Freezing motion in the studio

Today I'm going to share 3 tips for freezing motion in the studio.

I often work with different material in the studio, from water to powder, glitter etc. Using a flash doesn't automatically freeze your subject perfectly still, so special care needs to be taken to ensure you are able to capture the action.

Enter Flash Duration — The length of time that the flash tube emits light for a single burst.

When freezing motion in the studio, the faster the flash duration the more it freezes motion.

It gets a lot more technical than this... so if you'd to really get into it, check out this article from Sekonic: http://blog.sekonic.com/2017/05/11/demystifying-flash-duration/

So how can we freeze action in the studio?

Tip 1: Avoid or reduce ambient light — When the ambient light is too bright, you're going to get ghosting or motion blur because that constant light is going to be registering in your frame. Turn off the lights, close your curtains, maybe even turn down the power of your modeling lights. You're also going to want to shoot at your near your camera's sync speed which will reduce the ambient light.

Tip 2: Faster flash duration through lower power — flash duration is tied to flash power. So if you have your power turned up really high the flash is going to be on longer to give you enough light. This isn't always ideal though.

You can experiment and chimp but to make things easier I recommend using the Sekonic L-858D-U light meter which measures my flash duration and exposure for this shoot.

Through taking the proper meter readings, I was able to determine that lowering the power of the strobe = a faster flash duration which helps freeze the subject. Since you lowered the power of your strobe you will probably have to bring your light source in closer or bump up your ISO.

Tip 3: Faster flash duration through freeze mode — Some strobes specifically offer a freeze mode such as the D2 strobe from Profoto.

The takeaway here is two fold. If you plan on photographing dancers, moving subjects, or things that require you to really freeze the motion and capture every detail than invest in a flash capable of a fast duration and a meter capable of taking the readings, it just makes things that much easier.

The setup:

1. Main light w/ Beauty dish - F9
2. Fill light w/ Zoom Reflector + blue gel - F6.3
3. Rim light (from behind) w/ barn doors - F11

The flash duration was around 1/8700th of a second to really freeze the water.

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Gear:
Canon 5D IV: https://adorama.rfvk.net/3aJnn
Canon 24-105mm: f/4: https://adorama.rfvk.net/KG0ne
Canon 180mm Macro: https://adorama.rfvk.net/j4Bk0
Sekonic L-858D-U meter: https://adorama.rfvk.net/KGWDx

Lighting Gear:
Profoto D2: https://adorama.rfvk.net/qvB7y
Profoto barn doors: https://adorama.rfvk.net/PgWPY
Profoto beauty dish: https://adorama.rfvk.net/NJNOV
Rosco gels: https://adorama.rfvk.net/e2b6j

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Website: http://lindsayadlerphotography.com
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Learn to Master Studio Lighting: https://lindsayadler.photo/msl-you

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Видео Freezing motion in the studio канала Lindsay Adler Photography