really like HSS. But I really appreciate the speed and accuracy of using a light meter. If I could not get sync speed with a 3 stop ND filter, then I would just use HSS and wing it. If I can get away with a single 3 stop ND filter, I will use it, and use a light meter. Any more ND stoppage power than that, and I don't want to use it, because it can be problematic with focus and other things. I like to keep it simple. So again, I use a 3 stop ND if it gets me to sync speed. If it doesn't, I use HSS. By the way, you can combine the two, and use ND and HSS to get a "middle ground." But you still can't meter that. So it's ND + meter, or HSS and chimp/histogram.

So as you mentioned, yes, I am using the filter more. The speed of metering and getting it right in two light firings literally took me a few seconds and I was dialed in exactly to F8 within a 10th of a stop.

Not a work out at all for the Rovelight. The recycle time in normal output, and I use snail (to get more out of the battery) mode for recycling, was less than 1 second. I don't take rapid shot after shot, as I wait for the baby to at least look like she's looking in a desirable direction or making a micro-expression that I want to at least try to capture. I've been using the Rovelight since release, and it has never let me down, it recycles fast and never over-heats on me in the Florida sun. Per the description, I was at 1/4th power in normal output mode, and recycle time was very fast, I didn't have to wait on it.

Very best,

maxblack wrote in post #18000581
It's a really high one.

Well, on a cloudy day anyway...

Revisited an earlier subject. A normal 135mm could not achieve critical focus for all the design elements, so I used a tilt/shift bellows macro of 140mm @ f/22. First, the result:

This was my first shoot with the XPLOR 600 by Flashpoint. All the exif and lighting info are in the BTS. If you aren't familiar with my work, I tend to have a thing for sharing fun BTS photos and labeling them fun as well. =)

fjhphotography wrote in post #18001985
This was my first shoot with the XPLOR 600 by Flashpoint. All the exif and lighting info are in the BTS. If you aren't familiar with my work, I tend to have a thing for sharing fun BTS photos and labeling them fun as well. =)

Hosted photo: posted by fjhphotography in
./showthread.php?p=180​01985&i=i57105289
forum: Flash and Studio Lighting

Post work including dodge & burn, some frequency separation, cloning, healing, color toning, and then resized for FB.

Hosted photo: posted by fjhphotography in
./showthread.php?p=180​01985&i=i169347996
forum: Flash and Studio Lighting

Thanks to your posts on here and instagram (I am following you), I just ordered a 60" octa from PCB. It should arrive tomorrow.
I had no idea they made them but it looks like they just released a 5' octa not too long ago.

I was on the market for a 5' (or bigger) octa for location work and I have literally considered every modifier out there and nothing beats a 5' octa from PCB in terms of portability, value and quality.

I even considered Broncolor but they are way out of my budget. Perhaps a parabalix modifier will be my next purchase after this 5' PCB.

fjhphotography wrote in post #18001985
This was my first shoot with the XPLOR 600 by Flashpoint. All the exif and lighting info are in the BTS. If you aren't familiar with my work, I tend to have a thing for sharing fun BTS photos and labeling them fun as well. =)]

How does the PCB octobox attach to the Xplor light? Does it have a PCB mount?

You're welcome and thanks for the follow. Yeah, that 5 ft is a beast! I love it a lot and it's so easy to use. I used the 47 inch by PCB for the longest time then decided to try the 5 ft a few months ago and never looked back.

The XPLOR I own is Bowens mount which I love. The alienbee mount (Buff) wasn't as sturdy. I bought a Bowens mount off B&H and replaced it with the Buff mount that comes with the Octabox. I go over what I did in the first question to this blog post;

http://www.fjhphoto.co​m/blog/2016/2/26/faq

Highly recommend the PCB modifiers, especially the octaboxes =)

MomentsCaptured wrote in post #18002427
Thanks to your posts on here and instagram (I am following you), I just ordered a 60" octa from PCB. It should arrive tomorrow.
I had no idea they made them but it looks like they just released a 5' octa not too long ago.

I was on the market for a 5' (or bigger) octa for location work and I have literally considered every modifier out there and nothing beats a 5' octa from PCB in terms of portability, value and quality.

I even considered Broncolor but they are way out of my budget. Perhaps a parabalix modifier will be my next purchase after this 5' PCB.

you need this...
http://www.parabolixli​ght.com/

Will be going to there first demo this month.