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inSANe DIEGO · #10 (**permalink**) 11-02-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeyondTheImage

So what he's saying isn't actually incorrect, it's just another way of doing things? Not harder or easier, just different.

He's saying a little with a lot. I didn't read it in depth- just quickly scanned. I didn't see anything that was specifically incorrect with respect to theory and ratios. I have to agree with Stan that a 5:1 ratio is pushing it. That's pretty darn dramatic. My two light ratios are usually a strong (because I like contrasty images) 3:1. By that I mean that it's close a 4:1, but probably not fully there. Without a flash meter I couldn't tell you what exactly it is. When I setup up I use Identical strobes and cut the power to get an initial ratio. Then I back the fill off or push it up to fine tune to the look I want.

One thing I did notice however, was that while what he describes is in fact a setup using three lights, it's not what I would consider a three light setup. Three lights to me would be three lights on the subject. ie. main, fill, and kicker. Or, main, fill, and hairlight. A third light on the background doesn't necesarily influence the light hitting the subject, (especially in his description) therefore it's just creating a background effect. The same kinds of differences could be made by switching from a black to a white background...as an extreme example.