How Light Is Used To Create Images-3(Update)

Note: It is interesting with Dynalite filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy a while ago, the current crop of new photographers and the increased sensitivity to light of new digital sensors, might indicate that the market for new studio lighting equipment has reached a saturation point. Many photographers are relying on their portable strobes to take the place of older, more powerful units. You might be able to pick up some decent, used units on eBay. But, like everything on that auction site, you have to know exactly what you are looking for and also the shape of any used unit you may buy. Most eBay purchases can be returned, if you look at them and set them up as soon as you receive them. Run them. Test them to make sure that everything is in working order. If something doesn’t work properly, you must deal with it immediately so that you don’t lose the money you invested. With that said, there are often great deals available in used equipment. I have often said that “light is light.” It doesn’t matter what produces it, as long as it is reliable. A few of my older Dynalite flash generators are over 30 years old and are still working great!

How Light Is Used To Create Images-3(Update)

by William Lulow

In the old days, most studio photography was done with theatrical hot lights. And, they were just that…HOT. Flash has actually been around almost since the beginning of the photographic process in the early 1800s. Photographers used a mixture of potassium chlorate with other substances and ignited it in a flash bar to produce a brief, intense flash of light. Sometimes it was accompanied by a loud noise as well.

Photographers always knew that they sometimes had to add light to a scene to make it register on slow films and emulsions.

 After that came the flash bulb which was a glass bulb that contained crumpled up aluminum in an environment of oxygen. It was ignited by an electric current produced from a battery. Today’s electronic flashes are made with a small flash tube that contains xenon gas that is ignited from an electric charge produced by modern batteries. It produces a short, bright flash of light.

In the past, it was difficult to synchronize the flash with the camera’s shutter. The camera had to be mounted on a tripod and the lens opened before the flash was ignited. Later, it was also hard to synch the flash with the shutter. There was a “B” (bulb) setting that delayed the opening of the shutter for a fraction of a second until the flash bulb reached its peak of illumination. Today, modern electronic flash units can be synched to fire instantaneously when the shutter opens.

It is important to understand the basics of artificial light before one begins to work with electronic flashes, but most people will just go out and buy a small flash unit that can fit in their camera’s hot shoe and just snap away. Flash units that are mounted onto cameras, or the built in flash units that accompany most modern cameras are limited in the kind of light they provide. The light comes from the same spot as the camera and produces a harsh, flat light that is basically only good for illumination, that is, to provide light when there is not enough ambient light to take a picture.

If you want to begin to be creative with your use of light, you will need to purchase one or more units that can be operated OFF the camera. These will have to be mounted on light stands or placed in other positions around the studio or wherever you are shooting.  

Here are a few studio electronic flash units:

These are the flash “heads.” Here are the “packs” that generate the electricity:

These boxes take electricity from a normal wall outlet and produce a current to each flash head so that it can generate an intense, bright, instantaneous light which can be used to produce excellent images. These are fairly expensive, but provide great light in just about any location.

With all this being said, years ago manufacturers developed what they called “monolights.” These were studio-quality electronic flash units that had the generator and the head in one, compact unit. Here is an example:

This is a Dynalite “Baja” unit. I think it’s capable of about 400 watt/second output, which is probably enough for any studio application today. It can also be used with large umbrellas. Back in the days of film, which was much less sensitive to light than today’s digital sensors, power generators in the 2000 watt/second category were the norm. My portable Sunpak 120J units are about 100 watt/seconds each and they are sufficient for many shoots. The only problem with them is that they don’t have large enough reflectors for good studio use and it’s difficult to use them with my large, photographic umbrellas. 

These are the Sunpak 120J flash units. They can work on AA batteries, but most photographers use larger, lithium ion units. So, whatever flash units you use, just make sure they are sufficient for the types of photographs you take most.