power adjustment on flash heads

[nikon.norm]

Hi Guys
Newbee here with what some of you may think is a daft question, however your advice will be appreciated. Literally just taken delivery of a Lencarta smartflash200 2 head kit and hoping to play with my new toy in next few days. Studio flash is completely new to me and a thought has gone through my mind that needs clarification
When adjustments are made to the power output on the flash head to compensate for under/overexposure, do I make the same adjustment on both flash heads ?
Stumbled onto this site a few days ago and can’t stay away from it – seriously impressed with the wealth of knowledge and experience and hope that someone may be able to give me some help and guidance.

Regards
nikon.norm

 

[Garry Edwards]

No. Setting the same power to each flash head would give you equal lighting from both, assuming that each is fitted with an identical modifier at identical distances from the subject - and even if that's the case, the results would be very flat and bland.

Set up ONE flash head in whatever position gives you the effect you want in terms of shadow placement etc, then adjust the power setting until you get correct exposure at something like f/8.

Then, if you want to use the second flash, place it where it will act as a fill light, filling in any excessive shadows caused by the main (key) light - typically this is placed where the camera is - and set the power to minimum. Take a shot and see what you've got. If it hasn't lifted the shadows enough for your taste, increase the power a bit and try again, repeating the process until you're happy.

 

[nikon.norm]

thank you Garry, you were very helpful when I ordered this kit. If I start the main head at say F8 and find a suitable exposure but find that the lens needs to be stopped down to obtain a deeper depth of field, presumably the process will be repeated until a suitable power setting has been found.
My initial initial thoughts on this kit is that it is well built, sturdy and gives pleasing results. I have a feeling that I will be a regular visitor here.

NN

 

[Garry Edwards]

Yes, that's right. If you want a smaller aperture to increase the depth of field you need the flash head to output more light, so you turn the power up. You should have enough power for any normal aperture in any normal situation with your camera set to 100 ISO, but can always increase the ISO if necessary.

As a general rule, regardless of the aperture settings available on your camera, it's a good idea not to go smaller than f/11 on a cropped sensor camera, or f/16 on a full frame sensor, because at apertures smaller than these you're likely to start losing sharpness due to diffraction limitation.