strobes for fisheye lenses

I'm shooting a Nikon D200 in a Subal ND20 housing. I've been less than satisfied with the coverage I've been getting with my dual Sea & Sea YS-110s, especially when using my fisheye lens (Nikon 10.5). I'm fairly new at wide-angle photography and can't say that I've fully figured out strobe placement. However, I would like to hear from others about their experiences and any advice you can pass along. Thank you! --Bill

Can you elaborate on your actual strobes placement set up, such arms lenght, direction of the strobe, are they pointing straight on, inward or outward, the distance from you and your typical unsatisfied result subject.

there is tons of people shooting these strobe with fisheyes, so I am sure a bit of tweaking in your work flow will improve your results, also you can dig in the forum file for post on strobe placement.

as an exemple, when shooting a fisheye very close to the subject (like +/- 1ft) I will tuck in my strobes very close to the housing, slightly pointing outward and making sure that the flash tube of the strobes stay behind the port flange to minimize backscatter.

If you dont have one already, do get a good focusing light, the ones built in the strobes are useless, typically, if you illuminate the subject with the built light of your strobes, then you are actually spilling light in front of your subject and lighting up a bucket full of suspended crap, so mine are always out on the strobes and the strobes are pointed in such a manner as to have the edge of the strobe beam slightly overlapping each other.

For subject further away, I point the strobe in the same fashion as my car headlight, pointing straight away (and always behind the dome flange (use you grips as a do not cross that line reference).

Cone_of_darkness.pdf

This illustrate the light pattern when using the built in modeling light of the strobes

Modeling_light.pdf

Can you elaborate on your actual strobes placement set up, such arms lenght, direction of the strobe, are they pointing straight on, inward or outward, the distance from you and your typical unsatisfied result subject.

 

there is tons of people shooting these strobe with fisheyes, so I am sure a bit of tweaking in your work flow will improve your results, also you can dig in the forum file for post on strobe placement.

 

as an exemple, when shooting a fisheye very close to the subject (like +/- 1ft) I will tuck in my strobes very close to the housing, slightly pointing outward and making sure that the flash tube of the strobes stay behind the port flange to minimize backscatter.

 

If you dont have one already, do get a good focusing light, the ones built in the strobes are useless, typically, if you illuminate the subject with the built light of your strobes, then you are actually spilling light in front of your subject and lighting up a bucket full of suspended crap, so mine are always out on the strobes and the strobes are pointed in such a manner as to have the edge of the strobe beam slightly overlapping each other.

 

For subject further away, I point the strobe in the same fashion as my car headlight, pointing straight away (and always behind the dome flange (use you grips as a do not cross that line reference).

 

Cone_of_darkness.pdf

 

This illustrate the light pattern when using the built in modeling light of the strobes

 

Modeling_light.pdf

Nice answer Jean, thanks.

But you missed one strobe position, mini dome and subject almost touching the glass. You need to point the strobes slightly inwards.

Right, at that point its almost a macro lighting situation, you can get so close that backscatter should be next to nil, just don't overdo it, as it can turn sour if they are too inwards.

Also, be aware that these are the basic bread and butter lighting setups, these rules can, and should, be broken for more creative lighting.

Thank you, Jean. This helps tremendously, especially the diagrams. It's encouraging to hear that others are using these strobes effectively with fisheyes. Based on your explanation, I believe I've been positioning my strobes out too far. I keep them aligned more or less straight ahead but about 10-12 inches away from the camera (I'm using 5-inch plus 8-inch arms at about a 30 degree angle above the camera plane). On my next trip, I will try bringing them in and adjusting the alignment as you suggested. Do you actually mount the aiming lights directly to your strobes?

(I'm using 5-inch plus 8-inch arms at about a 30 degree angle above the camera plane). On my next trip, I will try bringing them in and adjusting the alignment as you suggested. Do you actually mount the aiming lights directly to your strobes?

Another option is to try using only one arm. I have found this to be a good option for adjusting lighting in wide angle as well as decreasing backscatter issues.

Let us know how this turns out - Pam

I mount my focus light directly on the housing (center) but if I did shoot more video, I would certainly get a second one and move them next to the strobes