Laws of Light: Balancing Strobe Light with Ambient Light

[@savn1313]

Great way to simplify this!! The way you worded things just made so much sense. People over complicate this.

[@TheSlantedLens]

Thank you. Glad it was helpful!

[@James-tt7vg]

You are the best on the web !!! The Best.

[@TheSlantedLens]

Thanks for the compliment James!

[@adjustedminds8410]

Last picture was nice without photoshop

[@Babz29er]

Yes it was better without photoshop

[@shaun_rambaran]

I'm so happy to see the ace quality all of these more recent videos. It felt like we'd gone into a little slump for awhile a few months ago. I started wondering if maybe there were personal challenges Mr. Morgan was wrestling with which showed in a reduced quality of work. Even the interactions with the talent had seemed to have gotten awkward or absent. But definitely seeing these days that he's back! It's like we have the old Slanted Lens again! A marked improvement; It makes me very happy! Keep clicking away, JP! You've taught, influenced, and inspired so many lives all around the world. Thank you so much.

[@TheSlantedLens]

Hi Shaun, Thank you so much for your care and support over all this time! It truly means a lot! All is well over here on TSL and we are so excited about the new videos coming your way! Really appreciate you being a part of this community.

[@explorer9239]

Top advice. As always. Many thanks!

[@TheSlantedLens]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for your comment!

[@skooter3409]

You made it so easy!! Thanks so much!!👍👍

[@TheSlantedLens]

You are so welcome! Thank you for your comment!

[@erh]

Such a good easy step solution. Thanks for that!!

[@TheSlantedLens]

You're welcome! Glad you found it helpful!

[@CostaMesaPhotography]

Very nice presentation of the subject matter

[@TheSlantedLens]

Thank you!

[@kencrisp6333]

Jay is correct in saying ambient light is controlled by the shutter speed, but does not affect the strobe exposure in this scenario, but that's only if you're not going beyond your camera's fastest "normal" shutter sync speed. What's not mentioned in most tutorials like this one is that that principle is out the window if you are shooting in High Speed Sync (HSS) mode, where the shutter speed will affect the strobe exposure.

[@TheSlantedLens]

That is true. Thanks for sharing!

[@wa7sca]

Nice idea for a photo shoot and beautiful results. Thank you!

[@zadyv]

Beautiful photos!! Thanks

[@TheSlantedLens]

Appreciate that. Thanks for your support!

[@eviem70]

You are amazing, JP!

[@TheSlantedLens]

Thank you so much, Eva!

[@AndrejValko-HeadshotPhotog]

Good work! Isn't it better to balance the ambient first though? Especially during the day as one often goes into the high speed sync where shutter speeds above 1/250 will impact the power output of the flash.

[@garyhammond5267]

Not critical, but for those that need to know what ISO? Did you change it for nightshots?

[@socialinfluence9525]

I absolutely love this. Would be a great touch for engagement photos I'm doing soon. Glad I discovered your channel.

[@TheSlantedLens]

Thank you so much! So happy you'll be able to apply this to the engagement shoot. Keep in touch on social media and let us know how the shoot goes!

[@houstoninternationalmedia3408]

What type of strobe is he using because since when does the output of your strobe automatically adjust to your shutter? Is he shooting TTL? I always pick my aperture, then adjust my shutter for the ambient, and THEN adjust the power on the strobe.

[@officialseaside6746]

Some of those would look just like a painting if you put them on canvas. Gorgeous!

[@socialinfluence9525]

I agree.

[@TheSlantedLens]

Thank you so much!

[@mikestanovich1414]

what about shutter sync speed?

[@movieman2009]

What would using exposure compensation do to this in plus or minus ?

[@MrCochise71]

Nice. Keep killing it with the great vids!

[@TheSlantedLens]

Thank you so much! Any video requests?

[@MrCochise71]

@@TheSlantedLens outdoor product photography would be great. Specifically around golden hour. With a model as well.

[@TheSlantedLens]

@@MrCochise71 Awesome! We will add this to the list. Thank you!

[@MrCochise71]

@@TheSlantedLens awesome!

[@tw9535]

Great shots, Jay P!

[@TheSlantedLens]

Thanks so much Wilson!

[@MartinV.]

Great Video!

[@Shanyn001]

What about sync speed?

[@andreak4280]

great vid!! thank you

[@TheSlantedLens]

Thanks so much Karen!

[@rebecca1848]

Really informative and great tips for a great result. How important do you feel time of day/sunlight is to achieving the best result?

[@TheSlantedLens]

Thanks so much Rebecca. It really depends on what you're going for. In this shoot, it was fun to play with the drastically different lighting situations and still get great results with each. If you want something more consistent though, mornings tend to have less harsh lighting and you have more hours of consistent light.

[@rebecca1848]

@@TheSlantedLens Thank you!

[@michaelbartello6121]

Wouldn't going from 1/60 to 1/80 darken the background (ambient)? Or am I not thinking straight?

[@enduraman1]

yeah the guy made a mistake. the faster the shutter speed the less ambient light comes through. He made the shutter faster which should darken in the background not lighten it as he said.

[@michaelsparkskeegan1597]

Thats a pretty big error for him to miss not only when he made it but then again during post. Not impressed.

[@jp_davis]

Sounds like he was saying 160th as in 1/160 and he brought it down to 1/80 (1 stop)

[@889media]

He is talking so fast that his mouth (or my ears) can't keep up ;) First it sounded like he said "one sixtieth" - 1/60, and then you would be right and he made a mistake in what way would darken/lighten the background. But he might have said "one sixty" and that would be 1/160 - and that would be correct. When he changed the settings though, he said "one sixty" and that he was changing it "one stop" to 1/80... and that would of course light up the background by one stop

[@houstoninternationalmedia3408]

Thought I was the only one that noticed that.

[@chilecayenne]

Are you using any gels on the strobes?

[@sdfth491]

Question related to softbox setups, whats your recommendation for keeping a softbox upright on a windy day?

[@TheSlantedLens]

Put a sandbag on the stand and/or take a piece of rope and tie it off with a tent stake or have someone hold it.

[@rbbatac3604]

How about the ISO? What would be the effect if ISO will be adjusted?

[@felixfong6532]

Exposure wise, ISO has the same effect as aperture.

[@jkjorstadmoen]

Make more videos of this type, with creative, fantasy, light and special effect, photo shoot.

[@TheSlantedLens]

You might enjoy more of our videos about using smoke: www.youtube.com/@TheSlantedLens/search?query=smoke

[@bobniel8314]

Well, so I learned something new!.. just about all the other videos I see on this subject say that you set up the shot for ambient first, then adjust the strobe. I see that your method works too... I don't suppose it matters what you do as long as it is in balance. I guess the only thing that you change is either the shutter speed, or the strobe intensity while keeping ISO and Aperture the same.

[@TheSlantedLens]

Glad you learned something! There usually are multiple ways to accomplish things!

[@chadsexinton]

How do you match your strobe with aperture?

[@TheSlantedLens]

You dial the intensity of the strobe up or down until you get the correct exposure on the persons face. You an use a meter to test and see when it matches your aperture or look on the back of your camera. I like the meter personally.

[@LittleBirdie888]

Wow. Your so good!

[@TheSlantedLens]

Thanks for the compliment and thanks for watching!

[@ErebosGR]

Great tutorials. I preferred the last shot without the post-processing.

[@TheSlantedLens]

Thank you! Appreciate your thoughts on that.

[@DmitryBrodsky007]

How do you set a strobe at certain aperture? That step is missing. Sekonic light meter?

[@LightSubscriber]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2qzg5WwdtmNe5I this Sekonic video covers the subject in detail, using several different meters

[@zorama7679]

Amazing but i like the shadow a little darker pn the last shot.

[@TheSlantedLens]

Thanks Zoram. Really appreciate your thoughts. Have you done a shoot like this?

[@zorama7679]

I had been trying... Lol

[@gbwalther3198]

Forget the strobe and the ambient light. All I want for Xmas is one of the great Concrete Cinder Blocks. With that heavy weight I can get a great follow up shot of a 1930 Model A sinking into a lake like in the opening scenes of Psycho. I'll just duct tape-gorilla tape--the block onto the camera which will be attached to the Waterproof Case. That way it won't sink too fast--that is the camera. I'll cut a hole in the ice covered lake. Slowly push the car onto the frozen ice. It will be so much fun watching the car through the electronic view finder of the camera sink while I'm in my Scuba gear getting this great follow shot. Of course, there will be a big fight between Ford Motor Company and Tesla as to who should get the ad rights to this amazing video. Credit roll at the end will state: "Thanks to the Concrete Cinder Block" furnished by The Slanted Lens.

[@TheSlantedLens]

That sounds like quite the project! Keep on clickin!

[@stevec1256xp]

seems straight forward but I'm confused on one point. In determining the flash power for the desired aperture, you do need a shutter speed that you say you don't set until you seek the desired level for the ambient.

[@TheSlantedLens]

I just put it at 1/250 which is the fastest that you can sync at. Now I cancel out as much of the sun as I can and I can see how my Strobe is working.

[@danphilipf.hernandez9977]

No mention of ISO?

[@TheSlantedLens]

The ISO was at 100. You should see it throughout the video. Possible I could have gone up to 200 or 350 but not beyond that.

[@FunTimesWithSkylarAndNick]

Random question Jay P.. are you in SLC? I saw the sticker on the case and was curious....

[@TheSlantedLens]

Hey Nick! We are actually based in Los Angeles!

[@aFLYER1980]

Guessing base ISO???

[@DiviPhotos]

Great video

[@AniThingFilms]

*The lady is literally Katy perry .. AND THEY GUY HAD NO IDEA WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT*

[@socialinfluence9525]

She does look like Katy! So pretty.

[@TheSlantedLens]

Haha! We will pass on the compliment to Devyn!... and that's okay. Most people have no idea what we are talking about. haha!

[@ronspeer]

+Gavin Hoey, does this shoot look vaguely familiar? LOL

[@danistudio360]

Yessss

[@Noealz]

always looking forward to your videos : )

[@TheSlantedLens]

Thank you so much!

[@nitin110377]

Thank you Sir for helping us, Please make this content more simple for the newbies. I am a hobbyist photographer and would like to learn it in detail.

[@TheSlantedLens]

That's awesome! We make lessons for all skill levels so keep following along and you'll pick up a lot of tips to grow your photography skills. Let us know if you have any lesson requests!

[@thekaiser4333]

The grassy knoll...

[@sadamisah8679]

please can you slow down a lil bit when talking? aint getting most of it. Thanks

[@TheSlantedLens]

I will work on that. Thanks for watching!

[@leftistliberalsupreme3052]

First.

[@HassanDibani]

Congrats

[@TheSlantedLens]

Nice one Daniel! Thanks for being on it!

[@ianlaurenson4729]

it is a bit sad copying the Gavin Hoey video

[@TheSlantedLens]

Oh interesting! Just checked out Gavin's video and it is great! But we actually shot this on June 13th, before he released his Bonnie and Clyde video. Funny coincidence!

[@junger613]

Funny. I wanted to also put a reference to Gavin’s video. Although it’s not sad but it’s kind of funny.

[@daubs20]

Slanted Lens does not "copy". Period!!!

[@ianlaurenson4729]

check the release date of the Gavin Hoey video . period !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! or are you to stupid