stobes and distance to subject

[matt215]

i've heard that strobes aren't really effective if your subject is more than about 10 feet away. If this is this case and I don't think that I'll be able to get closer than 10 feet to my subject, is it worth lugging those big things down with me? Also, are they beneficial for a wide angle shot like a wreck or a large school?

 

[Matt S.]

I dive in water so murky that my onboard flash is only good for macro, so I can't tell you about long distance. Even in macro, having light come in from the side and not from directly above the lens is a good thing. There's a reason you see guys with a couple of lights held well away from the camera on arms... it does help reduce backscatter and improve the overall lighting of the subject.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

I'm far from being a pro, but from all I've heard and read (and tried myself), no strobes will give you satisfactory illumination at 10 feet. Pretty much all shots using strobe illumination are taken from 5 feet or much closer. If you need to go beyond 6 feet, don't even think about strobes and shoot silhouettes instead. Especially for wrecks this is the way to go. For large fish schools you will need to get closer than 10 feet if you want your strobe to light up the silvery bodies. If that is not an option, use ambient light or shoot the school as a silhouette.

My 2 cents.

 

[diver 85]

Matt, 1st of all, they aren't really that big & no lugging to them...and 2nd, click my link, they were all shot with a YS 50 strobe on a (35 mm film) MM II EX camera...Esp look @ page 2, pic #10( 1st one on page 2)- That's the El Aquila wreck, should be about 60 fsw- possibly deeper, shot with a wide angle 20 mm lens...Also, these have not been photoshopped(yet)...only developed @ Walmart using their automatic processing........

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/69582

 

[Tollie]

Hi,

For Macro and fish portrats nothing can beat a strobe... especially below 20 feet. For WA work I have found that getting closer (much closer) than you think you need to be and illuminating the forground works... Let the background become progressively darker and so frame the forground.

The strobe will not be of much use beyond five feet... for WA shots I like to get no further than an arms length away. For wrecks just shut off the strobe and work with natural light. Oh... be mindful of the spread of the strobe light as well. I have found with my strobe (YS 110) that it seems to be rather narrow and well less than the advertised spread. I seem to get about 60 to 70 degrees.

No doubt for me WA and strobe is tough... but strobe illumination will really bring magic to your shots.