One of the challenges when you want to shoot with a wide aperture while using studio strobes is either having too much strobe/flash power or you can’t get your sync speed low enough to capture the shot. You have several options you can try. A neutral density (ND) gel on the strobe will help cut the light, or a ND filter on the lens. You could just use the modeling lights and bump up your ISO. But, what if you want to shoot without using gels/filters and you want the strobe to fire. Well, you need a strobe with the capability of firing at very low watt seconds. I’ve used Alien Bees in the past and they were not bad, a few minor issues but for the price point, a good performer.

My friend Lisa brought over her new Einstein and we gave it a shot. This is a review of the Einstein, I can just tell you I was impressed with the performance during this session. My Elinchrom strobes would not power down enough allowing me to shoot with the settings I had in mind. We used the Einstein as the main light source. It was powered down to 2.5ws! This setting worked perfectly. It allowed me to avoid having to use any gels or filters, while still giving me the freezing power of the flash duration versus just using modeling lights. A medium octa was the main modifier. F

The Lastolite Tri-lite Reflector was used to provide bounce from under the main strobe.  It was placed about 2-3 feet below Christina and angled up until I could see the light
bouncing in her eyes.

The background lights were my Elinchrom 600rx’s with reflectors.  They were not firing, I used the modeling lights to provide the light on the sequin material. For $5 I was able to purchase the sequin material at a local fabric store.  Since I was shooting around F/3.2 , the limited depth of focus allowed me to blur the background while creating some very pleasing bokeh. 

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Thanks,

Frank