I have a lot of questions!

[Stacylouwho]

I have pretty much done well with outdoor photography, but am looking into lighting equipment that I can use with a fast shutter. I will be taking some martial arts pictures for our local class in a few months. It will all be indoor. So I need lighting equipment and a backdrop and stand. first off I have no idea where or what kind of lighting I need, but I would like something very reasonable in price as well. So any and all help would be appreciated!

 

[tirediron]

What does "very reasonable" mean to you in terms of dollars and sense? If you're shooting indoors, you really don't need HSS; the flash will freeze the movement.

 

[Stacylouwho]

What does "very reasonable" mean to you in terms of dollars and sense? If you're shooting indoors, you really don't need HSS; the flash will freeze the movement.

I would like to stay under $200 for everything. I have a yongnuo flash but it only allows me to go up to 200shutter. They will be doing fast kicks and flips in the air that I will need to be catching.

 

[Derrel]

Again.... a 1/200 second shutterspeed is fine if the athletes are lighted by FLASH lighting...the flash's duration ought to be around 1/1100 second to 1/4000 second, somewhere in that range, depending on a few factors. With the flash fairly close to the athletes, from 10 to 20 feet from them, you ought to be able to FREEZE motion quite nicely using the flash unit as the main source of lighting.

 

[Stacylouwho]

Okay, so it will be indoors and there will be window light and ambient lighting also... will that change things?

 

[Derrel]

LIkely not....a typical flash exposure setting will usually UNDER-expose the window light.

FLASH at say, full power, camwera at ISO 200, lens at f/5.6, shutter at 1/200 second, ought to put you 4,5,6 stops "under" the ambient lighting, but dead-on for the flash. So, the answer is likely, NO, the window lighting will not be a factor.

 

[Stacylouwho]

Okay! Luckily I can practice ahead of time. I will try out the tips you gave me and see how it goes! Thanks for all the help!

 

[Stacylouwho]

Oh also.. any tips on where to order a backdrop that is good quality?

 

[Designer]

B&H, Adorama, Amazon, etc. You can get a roll of backdrop paper for around $50 plus shipping, but you're going to need a holder for it. I think your budget might be blown.

 

[KmH]

Yep.
It's about $100 for a backdrop stand setup.
Impact Background Support System - 12' Wide
107" x 12 yard seamless paper is now about $70 a roll, + shipping if you don't have Prime or are a member of KelbyOne.
Savage 107X12-1 Seamless Background Paper, 107-Inch x 12 Yards - Super White']Amazon.com : Savage 107X12-1 Seamless Background Paper, 107-Inch x 12 Yards - Super White : Photo Studio Backgrounds : Camera & Photo

A basic light stand for an off camera flash:
Impact Light Stand, Black - 6' (1.8m)

Which model Yongnuo flash unit?

 

[tirediron]

Save up a little more money; get yourself to the $1K mark and you can get a nice set-up with three Flashpoint monolights, stands, modifiers, triggers and backdrops. Life will be MUCH easier. It's not all about the gear, and you can do with less, but a little more just makes life easier.

 

[KmH]

Be aware that when using manually controlled flash (which is why I asked which Yongnuo model you have) the flash exposure is controlled with the lens aperture and the shutter speed controls the ambient light exposure.

Using flash takes doing photography to a higher artistic and technical level. It helps a great deal if you have a solid fundamental understanding of how the camera works and how to control exposure.

 

[TCampbell]

To Derrel's point, when you use flash, things work a bit differently.

1) The reflex mirror swings clear and the shutter door slides open -- but the camera isn't collecting much light.
2) The flash fires - and this is usually a very brief burst of light. E.g. 1/1000th sec is a good ballpark guess (but it'll very with flash model and the power level you set)
3) The shutter door slides closed.

So while the shutter was "open" for 1/200th sec, the light from the flash was only present for maybe 1/1000th sec ... and that burst of light tends to freeze the action.

Whether or not you can detect any blur would depend on the fraction of ambient light as compared to the amount of light needed to make the exposure.

In other words... suppose I meter the room to find some exposure that would work even without any flash at all. Now suppose that we deliberately use exposure settings that underexpose the room by 5 stops.... but we also add a flash. You now have a situation where the subject will have a "frozen" moment in time captured by the flash. Technically there may be some blur, but it's heavily underexposed and you're unlikely to notice it.

But a bit of motion blur can really add to the appeal of a shot.

So suppose we adjust the exposure on the camera so that the room is only underexposed by 1 stop... and we still use flash. Now our subject will be correctly lit by the flash, the room is underexposed (but only by 1 stop) and any blur created by our subject will probably be visible... but it'll be dim (underexposed by 1 stop) relative to the flash which is nicely lit and freezes the subject for that moment in time.

The problem you'll likely notice with this blur is that it seems to run ahead of the subject -- and that looks strange. This happens because of the default sequence the camera uses when it uses a flash at any speeds slower than the maximum flash sync speed.

Suppose your max flash sync speed is 1/200th. But suppose we decide to shoot a 1/50th instead (four times longer exposure). The sequence will happen like this:

1) Reflex mirror swings clean and shutter door slides open.
2) Flash fires - likely very brief moment in time... e.g. maybe only 1/1000th sec (actual time varies by model and power level)
3) Camera now waits... keeping shutter open until the 1/50th sec time runs out.
4) Shutter door closes.

Since the "wait" happened after the flash fired, any blur from motion would be captured after the flash fired and that means the trail of blur appears to run ahead of the subject.

Many flashes have a "second curtain" shutter mode (sometimes called "rear curtain" mode). This mode simply swaps steps 2 & 3... the "wait" occurs at step 2 and the flash fires *just* before the shutter closes. This causes the blur to appear "behind" the subject instead of "ahead" of the subject. It actually looks more like what your brain expects to see.

Again, you won't see this blur unless the ambient exposure setting is fairly high. (in other words ambient light contributes only just slightly less than the light contributed by the flash itself.)

 

[tecboy]

If you do get a two stands for a backdrop, spend a little extra money on air cushion. Without air cushion, you will have to hold the tip or upper clamp while you release the lower clamp. Just prevent injury to your hand. You will be not happy with these two stand, and you will ended buying another two. The stands with air cushion are good long term investment.