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Mag submissions 2011

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TWoods
Posts: 10014 - Karma: 8,386
Hey guys,

Just thought I would share, and see what you thought. Put up a new set on flickr of my submissions from last season. This was most of them. I was pretty happy with it... definitely not going to have this many shots for mags this year unfortunately. This season sucks.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11084378@N05/sets/72157629140494132/

Mar 3 2012 5:30PM
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freestyle180
Posts: 87 - Karma: 51
these shots are great ! what lighting set up??
Mar 3 2012 6:52PM
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TWoods
Posts: 10014 - Karma: 8,386
I use two AlienBee 1600s and a couple Nikon speedlights
Mar 3 2012 6:59PM
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Sklar
Posts: 8864 - Karma: 31,612
Are you strobing a lot of those daytime shots, or not really?
Mar 3 2012 7:01PM
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TWoods
Posts: 10014 - Karma: 8,386
None of the powder / bc ones, some of the park ones (where it's more obvious) and all of the urban ones I'm using strobes for.
Mar 3 2012 7:04PM
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1337
Posts: 31054 - Karma: 29,232
b1600's for sports? impressive!
Mar 3 2012 7:11PM
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Sklar
Posts: 8864 - Karma: 31,612
Makes sense

How are you getting such nice sharp shots with the background still properly exposed?
Are you using something to shoot at a higher sync speed?
I have always had the issue of blur at the 1/250 sync speed with a smaller aperture(number) or not having the BG exposed with higher(number) aperture.
Thanks
Mar 3 2012 7:13PM
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TWoods
Posts: 10014 - Karma: 8,386
crank the 1600 to full power, it has a short enough t.5 to freeze action, and overpowers sunlight. because of that, if I expose for the ambient light, the parts of the frame that are lit with strobes are actually a little over-exposed. If I shoot into the sun and it's lighting shadows the effect of shooting strobes in the day is more apparent, as the background can be a little darker.

depending on where in the frame I'm positioning the action, I can sync up to 1/650 using Paul C Buff triggers on the d300. one of the advantages of nikon is they do better with sync speeds. Although, because the shutter travels in the opposite direction of a Canon, if I am only trying to illuminate the top half of a landscape oriented frame, I have to turn my camera upside down... haha.

Mar 3 2012 9:31PM
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Sklar
Posts: 8864 - Karma: 31,612
i think i sort of get it, haha
i'm trying to wrap my head around this whole strobe thing
thanks for the help
Mar 3 2012 9:42PM
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.Ian.
Posts: 1568 - Karma: 72
Wow these shots are awesome! Some day I hope I can take photos as good as this! Haha

Also 1337, you said wow "alienbees for sports, i'm impressed", just wondering what do most guys use for sports? Just wondering so I can save up for the next few years... haha.
Mar 5 2012 9:04AM
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1337
Posts: 31054 - Karma: 29,232
b1600's are great strobes, all alienbees are. But the b1600's have really long flash durations compared to the b400 and b800 (both of which i own). If you read about how to use flashes for sports, you learn that the duration of the flash is used to freeze the action. when the duration is too long, you dont freeze very well.
Mar 5 2012 2:29PM
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TWoods
Posts: 10014 - Karma: 8,386
Which is why I pop full power all the time... haha. The duration at full power is 1/800, which is more than enough for any urban, and if I'm shooting long on a jump, or shooting wide and tracking the motion, I don't have issues with my subject or the background being offensively blurry.
Mar 5 2012 2:40PM
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1337
Posts: 31054 - Karma: 29,232
thats awesome news to see that they work at sports (when used correctly) after being told that they stink. But if i'm going that powerful, I'd probably get an einstein instead :D
Mar 5 2012 3:00PM
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RileySnyderPhoto
Posts: 688 - Karma: 1,451
My AB is a 1600 too but my key is a ranger which helps
Mar 5 2012 6:53PM
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.Ian.
Posts: 1568 - Karma: 72
Ok, that makes sense. I honestly didn't compare any of the flash duration's of any of the alienbee's. I thought you meant all alienbees for some reason, but that makes sense since the flash duration of the B1600's is longer, that Twoods fires them on full all the time. I've been doing some research on using strobes for sports and stuff lately. I'm still trying to remember everything basically haha. Thanks
Mar 5 2012 9:30PM
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1337
Posts: 31054 - Karma: 29,232
I'm writing up a flash and off camera strobing guide for the NS photographers cult right now, I'll post a link to it in M&A as well. Should hopefully cover everything from basics to durations to setting up shots etc
Mar 5 2012 9:33PM
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.Ian.
Posts: 1568 - Karma: 72
Oh that's awesome! I'll definitely read it! I want to just be able to remember all this strobe/flash stuff because this seems to be the one part of photography that I can't seem to remember/ comprehend as easily. I'll get it soon though! haha
Mar 5 2012 9:38PM
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gravel
Posts: 5518 - Karma: 42,202
Those are incredible. Love the corrugated pipe shot.
Mar 5 2012 9:44PM
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TWoods
Posts: 10014 - Karma: 8,386
yea, just remember with most (I don't want to say all because not sure it's true) strobes...

Strobes that are brighter have longer flash durations (makes sense right?)
If you turn up the power on your strobe so it's firing at full power, it has a shorter flash duration than if you have it turned down (doesn't make as much sense).

SO, at full power, a B400 has a much shorter flash duration than a B1600. But, it is not as bright... Where if you stopped a B400 down to quarter power (something like that) it would have the SAME flash duration as a B1600 at full, but it would be WAY less bright.

if that makes sense.
Mar 6 2012 2:52AM
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.Ian.
Posts: 1568 - Karma: 72
Yeah, that makes perfect sense! Alright, this is easier than I thought, haha. Then for sports, as 1337 was saying, it's all about using that flash duration to freeze the action. Whether it be cranking your B1600's to full to get the short flash duration (but more powerful/bright) or utilizing the short flash duration of a B400 but having it be not as powerful... right?
Thanks
Mar 6 2012 7:49AM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
I always thought the second part was the opposite way around, but when you think about it kinda makes sense, but then again not really. Lighting is confusing as shit but once you nail it it looks amazing.
Mar 6 2012 12:05PM
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