Continuous Lights & Metering

[jurgenestanislao]

Hi,

I mostly shoot table top still life and use continuous LED lights (Godox etc).

I've seen lots of works, mostly in advertising, where a single sheet (and scene) is exposed multiple times—correct me if wrong but some photographers call it 'pop' photography.

Nonetheless, how to best emulate this with modern continuous lights, asking for tips and/or techniques mostly, as I would like to better control my lighting (and spills) and better sculpt my subjects.

If I may add, turning on all my lights to completely light a scene and take one exposure (which might work in digital photography) tends to come out differently in film especially as some areas might come out too bright etc and burn out. Hence wanting to adapt so-called 'pop' photography or lighting techniques with modern continuous lights (dimmable).

Any help is much appreciated.

Jurgen

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[Pieter]

Photographers use multiple pops because their strobes are not powerful enough to give them the f-stop needed for a given set-up. The equivalent with a continuous source is a longer exposure. assuming you are shooting B&W or the color temperature of your lights does not vary, you should could control hot spots by dimming the lights that are causing them, using flags where necessary.

[Drew Wiley]

Some people prefer flash, some are more comfortable with continuous. Some use both. I never liked flash, so had Arri and Lowell hot lights, but they are, er... hot. I've just recently gotten some decent LED panels, primarily for copystand work. There is also the option of expensive HMI continuous lighting. Why not continuous? Tabletop shooting generally involves a confined area that doesn't need a hydrogen bomb to adequately illuminate.

[jurgenestanislao]

Some people prefer flash, some are more comfortable with continuous. Some use both. I never liked flash, so had Arri and Lowell hot lights, but they are, er... hot. I've just recently gotten some decent LED panels, primarily for copystand work. There is also the option of expensive HMI continuous lighting. Why not continuous? Tabletop shooting generally involves a confined area that doesn't need a hydrogen bomb to adequately illuminate.

Yes, currently using continuous dimmable LED lights. Do you make adjustments on development to properly control highlights? What I notice is that whenever I do have all my lights on, main light, fill lights, etc. there tends to be more reflective light on the scene causing a general blown out feel when I look at the negatives.

[gnd2]

Yes, currently using continuous dimmable LED lights. Do you make adjustments on development to properly control highlights? What I notice is that whenever I do have all my lights on, main light, fill lights, etc. there tends to be more reflective light on the scene causing a general blown out feel when I look at the negatives.

Landscape photographers control contrast of the negative primarily though development since they can't control the light. But using artificial lights on a tabletop setup affords you much more flexibility to control contrast of the scene itself through the positioning of various lights, using modifiers to alter the quality of the light, reflectors and negative fill. You also need to pay attention to the reflective properties of what you're photographing to light it appropriately.

The book Light: Science and Magic is an excellent source to learn how to control your lighting.

[jurgenestanislao]

Landscape photographers control contrast of the negative primarily though development since they can't control the light. But using artificial lights on a tabletop setup affords you much more flexibility to control contrast of the scene itself through the positioning of various lights, using modifiers to alter the quality of the light, reflectors and negative fill. You also need to pay attention to the reflective properties of what you're photographing to light it appropriately.

The book Light: Science and Magic is an excellent source to learn how to control your lighting.

Oh great, I have that en route from Amazon.com.

[C. D. Keth]

Yes, currently using continuous dimmable LED lights. Do you make adjustments on development to properly control highlights? What I notice is that whenever I do have all my lights on, main light, fill lights, etc. there tends to be more reflective light on the scene causing a general blown out feel when I look at the negatives.

I would only develop differently for studio work if I wanted especially to force the film into extra graininess. Otherwise, I just control my light to "fill" the dynamic range of the film when developed N. If you're in a studio setting, there's not much reason to do anything except control the negative by controlling your light. It's reliable, gives you excellent control once you learn how, and you can really accomplish anything your mind thinks up. I think you need to learn better how to control your lighting.

[jurgenestanislao]

I would only develop differently for studio work if I wanted especially to force the film into extra graininess. Otherwise, I just control my light to "fill" the dynamic range of the film when developed N. If you're in a studio setting, there's not much reason to do anything except control the negative by controlling your light. It's reliable, gives you excellent control once you learn how, and you can really accomplish anything your mind thinks up. I think you need to learn better how to control your lighting.

Yes I think so too. Thanks!

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[LabRat]

Sometimes color interiors would be shot with different color spectra lamps with different filters over lens one at a time on the same sheet, with different lights on and off...

For B/W tabletop, just leaving the camera open longer is the difference between multi pop strobes...

This can also effect overall exposure even if correctly calculated, as some individual exposure conditions cause different extreme effects on film...

Possible, but not recommended for normal shooting...

Steve K

[Pieter]

I do know of one photographer who would light large rooms, hotel lobbies and the like, moving his strobes and lighting section by section on a single sheet of film. Nerve-wracking, to say the least, but the images turned out very well. I'm sure it took him a while to perfect the technique.