Using a low DoF with studio lights

Phate

Phate

Phate

Caporegime
Joined
1 Nov 2003
Posts
35,691
Location
Lisbon, Portugal
Guys,

Now, this must be possible, I don't know how but I'd like to figure it out.

When I shoot with my studio lights I typically use the following settings

Shutter: 1/250
ISO100
F-stop anywhere between 8.0 - 13

Now, if I bung it down to 1.8 like you typically would to get a really nice soft and creamy shot obviously it lets far too much light in and blows the picture completely.

Now does anyone know how to change this? My lights only do 'half power' and 'full power'.

It's annoying cos my favourite kind of images and favourite style to shoot is something rich in Bokeh, but alas....I cannot figure out how.

Any ideas guys? :)

Cheers,
Jake
 
blastman said:
move the lights further away??

Inverse Square Law....
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I thought of this. I move my lights for minor adjustments or adjust my aperture accordingly, but it'd only work if I moved it back some ridiculous amount? And the light would lose its shape and shadows across the subject then as well.
 
blastman said:
or a ND filter? say 4 stops?
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Hmm ND filters.

The Hoya 72mm Pro-1 Digital ND4 Filter reduces the amount of light entering the lens by 2 f/stops, allowing wider apertures to be selected, which is perfect for portraiture to reduce depth of field. Subject appears crisp and clear while the background becomes a soft blur. Alternatively, the ND4 Filter can be used to allow longer shutter exposures than would otherwise be possible and is widely used for subjects such as waterfalls and other nature scenes to blur the moving elements and emphasize the movement.
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Bingo :)

I'd got some ND filters at home, they are the slidey on the front style ones but it's worth a punt :) - Thank you!!
 
Dunks said:
Do you get much bokeh on a white background? :p
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A shot I took yesterday for example was from above a girl and the rest of the length of the image was her body. Now, due to the angle if I had lots of bokeh that would've really improved the shot and given it that 'mysterious' kind of feeling as in 'I wonder what the rest of the girl looks like' kind of thing :)
 
Phate said:
Hmm ND filters.



Bingo :)

I'd got some ND filters at home, they are the slidey on the front style ones but it's worth a punt :) - Thank you!!
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But that says it'll only kill 2 stops so if you're at F8 that's only going to surely get you to F4?? :confused: Granted that's better but not near your target of 1.8
 
Phate said:
I thought of this. I move my lights for minor adjustments or adjust my aperture accordingly, but it'd only work if I moved it back some ridiculous amount? And the light would lose its shape and shadows across the subject then as well.
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Every doubling of distance from light to subject will decrease their contribution by 2 stops. If you want to reduce the contribution by 4 stops you'll need the lights at 4x the distance!
 
pabloB said:
But that says it'll only kill 2 stops so if you're at F8 that's only going to surely get you to F4?? :confused: Granted that's better but not near your target of 1.8
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If memory serves I have 2 filters, a 6 and 4, which I can stack to give me 10, originally bought to do some seascapes then discovered I prefer taking images of people :p And I took that description from the first ND filter I clicked on on Warehouse express :)
 
Phate said:
If memory serves I have 2 filters, a 6 and 4, originally bought to do some seascapes then discovered I prefer taking images of people :p And I took that description from the first ND filter I clicked on on Warehouse express :)
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To be honest fella I think overkilling on the filters is going to impare your final image quality. By all means try it out though.
 
pabloB said:
To be honest fella I think overkilling on the filters is going to impare your final image quality. By all means try it out though.
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Indeed, they werent overly expensive. But, if I can figure it out to get atleast the bokeh there, then I can invest in a more expensive higher quality setup (think the 'Lee' is the best?) to bring the quality back into the image.

Next free evening I have I'm borrowing the dog!
 
Use ISO50, that's a start? Then if you also use a two stop ND and move the lights twice as far away your down to f/2? and ND the lights as required yu could get down to f/1.4 I guess!
 
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Also consider obstructing the light. Put 2 or more skins on you softbox. Add a shoot-through brolly, bounce off a white surface. Maybe you could replace the studio lights with strobes. I shot at f1.2 the other week using 3 strobes on minimum power and working in the dark (!)
 
MikeHunt79 said:
Bung some ND gel's over your lights. :) You can layer them up if really need to.
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I like this idea.

you can keep the filter off the lens (as to not compromise image quality) and still step down the light on the subject.

Might have to still bung a nd2 on the lens if the light is still too much.
 
p0ss3s3d said:
Use ISO50, that's a start? Then if you also use a two stop ND and move the lights twice as far away your down to f/2? and ND the lights as required yu could get down to f/1.4 I guess!
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Only goes down to ISO100 :p - Cheap tonky toy camera my 40D is! :p

Ok so my 4 stop filter and moving it 1.5x away from the subject will get me to around f2?


Gaffer said:
Also consider obstructing the light. Put 2 or more skins on you softbox. Add a shoot-through brolly, bounce off a white surface. Maybe you could replace the studio lights with strobes. I shot at f1.2 the other week using 3 strobes on minimum power and working in the dark (!)
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Hmm softboxes don't have the option, I'd have to makeshift something.

blastman said:
I like this idea.

you can keep the filter off the lens (as to not compromise image quality) and still step down the light on the subject.

Might have to still bung a nd2 on the lens if the light is still too much.
Click to expand...

Hmm...ND gels...I need to invest :)
 
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