Strobe use for close ups

[diverrick]

I have the D-2000 strobe and have been having some trouble getting good close ups with out burning out the pics. To date I have tried to correct this issue by turning the strobe down as far as it will go, then disengaging the strobe from it's mount, and holding it back over my head, to allow for some distance from the subject.. This is, of course, a pain in the rear end, plus other divers look at me and wonder if I have lost my mind.. how do the rest of you folks deal with this issue. I have considered adding a filter over the strobe, but have yet to see one for the inons. Plus with all the extra lenses/equipment I carry, adding a new strobe filter would not be a preferred method.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

You've told us about your strobe. Now tell us about your camera settings: aperture, shutter speed, ISO. Exposure is a result of manipulating all of those parameters. In addition to turning down the intensity of your light source (strobe), you can avoid overexposure by: selecting a lower ISO number, a smaller aperture, a faster shutter speed, or any combination of these.

Let us know how it goes...

 

[bvanant]

Except for the faster shutter speed Bubble Trouble has good advice. In general, turning up the shutter speed will have no effect on the amount of light that the strobe adds to the picture since the strobe pulse is very short and especially at low power. If you are burning out pictures at f22 and ISO 100 then the next answer is a diffuser. You can buy them for your strobe or make one from a plastic milk bottle and some rubber bands. Set up some flowers on your desk and play around with all of the options. Get familiar with what power works on land then you can make adjustments in the water. For what its worth, I almost always wish I had a bit more power not less and that is with considerably larger strobes but I am shooting at F22 and ISO 100.