JMASTERJ
TPF Noob!
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- Jul 29, 2012
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No big deal. Make sure the flash you buy has a servo mode OR buy a hot-shoe optical trigger (one a buck on Ebay). You won't shoot in daylight (because optical triggers suck in daylight) but indoor it works great. Just keep the on-camera flash at minimum power, so that it does not affect your photo (unless you need some fill light).No hot shoe so...... ?
As a geek myself, I can assure you that being an IT guy will help you understand that stuff (I did an Excel sheet with logarithms to understand what an F-stop is and an I wrote code simulating light hitting an object before I really felt comfortable with the definition of hard vs. soft light... but that's another story), but grasping the theory is not everything. I've been reading tutorials for 3 months or so, but every time I convince a friend to pose for me for an hour or so (it happened about three times up to now), I'm EXTREMELY disappointed of the results.
An advice I can give you: pick the LARGEST room you can find. Small rooms suck for learning. You get a ton of light reflected back and forth between the walls and it mixes in the direct light from your umbrella. As my place is not huge and all walls are white, I've tried convincing a friend to pose for me in the night in an uncrowded location, so that there would be no reflection. But guess what... girls are not comfortable giving smiles and sexy looks in deserted places in the middle of the night... Can you blame them?
Ciao & good luck!
Haha wow, nice... you're awesome! Unfortunately I understand this is basically like learning how to golf, u not gonna go out there and even hit a 200 yard straight drive for at least weeks, maybe months, trust me, I know, LOL, but not that I am disrespecting the photography profession (ugh oh, I know....) but first, I dont have time to go through thousands of shots and improve like that, and maybe I didnt word it properly in my op, but this project of mine is nothing like shooting Giselle for the cover of Vogue or something... one typical shot I think I would have is an underwear shot that frames between the upper stomach to mid-thigh... I will have almost no facial shots, and if I do, I actually dont care how the face turns out because thats not the focus. I know this may be heresay to some model photographers out here and there, but I am doing this for a specific purpose, and I know I will have to accept "good enough" here more than anything, because frankly, I dont have time to learn or to wait for the project to get under way, so I am screwed either way. So I will be more than happy to spend tons more time later to learn more about high end pic taking, but for now, I will just need stuff that is good enough for clients/visitors to see the product and I'll have to accept that, just like 15 years ago I had to accept that I will not be breaking 80 in my first year of golf, even though I would not e against it.
And ya, the room thing, again with time as premium, no budget, unfortunately it has to be a basic small bedroom for privacy and control. Dont worry, when I started making thousands a week, I'll rent a studio to shoot! But again, I doubt that will actually lead to increased sales! And this girl will do whatever I tell her to do, so no problem there, haha.
On the no hot shoe problem, there's the possibility of using the camera's flash to trigger the slaves built into the off camera lights, though you'll have to be careful about it lighting your set in a bad way. Perhaps the use of a small flag and mirror system could divert the flash to one or both of the off camera flashes, and also away from the scene you're shooting.
A bit of DIY action with something like this: Amazon.com: Seagull SYK-5 Wireless Remote Flash Slave Trigger with Red Eye Reduction: Camera & Photo taped over the camera's flash, then use the PC sync port on it to connect to a wireless remote trigger, like this: Amazon.com: Yongnuo RF-603 C1 2.4GHz Wireless Flash Trigger/Wireless Shutter Release Transceiver Kit for Canon Rebel 300D/350D/400D/450D/500D/550D/1000D Series: Camera & Photo using a cable like this: Amazon.com: ePhoto PC2PC 12-Inch Male to Male Flash PC Sync Cable Cord: Electronics would sync the external flashes without affecting the scene, but you'd want to be careful that covering the flash like that wouldn't cause it to overheat and melt something.
Trying to do this on the cheap, without getting a proper D/SLR to shoot with, is going to be painful, I think.
Yes, yes, understood, and again I would love to spend more etc., but not possible... but I do like your suggestions. Off of this, someone else had suggested on an even lower budget, how about using about 4 (500W) halogen worklights, and shine them through a thin white sheet set up around the shot? I heard some photo students do this as well. Cost would be under $50 and I can adjust. I know this is a totally ghetto set up, but all I care is the shot turns out "good enough."
Oops... I checked...
http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/DMCZS1.PDF
No manual mode and no way (that I could see) to adjust exposure (aperture and shutter speed) manually. I'm afraid you're out of luck.
I suggest a really old SLR. You can get a Nikon D40 with AF kit lens for less than the flash will cost you. Image quality far superior than the Lumix. No other way that I can see from the manual
Ya all it has is some scene modes, white balance settings, and ISO settings, thats it.
Haha talking about THAT, how about my camera that I havent used in years... my lovely Canon AE-1 Program? I loved that camera... if they still sell film, I have a decent flash for it too. But the thing is, so I take it with that, then what... I scan it in? Then I lose quality through my scanner and waste more time in the process for a possibly slightly better result, if that. If I could hook that up digitally I'd use it in a heartbeat!!!
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