jahjahwarrior

For close up shots I've gotten good results from a powerful light and no strobe.

One thing I've been impressed with is just how fast and powerful strobes are. Strobes will make a full power flash in under 1/250 second--DS 125 is 110 watts. (Assume 100%of electrical energy is turned into lumens) I used to use a 12 watt light- in those same 1/250 seconds that 12 watt light only emitted .048 watts. 110 vs .048.....

Ikelites EV controllers give great control with optically synced strobes.

Using a Sola 800, I find that I play around with the levels constantly, depending on the shot.

If you are using manual focus, you need enough light for you to see by. What I find myself doing most is leaving the settings at the mid level, and thumbing between white and red. Sometimes, the red doesn't seem like enough to see clearly so I push it up to max. The white I mostly put to max when I'm under or inside of something and I'm using the sola as my only light.

Still for sale!

I do mostly cave diving photography, and I get this when divers face their bright HID primary lights (or LED or whatever technology...) at the camera.

The light comes in and reflects off the front of the lens, which then bounces off the inside of the dome and back into the sensor, showing up in my pictures.

Some people take thin velvet type fabric and put it on anything on the lense that's not part of the glass optics, but I also don't like bright lights blowing out the image so I just train models to shine their light to the side, and it gets rid of it most of the time.

The 2nd method is the better one. You don't need a monkey wrench, get the right size wrench and guard it with your life.

Get it nice and long, and apply a slow even pressure.

Don't put the valves on with very much pressure. Some say hand tight is right, but I think the proper torque is a bit more than hand tight. Also, use Cristolube or Tribolube on the threads of the valve when putting it back in the tank. You don't need a lot. (I think you could use silicone grease as well, if you aren't using anything but air in the tanks. Personally, I prefer to avoid it anywhere near my breathing gas)

Breaking valves is a sign that you are putting them on too tightly, and probably getting some galvanic corrosion between the threads of the tank and the valve.