Let there be light! Pt. II - You ask, we answer

[Hock]

Does anyone know what the first thread is called (to avoid repeat questions)? I am having trouble finding it

 

[UncleRico]

Does anyone know what the first thread is called (to avoid repeat questions)? I am having trouble finding it

Took me a few, but I found it.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...beginners-lighting-what-do-you-want-know.html

Advanced search--all posts started by Village Idiot.

Ryan

 

[fiveoboy01]

#1 - Will using a speedlight on my D60 allow me to utilize a higher sync speed than the pop-up flash's 1/200?

#2 - Theoretical... I want to photograph a subject and flank it on both sides with speedlights, or some sort of flash. How do I go about doing this... A) Physical setup? Two speedlights on two tripods? B) How do I remotely fire them? I assume something attaches to the hotshoe of my camera for this. I'm looking for the specific items I need. I'd like the ability to control each flash independently from the camera if possible.

#3 - What's a monolight and how does it differ from a speedlight? What are it's common uses?

 

[Village Idiot]

Hi, Village. Thanks for doing this. I have an Alienbees b800 with a shoot through umbrella and I'm ready to expand a little. I'm looking at another b800, but with a softbox. Do you think this is a good route? Eventually, I'd like to have a few more, but do you think this would be good for a two light setup, or is my money better spent elsewhere?

Thanks,

Ryan

A softbox would be a good investment. The Alien Bee's foldable softbox allows you to place a grid on it, which allows a soft directional light. Some what of an oxymoron, but it lets you control the direction of where the light is going. You also don't get spill with a softbox like you get with an umbrella. Just remember, the larger the softbox, the softer the light.

 

[Village Idiot]

I'm usually shooting around the house if I'm using the external flashes... Portraits of the daughters....

It could just be the optical slaves. Some just are more sensitive then other or are built better.

 

[Village Idiot]

OK, here's one, when shooting a group of 20 people, would I be better shooting through an umbrella or bouncing off the umbrella?

Equipment is limited, I have one monolight and two speedlights.

I've never shot a group that big but I'd shoot through. Make sure the umbrella is large enough or close enough to the light so you're not getting spill from it.

Personally what I would try is setting up the monolight in the middle of the group and pull it back to get the widest coverage possible and then place the strobes on the side to help boost the exposure where you'll be getting fall off from the main light.

A light meter would help a lot, so you could pop off the flashes and test the exposure to get it as even as possible.

 

[MikeBcos]

I've never shot a group that big but I'd shoot through. Make sure the umbrella is large enough or close enough to the light so you're not getting spill from it.

Personally what I would try is setting up the monolight in the middle of the group and pull it back to get the widest coverage possible and then place the strobes on the side to help boost the exposure where you'll be getting fall off from the main light.

A light meter would help a lot, so you could pop off the flashes and test the exposure to get it as even as possible.

Thank you! I have a flash meter so I will be able to measure the light.

 

[stsinner]

Opticals can be finnicky. What conditions are you generally shooting in?

Thanks, VI.. I'm usually (always) taking portraits of my kids indoors with my flashes on shoot-through umbrella stands.

 

[Village Idiot]

#1 - Will using a speedlight on my D60 allow me to utilize a higher sync speed than the pop-up flash's 1/200?

#2 - Theoretical... I want to photograph a subject and flank it on both sides with speedlights, or some sort of flash. How do I go about doing this... A) Physical setup? Two speedlights on two tripods? B) How do I remotely fire them? I assume something attaches to the hotshoe of my camera for this. I'm looking for the specific items I need. I'd like the ability to control each flash independently from the camera if possible.

#3 - What's a monolight and how does it differ from a speedlight? What are it's common uses?

1 - Yes. Nikon speedlights have a version of high speed sync which will make the strobe act like an actual strobe light. It flashes repeatedly to make sure the light hits the subject while the shutter is open. It uses more battery power and you lose flash power, but it's useful for when you're trying to kill ambient.

2- Want a picture? :mrgreen:

What's your budget? Do you have the strobes? You need light stands and adapters so that the strobes will fit on the light stands.

Impact 8' air cushioned light stand - $34.95 ea
Shoe mount umbrella adapter - $16.50 ea
Westcott 43" shoot through umbrella - $20.20 ea

Triggers range from $50 for a transmitter and two receivers to $600 for three. You could also try optical slaves or a sync cable. They all have their pros and cons.



Monolights are usually larger powered lights that have their powersource built in. Speedlights are the small strobes that fit in the hotshoe of a camera. Speedlights are generally put out about 60w/s where as you can purchase monolights that range from 60w/s to ranges up there at 1200w/s or more.

They generally have a much slower flash duration but they can have other features that make them better. They also have to plugged into a power source. If you do want a set you can use without a wall outlet, you have to but a battery. Setups are much more cumbersome than speedlights, but provide more power for the most part.

 

[stsinner]

Here's another one for you, VI, when shooting in AUTO (I know, I know..) and using my external flash, sometimes, not only does the flash not benefit the situation, but it will make the picture darker! Is this just my camera reacting to the unexpected light that it didn't see when it metered?

Also, I'll piggyback this question in this post so I don't get all annoying with the number of posts... Just trying to get the terminology down and make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing-Several times when I've gone to a studio to have family portraits done, they've had umbrellas with lights reflecting off of them constantly, then when they snapped the picture, it looked like the umbrella light flashed, too. Did I see this right, and what type of light is this?

 

[Samanax]

#1 - Will using a speedlight on my D60 allow me to utilize a higher sync speed than the pop-up flash's 1/200?

I'm a Canon shooter and don't know much about Nikon flash sync...a Nikon shooter will have to answer this.

#2 - Theoretical... I want to photograph a subject and flank it on both sides with speedlights, or some sort of flash. How do I go about doing this... A) Physical setup? Two speedlights on two tripods?

Two Speedlites mounted on two light stands (with swivel adapters for angle control).

B) How do I remotely fire them? I assume something attaches to the hotshoe of my camera for this. I'm looking for the specific items I need. I'd like the ability to control each flash independently from the camera if possible.

Do some research into the Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS). It may be able to do what you need...it may not.

NikonCLS.com

C.L.S.-THE FLASH REVOLUTION

Strobist: Lighting 101

Strobist: Lighting 102

Lighting Essentials

#3 - What's a monolight and how does it differ from a speedlight? What are it's common uses?

Wikipedia: Monolight - Basically, it's a self-contained studio strobe.

 

[Village Idiot]

Here's another one for you, VI, when shooting in AUTO (I know, I know..) and using my external flash, sometimes, not only does the flash not benefit the situation, but it will make the picture darker! Is this just my camera reacting to the unexpected light that it didn't see when it metered?

I'm not sure I know the answer to this. Are you shooting in TTL? Where are you shooting? If you're shooting where auto mode uses a shutter speed faster than the x sync, it could be that it's not even catching the flash. But the problem with that is that when you use a TTL flash on a camera, it generally won't let you increase the shutter speed faster than the x sync unless you have the high speed sync mode on, at least in the manual modes. I've never shot with a TTL flash on camera with the camera in auto mode. I could be completely wrong.

 

[Village Idiot]

I'm a Canon shooter and don't know much about Nikon flash sync...a Nikon shooter will have to answer this.Two Speedlites mounted on two light stands.

Yay! Backup. I'm hung over and about to go back to bed, but the posts keep coming. :mrgreen:

 

[Samanax]

Here's another one for you, VI, when shooting in AUTO (I know, I know..) and using my external flash, sometimes, not only does the flash not benefit the situation, but it will make the picture darker! Is this just my camera reacting to the unexpected light that it didn't see when it metered?

I've seen this happen if the flash is set to TTL and there is a highly reflective object in the shot...the flash bounce-back tricks the TTL system into thinking enough light has been applied and it shuts down the flash too early. Usually happens when you shoot a mirrored surface. If you have to get the shot you gotta go manual.

 

[stsinner]

I'm not sure I know the answer to this. Are you shooting in TTL? Where are you shooting?

No, I wasn't in TTL mode-I was using the cheap flash that I bought in eBay and started that thread about where I was amazed at its usefulness. It's a Digital Concepts flash. I was shooting indoors, so I thought that maybe the flash made the scene so bright all of a sudden that my camera metered incorrectly.