# is it possible to shoot wide open 2.8 with studio lighting?



## ewick (Aug 25, 2012)

Basically my question is how do I achieve shallow depth of field using AB800'S I s it possible? I really want to get a great part of the image out of focus and just have the eyes sharp. My light meter tells me f.8 or there abouts is the perfect reading but that puts everything in focus. any help is appreciated. thank you.


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## Derrel (Aug 25, 2012)

Some sheets of Neutral Density gel material taped over the reflectors would cut the power of the flash units down. You could instead use a ND filter over the lens, but that makes it VERY difficult to focus, or to see what the heck you are framing.


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## Mach0 (Aug 25, 2012)

Derrel said:
			
		

> Some sheets of Neutral Density gel material taped over the reflectors would cut the power of the flash units down. You could instead use a ND filter over the lens, but that makes it VERY difficult to focus, or to see what the heck you are framing.



X2 or you can lower the Iso as much as possible and lower the power level of the flash down as well.


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## ewick (Aug 25, 2012)

Mach0 said:


> Derrel said:
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I tried that but it still lets in too much light. as it is when I shoot with my alien bees Im at 100 iso.


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## Mach0 (Aug 25, 2012)

ewick said:
			
		

> I tried that but it still lets in too much light. as it is when I shoot with my alien bees Im at 100 iso.



ND the flash like Derrel said. That will work.


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## 2WheelPhoto (Aug 27, 2012)

If its a big studio, back the light wayyyyyyyyyy up


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## Village Idiot (Aug 27, 2012)

2WheelPhoto said:


> If its a big studio, back the light wayyyyyyyyyy up



Moving the light will change the look of the light, it just depends on how far it's being moved and if it's already at say 5' and you need to cut two stops, it'll have to be at 20' to do so. ND filters are probably the best option if you have everything set the way you want and just can't get a wid enough aperture to where you're over exposing the photo to more than your liking.

A little bit of over exposure can be dialed back in post, but if something is totally blown then it won't be recoverable. You'll probably need a lens filter if you're using modifiers with your lights. If you're trying to go from f/8 to say f/2.8, you'll need a 3 stop ND filter and either a really bright modeling light or a tripod to focus with and then add the filter so you can get an in focus photo.


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## Sharna (Aug 27, 2012)

I'm just learning off camera flash (OCF) and found out that the AB800 will fire when it "see's" another flash. If you have another flash with OCF capabilities like Pocket Wizard Flex TT5's you can set the flash to go off in a totally different direction and up your shutter speed to whatever will "kill" the light somewhat.


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## Village Idiot (Aug 27, 2012)

Sharna said:


> I'm just learning off camera flash (OCF) and found out that the AB800 will fire when it "see's" another flash. If you have another flash with OCF capabilities like Pocket Wizard Flex TT5's you can set the flash to go off in a totally different direction and up your shutter speed to whatever will "kill" the light somewhat.



I fail to see the relevance of this to the OP's issue. Using another light as an optical slave will create more light and not help with the issue of already having too much light.


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## Derrel (Aug 27, 2012)

"Mr. Scott, we need more Neutral Density! I repeat Mr. Scott- we_need_more_N_D!!!"

"Aye, Cap'n, I've given 'er all I've got...I cannno' tape on any more ND!"


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## 2WheelPhoto (Aug 27, 2012)

use dark window tinting


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## Derrel (Aug 27, 2012)

2WheelPhoto said:


> use dark window tinting



YES! Pretend one light is a '64 Impala...pretend the second light is a '72 Monte Carlo, and the third light is  a'73 Gran Torino...the fourth light is  a '77 Firebird with bong smoke trailing out the passenger window...


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## 2WheelPhoto (Aug 27, 2012)

Derrel said:


> 2WheelPhoto said:
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reminder of how old I am right there^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


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## PhotoWrangler (Aug 27, 2012)

FYI... I could not achieve 2.8 with an AB800 in my studio, and I didn't have a ND filter. I was able to achieve it with an AB400 turned all the way down however....


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## Sharna (Aug 27, 2012)

Village Idiot said:


> Sharna said:
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> > I'm just learning off camera flash (OCF) and found out that the AB800 will fire when it "see's" another flash. If you have another flash with OCF capabilities like Pocket Wizard Flex TT5's you can set the flash to go off in a totally different direction and up your shutter speed to whatever will "kill" the light somewhat.
> ...



hmmm thought using a faster shutter speed would kill some of that light. the other light could be dialed down to almost nothing. Maybe I'm wrong. Like I said, I'm just starting off camera flash. My bad!


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## 2WheelPhoto (Aug 27, 2012)

shutter speed will have a big impact on ambient, aperture on flash


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## cgipson1 (Aug 27, 2012)

Like Derrel mentioned above, Gelling the lights would be best with neutral filters. The A800s have to much muscle even on lowest output for shooting with wide apertures. Moving the lights farther back would reduce the "softness" of the light significantly.. and is probably not a good idea.


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## cgipson1 (Aug 27, 2012)

Sharna said:


> Village Idiot said:
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Shutter speed has nothing to do with light from flash / strobe.... only aperture controls that light. Shutter speed will help to modify existing ambient light intake.. but that is all.

Some lights are powerful enough, that even dialed all the way down.. they have too much power for some applications. The solution is either a less powerful light, or killing some of the power with either modifiers or gels.


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## 2WheelPhoto (Aug 27, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> Like Derrel mentioned above, Gelling the lights would be best with neutral filters. The A800s have to much muscle even on lowest output for shooting with wide apertures. Moving the lights farther back would reduce the "softness" of the light significantly.. and is probably not a good idea.



I was being sarcastic about moving the light back. but of course softness can be achieved moving the light eway back and bouncing off multiple reflectors. Will lower the light even more too heh


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## ewick (Aug 29, 2012)

It seems liek ND is the way to go. I think I'm going to give it a try and see what happens. Like always I want to thank all the people who responded. Some info was useful and some was just humorous but thanks for taking the time to give some input.


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## Village Idiot (Aug 30, 2012)

Sharna said:


> Village Idiot said:
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Shutter speed controls ambient and is limited by the camera's x sync. Aperture and ISO control ambient and flash exposure. That's by people strive to find ways to cheat the camera's x sync, so that when the ambient is too bright, the can underexpose by turning up the shutter speed.

Put your flash on your camera in manual mode and take three pictures. Have the flash properly exposed in all three. Do the first with a shutter speed of 1/50, the next at 1/100, and the next at 1/250 and see the difference. Try and make the 1/100 with a properly exposed ambient for your middle ground shot.


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