Studio Lighting

Image Verification · Jul 13, 2005

My wife and I are just getting into digiatal photography. We are interested in starting our own wedding photograpy business. So far we have a Canon Digital Rebel XT, a telefoto lens, tripod and have just gotten a small umbrella lighting set off of ebay.

I created a small studio in our living room to play with and learn the new equipment and have so far not been able to figure it out. One of the 2 bulbs is a slave only, and the other can act as either a slave or as a master. The 'master' bulb came with a cable that is meant to connect it to the camera to trigger the flash (except it doesnt fit...).
As of now, I have been able to get all 3 flashes to fire (bulitin flash on rebel, and 2 umbrella flashes) and have played with their locations, but any picutures taken have shown little to no light from the 2 umbrella flashes. I have moved them closer, further, higher, lower, anywhere that i could think, but it makes no difference at all.
I have mainly used the auto feature on the camera (for simplicity) but have also tried with different shutter speeds, so far the best results were at 1/80 second.

I know i left something out... but if you could, please help!

Big Mike · Jul 13, 2005

Welcome to the forum.

I'm no expert on studio flash but here I go anyway... :roll:

Shutter speed only effects how much ambient light gets recorded. The flash burst is much faster than the actual time the shutter is open. So the other factors that we have to control the amount of light recorded from the flash are the aperture, strobe output and ISO setting. Keep in mind that you can't set the shutter faster than the X-sync speed though.

The Rebel XT is a consumer level camera...so I don't know if it has a PC socket to plug in strobes. You can get an adapter that slides into the hot shoe though.

Lighting and especially flash photography can be a complicated art, I suggest going to the book store or library and getting some books on the subject. The fundamentals have been the same for years so don't worry about a 'digital' book for now.

It's good to see that you are trying to master your equipment before starting your wedding photography. I'm sure you will get lots of advice on this topic but I was kind of worried after reading your first sentence. You will need to have more than a Rebel XT and a telephoto lens to shoot wedding. Back-up equipment is a must, what if your camera stops working during the event? What if your lens falls and smashes? What if that lens just wont work in a situation? You will probably need a good accessory flash (& a backup) because the on-camera flash won't do and you can't use your studio gear in a lot of situations. Don't forget about lots of batteries & memory cards...you will want backups and backups for your backups. I don't mean to discourage you...just to make sure you are prepared.

Image Verification · Jul 13, 2005

Well... you gotta start somewhere right?

My wife and I just got married January 1, and we really dont have a lot of money. For the time being we are just doing photograpy as a hobby. There will be a lot involved with trying to start up a business, such as a portfolio. Our plans are to offer a very cheap (maybe free) wedding package just so that we can build up our portfolio, we will do so with the disclaimer of such occurances such as malfunction of equipment.
We currently have serveral memory cards and 2 batteries for the camera, once we start making money from the business we will put it towards a second camera (this time a prosumer one) and other equipment. Also before we do any weddings we will get an additonal flash, such as a speedlite 420ex (seems to be the best value

rice ratio).

Fits of Fancy · Jul 28, 2005

I have another question about studio lighting.

I will be doing my first banquet job in Sept. I will be filling in for a vendor who cancelled. The plan is to have the recipients receive their award on stage and then slip behind the curtain (Oscar-style) and I will photograph them using the back of the curtain as a drop. I'd like to use a two light slave set up, but before I purchase or rent my lighting equipment, can anyone recommend a wattage to use?