Finally dipping my Feet into artificial lighting - SB600 or something else?

[JonA_CT]

To add to the depth of field post above -- I find myself shooting pictures of my dog around F8.0 anyways, because with his snout, I can't get a sharp picture nose-to-ears unless I do..

 

[Stradawhovious]

To add to the depth of field post above -- I find myself shooting pictures of my dog around F8.0 anyways, because with his snout, I can't get a sharp picture nose-to-ears unless I do..

Many of my dog portraits are shot at f/11... same reason.

Shooting wide for DOF isn't important in this situation, getting the shot you want is. You want the whole head of the dog in focus, and still blow out your background? Easy. Shoot a long focal length, get close to your subject, and get some distance between the subject ant the backdrop... BAM! In focus from the tip of the snout to the back of the ears, and the backdrop is nice and blurry.

 

[Braineack]

85mm, f/11
not entirely in focus.


Ruby by The Braineack, on Flickr


Max by The Braineack, on Flickr

 

[table1349]

I will only add this: Strobist

Yes, I did come across that blog in the past and know it to be very useful. Unfortunately, the flash recommended by the blog (Lumopro LP180) isn't available anywhere as well.. Maybe I should consider buying from the amazon US website, let's see. Thank you!

The strobe recommended was for price/power purposes. Cheap with decent power. You can follow the methods and recommendations with any strobe. I use two 580's and 4 sunpak 383's. No longer made either. Works just fine.

 

[Raj_55555]

+2 for SB-800. I personally own 4

A bit beyond my budget I'm afraid!

On the dof thing, generally, not always, but the idea of a backdrop is to have what you want behind your subject, and narrow dof is less important in this scenario

Thanks Jaomul, this saves me a few bucks on the 50mm lens

I say use your present lens, get the Meike 910 flash, and scrounge up some largish white board like poster board or "foamcore".

As always, your post is spot on! Not only does it answer all my questions, your last line helped me decide my next course of action. I'm getting a meike 910! Thanks for dof lessons too

because with his snout, I can't get a sharp picture nose-to-ears unless I do..

Another thing to consider, no 50mm now then

Many of my dog portraits are shot at f/11... same reason.
Shooting wide for DOF isn't important in this situation, getting the shot you want is. You want the whole head of the dog in focus, and still blow out your background? Easy. Shoot a long focal length, get close to your subject, and get some distance between the subject ant the backdrop... BAM! In focus from the tip of the snout to the back of the ears, and the backdrop is nice and blurry.

Makes Sense to me, and that's what I'm going to be doing!

85mm, f/11
not entirely in focus.

And yet more reasons for me to not invest on faster aperture for this.. Beautiful dogs I'll add!

 

[Braineack]

And yet more reasons for me to not invest on faster aperture for this.. Beautiful dogs I'll add!

yeah, but i still wanna sell you my 50mm 1.8G...

 

[Raj_55555]

An interesting find!
Kris ( @coastalconn ) any suggestions based on your experience with the meike 910? Do you still have it, or did last less than a month!

Also have to look up whether it'll work off camera with the Nikon D7000..

 

[coastalconn]

An interesting find!
Kris ( @coastalconn ) any suggestions based on your experience with the meike 910? Do you still have it, or did last less than a month!

Also have to look up whether it'll work off camera with the Nikon D7000..

I had purchased a second one before I switched to Canon. My friend has them now and they still work just fine he added some YN triggers to them for off camera and they work great still... And they do work with CLS and using the camera as a commander..

 

[Raj_55555]

An interesting find!
Kris ( @coastalconn ) any suggestions based on your experience with the meike 910? Do you still have it, or did last less than a month!

Also have to look up whether it'll work off camera with the Nikon D7000..

I had purchased a second one before I switched to Canon. My friend has them now and they still work just fine he added some YN triggers to them for off camera and they work great still... And they do work with CLS and using the camera as a commander..

That seals the deal, getting one! Thanks everyone..

 

[coastalconn]

An interesting find!
Kris ( @coastalconn ) any suggestions based on your experience with the meike 910? Do you still have it, or did last less than a month!

Also have to look up whether it'll work off camera with the Nikon D7000..

I had purchased a second one before I switched to Canon. My friend has them now and they still work just fine he added some YN triggers to them for off camera and they work great still... And they do work with CLS and using the camera as a commander..

That seals the deal, getting one! Thanks everyone..

The only negative I remembered was the second one would eat batteries if you left them in the flash. Even if it was turned off. I also just noticed a note on Amazon saying they don't work if you have red-eye reduction turned on in the camera. But overall for the price they perform very well!