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PIET VAN DEN EYNDE

PIET VAN DEN EYNDE

Advanced Use o O-Camera Flash

(2)

Contents

Contents

i: Introducton

i: Introducton

2.2:

2.2:

More Modiers

More Modiers

3:

3:

Ten Case Studies

Ten Case Studies

.:

.:

Going Beyond Sync Speed

Going Beyond Sync Speed

2.3:

2.3:

Thinking Outside the Sotbox

Thinking Outside the Sotbox

 4:

 4:

Four Interviews

Four Interviews

.2:

.2:

Working With Multiple Flashes

Working With Multiple Flashes

2.4:

2.4:

More Useul Stu 

More Useul Stu 

5:

5:

Conclusion

Conclusion

2.1:

2.1:

Advanced Triggering Systems

Advanced Triggering Systems

2.5:

2.5:

Outgrowing Your Small Flashes

Outgrowing Your Small Flashes

PIET VAN DEN EYNDE PIET VAN DEN EYNDE

Advanced Use o O-Camera Flash

(3)

Contents

Contents

i: Introducton

i: Introducton

2.2:

2.2:

More Modiers

More Modiers

3:

3:

Ten Case Studies

Ten Case Studies

.:

.:

Going Beyond Sync Speed

Going Beyond Sync Speed

2.3:

2.3:

Thinking Outside the Sotbox

Thinking Outside the Sotbox

 4:

 4:

Four Interviews

Four Interviews

.2:

.2:

Working With Multiple Flashes

Working With Multiple Flashes

2.4:

2.4:

More Useul Stu 

More Useul Stu 

5:

5:

Conclusion

Conclusion

2.1:

2.1:

Advanced Triggering Systems

Advanced Triggering Systems

2.5:

2.5:

Outgrowing Your Small Flashes

Outgrowing Your Small Flashes

PIET VAN DEN EYNDE PIET VAN DEN EYNDE

Advanced Use o O-Camera Flash

(4)

In

InMaking LightMaking Light, the rst part o , the rst part o 

this two-part eBook, we

this two-part eBook, we

introduced o-camera fash,

introduced o-camera fash,

using typical hotshoe fashes,

using typical hotshoe fashes,

as a way o improving not only

as a way o improving not only

the quantity o light but, more

the quantity o light but, more

importantly, the quality.

importantly, the quality.

O-camera fash may look complicated and

O-camera fash may look complicated and

intimidatin

intimidating at rst, but g at rst, but it needn’t be: you justit needn’t be: you just

need some basic technique, some gear, and

need some basic technique, some gear, and

some vision, just like in any

some vision, just like in any other discipline o other discipline o 

photography (and any art, or that matter).

photography (and any art, or that matter).

In the technique department, we discussed

In the technique department, we discussed

the main characteristics o light, and

the main characteristics o light, and thethe

important physics ormulas that all light,

important physics ormulas that all light,

including fash light, is governed by.

including fash light, is governed by.

In the gear chapters o the

In the gear chapters o the rst eBook, we intro-rst eBook, we

intro-duced a couple o

duced a couple o ways to trigger an o-cameraways to trigger an o-camera

fash and introduced you to a

fash and introduced you to a couple o modiers.couple o modiers.

Finally

Finally, in the last , in the last part, we discussed ninepart, we discussed nine

setups that were all taken with a

setups that were all taken with a basic o-basic

o-camera fash set, consisting o one remote

camera fash set, consisting o one remote

fash, an umbrella, and a small sotbox.

fash, an umbrella, and a small sotbox.

In this second eBook, we’ll dive a

In this second eBook, we’ll dive a little deeperlittle deeper

into the matter: we’ll cover some more advanced

into the matter: we’ll cover some more advanced

techniques and introduce you to some extra

techniques and introduce you to some extra

modiers. W

modiers. We’ll add more fashes to e’ll add more fashes to our setup,our setup,

either bundling them or power or setting them

either bundling them or power or setting them

up in dierent places or added

up in dierent places or added eect. We’ll stilleect. We’ll still

be working mainly with Speedlights, Speedlites,

be working mainly with Speedlights, Speedlites,

or other brand hotshoe fashes (just more o 

or other brand hotshoe fashes (just more o 

them), but we’ll also touch upon some

them), but we’ll also touch upon some

alterna-tive portable fash systems. The ocus will be

tive portable fash systems. The ocus will be onon

location lighting and portraiture, because ater

location lighting and portraiture, because ater

all, that’s where these little

all, that’s where these little wonders… shine.wonders… shine.

Ten new case studies will show you how

Ten new case studies will show you how

these new concepts can be added to

these new concepts can be added to the onesthe ones

we discussed in the rst

we discussed in the rst eBook to take real-eBook to take

real-lie shoots to the proverbial next level.

lie shoots to the proverbial next level.

But it’s the nal part that may very well be the

But it’s the nal part that may very well be the

most interesting. In the last chapter, we’ll let

most interesting. In the last chapter, we’ll let

you look into the minds, portolios, and camera

you look into the minds, portolios, and camera

bags o our Belgian photographers, some o 

bags o our Belgian photographers, some o 

which are known worldwide or their work with

which are known worldwide or their work with

o-camera fash. I hope you’ll nd these our

o-camera fash. I hope you’ll nd these our

interviews as rereshing and stimulating as I did.

interviews as rereshing and stimulating as I did.

1

1

Introducton

Introducton

^

^

A shutter speed o 1/500 was used

A shutter speed o 1/500 was used

to reeze this dancer in

to reeze this dancer in

midair

midair

. His

. His

let side is exposed by the sun. On

let side is exposed by the sun. On

his right side, just out o

his right side, just out o

rame, is a

rame, is a

Westco

Westco

tt 28-inch sotbox with

tt 28-inch sotbox with

three

three

SB-900s at ull power. Setup shot

SB-900s at ull power. Setup shot

© Serge Van Cauwenbergh (www.

© Serge Van Cauwenbergh (www.

sergevancauwenbergh.com). I love

sergevancauwenbergh.com). I love

the poetry o the setup shot

(5)

... Hgh-Speed Sync

Every camera has a sync speed (sometimes reerred to as X-sync or synchro-X): it’s the astest shutter speed that will allow you to eectively trigger a fash without run-ning the risk that part o your picture is not exposed by that fash. For most mod-ern DSLRs, this sync speed varies between 1/200 and 1/250 o a second.

Using aster shutter speeds in combination with fash will give you a black eathered stroke across one edge o your exposure, be-cause the fash is hitting the already closing shutter instead o the sensor. For this reason, the non-manual modes o your camera will normally prevent you rom accidentally going beyond your sync speed when using fash. Yet, there are times when you’d want to have a aster speed. For one, higher sync speeds mean your fash eectively becomes more powerul in relation to the ambient sunlight. Because, as we know rom volume

1, the shutter speed controls the ambient, the aperture controls the fash, right? Let’s assume that you have a scene at 1/250 @ /11 and that in order to light your subject in this environment, your fash is already at ull power and you still don’t get enough light out o it. Your rst move might be to move the fash in closer, using the inamous inverse square law to your advantage. Now let’s say that this is not possible. I only your camera were capable o synchronizing at 1/500 (i.e. one stop aster), you’d be able to open up your aperture one more stop. The ambient exposure would

be the same, but the photons rom your fash could now travel through a wider aperture, so it would eectively become twice as powerul. This is one reason why a camera like the Nikon D70, with its “mere” six megapixels is still hot with o-camera fash shoot-ers: it’s got a sync speed o 1/500.

This example also shows a second reason why higher sync speeds can be interesting: the higher your sync speed, the more wide open your aperture can be or any given scene. I  you’re doing a portrait outdoors, you very oten

don’t want the background to be too distract-ing. Wide open apertures such as /2.8 or wider will give you that. But these apertures require ast shutter speeds, or… your scene will already be overexposed by the ambient light only. Now, beore you all rush over to eBay and drive up the prices o used D70s even urther, there’s some good news: many o the new cameras and fashes can work in what’s called high-speed sync. Without getting into details: at aster shutter speeds, both curtains o  your shutter travel together over the sensor, revealing only a slit o the sensor at a time.

More Advanced Techniques

.. Gong Beyond Sync Speed

^

From let to right: ash fred at 1/200, 1/320 and 1/500 o a second. Traditionally, fring a ash at speeds higher than the camera’s sync speed will cause a part o the rame to be blacked out. Normally, this is an unwanted eect, but i you know you won’t be needing that part o your image anyway, ‘overclocking’ your sync speed like this can be a way to achieve aster shutter speeds without having to resort to High Speed Sync.

(6)

To build up your ambient exposure, this does not matter, but when you throw fash into the equation, this is what gets you the black banding. Simply put, high-speed sync does the ollowing: instead o r-ing one big fash pulse, your fash will pulsate repeatedly, so each slit o sensor that the two moving shutter curtains reveal will not only receive ambient exposure, but also the right dose o fash expo-sure. This way, fash-lit exposures o up to 1/8000 are possible!

High-speed sync isn’t only interesting or shallow depth o eld photos, where the ast shutter speed is the by-product o the large aperture you were ater. Ater all, you could also obtain that by put-ting a neutral density lter (a light stopping lter) or, in a pinch, a polarizer on your lens. These can also allow you to open up your aperture without getting over 1/250th o a second.

When photographing ast action, such as certain sports or the typical ice cube alling into a glass o water, it’s the ast shutter speed that will be your primary interest. Again, high-speed sync is the answer. Unortunately, there’s no such thing as a ree lunch— high-speed sync will cost you twice: rst o all, you’ll need a more expensive brand (or brand-compatible) fash and your camera has to support the eature, too. Secondly, high-speed sync also costs you in terms o  total fash output. A fash at ull power in high-speed sync will produce less light than at or below sync speed, so you might need more fashes to get to the same exposure. Still, it is a antastic eature to have and allows or truly unleashed fash creativity.

The ability to go into high-speed sync could be a reason or you to avour certain brand fashes over their manual counterparts.

Some manuacturers have high-speed sync turned o  by deault on their cameras, even i the camera itsel  allows it. Check your camera manual. I always en-able it on my cameras. Just know that it eats a lot o  power and that i your fash doesn’t give you the output you’d expect rom it, there’s a big chance you were— maybe inadvertently—working beyond sync speed. The Nikon and Canon inrared wireless fash system we discussed in Making Light allows or high-speed sync.

More Advanced Techniques

... Hgh-Speed Sync – contnued

.. Gong Beyond Sync Speed

Nikon calls this technique Auto FP High

Speed Sync. Canon reers to it as High-Speed

Sync. Because that’s less o a mouthul, that’s

what we’ll call it rom here on in, too.

Case 2 in chapter 3 shows an

example o a dancer splashing 

up water, where a shutter

speed o 1/2000 was used to

reeze the water drops.

(7)

More Advanced Techniques

... Hgh-Speed Sync – Ths One Goes To /8000!

.. Gong Beyond Sync Speed

1Using an 85 mm 1.4 or 1.8 at /11 is

actually a lot like driving a Porsche on a supermarket parking lot. On a

Ambient-only exposure against the sun, noon on

a sunny day. The subject is backlit and the ace

underexposed. Luckily, the umbrella that happened

to be standing by or the three ollowing shots acted

as a refector, otherwise the ace would have been

even darker. But there’s something else missing in

this portrait: catchlights.

Nikon D700 | 85mm /1.4G | 85mm  /2.8 @ 1/4000s | ISO 200

Lit with an umbrella’d fash at the traditional sync speed. In

order to avoid overexposure, a relatively stopped down aperture

o /11 was needed on this 85 mm 1.4

1

. The umbrella puts a nice

catchlight in the eyes, but notice how the small aperture makes

the background busy and distracting.

Nikon D700 | 85mm /1.4G | 85mm | /11 @ 1/250s 1 SB-900 fred through a white umbrella

Virtually the same overall ambient level, only this time,

high-speed sync was used. The aperture was opened up to /2.8,

driving the shutter speed to a staggering 1/4000. Thanks to the

wonders o High Speed Sync the background now is dreamy and

blurry, and, along with the backlit hair, provides extra separation

o the subject, a very willing and patient Van den Eynde Sr.

Nikon D700 | 85mm /1.4G | 85mm | /2.8 @ 1/4000s

1 SB-900 fred through a white umbrella at ull manual power in high-speed sync modefred through a white umbrella

Opening up the exposure (as simulated here in

Lightroom) by two stops would make the ace

look better, but the background now becomes

distractingly bright and the green loses a lot o 

its pleasing colour saturation.

Nikon D700 | 85mm /1.4G | 85mm  /2.8 @ 1/4000s | ISO 200

(8)

The new PocketWizard ControlTL system, consisting o the MiniTT1 transmitter & FlexTT5 transceiver, which we’ll discuss in the gear chapter, is also compatible with Canon’s and Nikon’s high-speed sync. Even better, PocketWizard has come up with a technology called HyperSync (not to be conused with “normal” high-speed sync). A rst advantage o this proprietary technology is that it allows you to increase the sync speed o many cameras rom 1/250 to 1/500 (or even slightly above) with less power loss than typical high-speed sync induces. Another plus is that this technology can allow manual non-brand fashes and bigger studio strobes to be used at higher than nor-mal sync speeds, albeit at the cost o reduced fash output. For more inormation on this revolutionary eature, check out the PocketWizard website (hyperlink:)

http://www.pocketwizard.com/inspirations/technology/hypersync_psync/

In classical studio portrait lighting, you’ll generally learn to work with three studio strobes: one as a main or key light, a second one as a hair light and a third one as a background light. In these cases, sometimes a refector will be used to refect some light into the shadowed areas the key light is causing. This is not written in stone, how-ever: you might also decide to use a fash as a ll light. Adding fashes enhances your options and lets you put more depth into your images. Say you have a model in dark clothes in ront o a dark background. In order to separate her better rom the background, you could use an extra light source to light the background separately or light her rom behind (so-called rim lighting). All the examples in part 1 o this eBook, Making Light, used just one fash, mostly as a main light or as a ll light, when the sun itsel acted as the main light. Case 9 in volume 1 even showed you how to use the setting sun as a separation light.

Still, even when you’re working outside, you’ll not always have a setting sun handy to serve as a separation light. In those cases, a second fash comes in handy. Make sure you’re comortable using one o-camera fash beore adding a second and a third. I’d also advise you to build up your set one fash at a time, like we explained in volume 1: start with the ambient and set it to the level you want it to be at. Then add the rst fash and adjust its power until it adds what you want to the scene. Only then add the second fash and repeat the procedure.

More Advanced Techniques

... HyperSync

... Multple Flashes or More Control

.. Gong Beyond Sync Speed

.. Workng wth Multple Flashes

^

I you think this was shot into the setting sun,

quickly head over to case 5.

(9)

The Anatomy o a Multi-Flash Setup

There’s a reason why Nikon and Canon allow or up to three dierent groups in their inrared triggering systems and why the new PocketWizard ControlTL system does so, too: three lights is a typical studio setup. In this example, we’ve replicated this setup using small fashes: one main light, a.k.a. key light (

 A

), attached to a LumiQuest SB III sotbox, one hair light (

B

), tted with a Honl grid, and one background light (

C

), equipped with a Rogue Grid rom ExpoIm-aging. I’ve used a small sotbox because I wanted the lighting to be sot but dramatic. You could o course use a larger modier and crank up the power o the fash or a more open, high-key look. There are countless other variations on this theme.

More Advanced Techniques

... Multple Flashes or More Control – contnued

.. Workng wth Multple Flashes

A typical three-light setup: one

main light (

 A), one rim light

(B), and one background light

(C). By assigning these three

lights to separate groups in

your triggering system, you can

change their power remotely

rom your camera, or even turn

some o the lights o altogether.

(10)

More Advanced Techniques

... Multple Flashes or More Control – contnued

.. Workng wth Multple Flashes

^

In this image, the

ambient exposure did

not contribute.

ISO 200, /14, 1/250s.

^

The main light was

red through a

LumiQuest SB III sotbox

placed relatively close.

The light was eathered

away (i.e. directed not

straight towards but

turned slightly away

rom the model), giving 

sot but dramatic

shadow contrast.

Main light at

quarter power.

^

A rim light gives

shine to the hair and

some denition to the

head o the model,

making it stand out

rom the background.

Rim light at 1/64 power.

^

Finally, adding a

background light

allows you to lighten

up the background

to taste. Adding a

grid makes or a

natural vignette.

Background light at

hal power.

(11)

As described beore, it’s good to tackle a multi-light setup one by one. You start with any ambient expo-sure you want to be present in the scene (in this case, at 1/250 o a second, /14, and ISO 100, there was no ambient light recorded in the picture. It’s a good thing to be consistent in your groups: I always use group A or the key light, B or the rim light and C or the background light. I you’re working with the PocketWizard ControlTL system, the AC3 ZoneCon-troller is a great (and at $79/€79, relatively aordable) accessory: it allows you to change the power settings o up to three groups o fashes by turning a rotary wheel, as opposed to diving into the menu o a com-mander fash. It works very ast and eciently.

By working with a white background (I’ve used the Lastolite HiLite here, but only as an ordinary white background, i.e. without ring fashes into it as it’s supposed to be used and will be shown in para-graph 2.2.3) and by dedicating a separate background fash to it, we can make the background anywhere rom pure white to pure black by varying the fash output (and the shutter speed, i necessary). It’s also easy to change the atmosphere o the picture

by adding a colour gel to the background light.

Some studio photographers have dedicated (and expensive) spots that allow them to project dierent patterns onto a background in order to make it look more organic. A ocusing system allows or a choice between a sot or clearly outlined pattern. With some experi-mentation, you can do something similar much cheaper: by placing any object in between your background fash and the background, you can achieve similar results. Here I used some bamboo leaves rom my garden. The closer you put your fash to this so-called gobo (rom ‘go-between’), the more diuse the shadows will be.

More Advanced Techniques

... Multple Flashes or More Control – contnued

.. Workng wth Multple Flashes

The ZoneController ts

on top o the MiniTT1

transmitter and lets you

quickly switch the settings

o up to three groups rom

o (0) to manual (M) or TTL

(A). The three rotary

click-wheels then allow you to

dial in the manual output

or the desired TTL fash

exposure compensation.

Putting a colour gel in ront o the background light can totally

change the look o your picture. You can choose matching or

contrasting colours. From let to right: Steel Green, chosen to

match the sweater, Follies Pink and Oklahoma Yellow rom

the Rogue Grid lter line.

Firing your background fash through a plant can make or

interesting organic shadow patterns on the background.

(12)

Nikon D700 | 24-70mm /2.8G | 26mm | /22 @ 1/250s | 3 SB900s at ull power triggered by a PocketWizard Plus II on a Lastolite TriFlash Sync.

     1  .      2  .      2  .

(13)

Another reason or adding more fashes to your light setup might be to combine them into one more powerul light source. Doing so gives you a higher total light output o  course, but even when you don’t need it, you get aster recycle times because two fashes only have to work hal as hard to give the same output as one fash does! 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32... Are you see-ing a pattern here?

Noon on a sunny day is the most chal-lenging time or o-camera fash, at least when you don’t just want to ll in the shadows but really want to overpower the ambient sunlight. The idea or this shot was to underexpose the ambient light and then bring up the dancer with a straight, hard fash. I used a PocketWizard Plus II to trigger my three remote fashes, set to ull power, as I eared the optical way o triggering might be un-reliable in bright sunlight. Using the “old”

PocketWizards (or any o the standard cheap radio triggers that don’t allow or higher sync speeds) meant that I was limited to a sync speed o 1/250. This meant in turn that my aperture would have to be really small (/22) to overpower the ambient light, which would in turn severely limit the eect o my fash, even at ull power. F/22 is a pretty small aperture or a fash to put its photons through! So I lined up three fashes on a light stand to camera let. Going rom one ull-power fash to two ull-power fashes will give you one extra stop o light, i.e. you’ll be able to expose your subject the same, whilst taking the ambient exposure one stop urther down. In other words: it will allow you to go rom /4 to /5.6, or rom /16 to /22. Going rom two to three fashes only adds hal  an extra stop. To add another ull stop, you’d need to add two more, not just one, bringing the total to our. Want to add yet another stop o light? You’ll need an extra our, putting the total to eight, and so on...

When your fash is at ull power and you still need more light, you have to double the number o fashes or every extra stop o light you want. Adding fashes to your lighting setup is one thing, but you also have to nd a way o physically managing them. A plethora o options exist, holding any number rom two or three, to our and even eight small fashes. We’ll look at some options in the ‘Gear’ section. Another challenge is to get all these fashes triggered simultaneously. You might think you need as many triggers as you have fash-es, but there are workarounds – stay tuned. I you stack up multiple fashes to unc-tion as one stronger light source and you don’t use a diuser o sorts, watch out or ugly multiple cast shadows. I  you have no choice, try to put them as closely together as possible or pre-pare or some Photoshop overtime!

More Advanced Techniques

... Multple Flashes or More Power

.. Workng wth Multple Flashes

^

Watch out with dual or triple undiused fashes: even

the toughest skater would become araid o his own

shadow when he suddenly appears to have our arms

and our legs!

(14)

Even when you’re not yet working at ull power, adding more fashes to create a more powerul light source can be a good idea: dividing the workload among several fashes will make it easier on each individual fash, saving battery lie, increasing recycle time, and preventing overheating.

Adding up fashes like this does become costly ater a while, especially i you work with brand fashes like Speedlights or Speedlites. I you oten nd yoursel in scenarios like this, it might be the time to invest in a portable strobe set with a bat-tery pack, such as the Elinchrom Ranger Quadra or one o the other systems we mention in 2.5 ‘Outgroing your small fashes’.

More Advanced Techniques

... Multple Flashes or More Power – contnued

.. Workng wth Multple Flashes

^

The Elinchrom Ranger Quadra manages to pack 400 watt seconds (about the equivalent o our SB900s or 580 EX IIs) into a small

and lightweight package. For many photographers that start out with small fashes, this kit is the next step up. I you want even

more power, almost every manuacturer o studio strobes has a battery pack, but those are beyond the scope o this eBook.

Size can become an important characteristic

or choosing a fash when you start to work

with more than one: there’s a big dierence

 between packing our SB 900s versus our

(15)

2

Gear

In volume , we saw that a complete o-camera starter fash set can cost as little as $250, including a manual fash, a fash

 bracket, and an umbrella. The good news is that you can do an awul lot with such a small kit.

In this chapter, we’ll cover some more gear, some o which is more expensive. As is oten the case in photography, the extra

money may buy you some extra picture quality but mostly, it buys you reliability and fexibility. In some cases, as with the

high-speed sync enabled triggers, it also buys you the ability to shoot things like ast action you just could not do beore.

When working with the optical inrared trigger-ing systems like Nikon’s CLS or Canon’s Wire-less Flash System, which we discussed in Vol-ume 1, you always have to make sure that the inrared receiver points towards the command-er unit. I necessary, use the tilting and swivel-ling capabilities o your fash head and your umbrella adapter to position both adequately.

A big advantage o this system is that it allows or high-speed sync, which we discussed earlier. Radio triggering, on the other hand, allows you to put your fashes behind walls and at distances o over 100 meters, but up until a couple o years ago, worked in manual mode only, requiring you to walk over to every

remote fash again and again to change its power setting. Also, up until recently, no radio triggers supported high-speed sync. Now, there are a growing number o tech-nologies that allow you to combine the advantages o remote manual or even TTL control and high-speed sync with the

in-creased triggering and reliability radio oers. One is called RadioPopper and another is the PocketWizard MiniTT1 & FlexTT5 system. Each system has its air share o users. In this eBook, I’ll limit mysel to the PocketWizard system as it’s the one I am using mysel.

.. Advanced Trggerng Systems

In 2009, PocketWizard, the industry standard in manual radio fash triggers, introduced their MiniTT1 and FlexTT5, respectively a com-mander and a comcom-mander/receiver unit, which are compatible with TTL and high-speed sync. These units translate the optical signal o a commander or master fash into r adio signals whilst maintaining all the power settings and TTL and high-speed sync inormation.

... PocketWzard MnTT, FlexTT & AC ZoneController

The PocketWizard MiniTT1 transmitter

and FlexTT5 transceiver (which can act

as a receiver as well as a transmitter).

(16)

An optional AC3 ZoneController even eliminates the need to use a commander altogether and enables you to control the power with a set o intuitive old-school (but very high-tech) buttons and dials. Originally only available or Canon, there’s now also a Nikon version. They are rmware-upgradeable through USB and also programmable to some extent. They’re priced only slightly higher than the original PocketWizards and oer ar more fexibility. As lots o photographers are trading in their “old” PocketWizard Plus IIs or these new units, you may be able to get a second-hand bar-gain on the old ones. The new PocketWizards are sometimes reerred to as the ControlTL system. At the time o writing, Hong Kong-based Phottix had just announced a similar, somewhat cheaper alterna-tive or Canon: the Odin fash trigger also oers remote Manual control, TTL and High Speed Sync. These new triggering systems allow or unprecedent-ed ease o use and creativity through higher than normal shutter speeds but can easily set you back hundreds o dollars, especially i you have multiple

fashes (see also the next paragraph or a great tip, by the way). Don’t orget they are but a link in the total chain: don’t break the bank on triggers alone, leave some room or modiers because they’re also impor-tant infuencers o the nal look o your picture.

radiopopper.com | pocketwizard.com | phottix.com

In the Flash Buying 101 section o Volume 1, one o the criteria is whether the fash can be slaved. This does not reer to the inrared proprietary Nikon and Canon triggering systems, but to a much simpler way o triggering: simply setting up the remote fash as a “slave” that will re rom the moment it sees another fash. I you have more fashes than you have triggers, setting up a compatible fash this way is an alternative to buying more triggers. Note, however, that you’ll have to set the power on your fash manually and, unless your optical slave can account or TTL pre-fashes, like the LumoPro LP160 does, you’ll have to work all manual on the rest o your fashes, too (otherwise, your slaves will re when

they see the pre-fash). Also, slaving a fash excludes using High Speed Sync. Finally, it’s evident that this type o  triggering does not work at all during weddings or other events where people are happily snapping away with their own cameras and little built-in fashes!

Most fashes are programmed to go into standby mode ater some amount o time. Getting them out o standby usually requires pushing one o the buttons, which can be quite a nuisance with remote fashes. Thereore, i your fashes allow or this, I’d advise you to change the standby mode to never: my fashes stay on until I turn them o.

2

Gear

... PocketWzard MnTT, FlexTT & AC ZoneController – contnued

... Optcally Slavng a Remote Flash

... Changng Your Flash’s Standby Tmng

.. Advanced Trggerng Systems

The LumoPro LP160

is a relatively cheap,

manual-only fash

that oers slave

unctionality. It

can even be set to

disregard the

pre-fash that Nikon and

Canon use in their

proprietary TTL fash

systems, so it only

res when it should.

^

An AC3 ZoneController sits on top o the TT1

transmitter, which in turn slides into the

hotshoe o the DSLR. The AC3 setup is less

bulky than using a fash as a commander

on top o a TT1. On the other hand, in those

cases where you also want to add some ll

fash coming rom your camera position,

using an actual fash as a commander

instead o the AC3 can be an alternative.

(17)

In fash photography, it’s generally not the fashes that break the bank, it’s the modiers that suck away most o your precious cash. From the aordable $20 beginner’s umbrellas to the $5,000

parabolic ones—there are modiers or every taste and budget and we can’t even begin to list them all here. So I will just introduce you to some that I’ve been using mysel to my

satisac-tion. Which ones you’ll want will depend on your style and budget. But when you’re stuck or cash, just read the white-on-blue advice at the right and then skip straight to chapter 3!

In volume 1, we discussed an incredibly useul, light, and cheap light modier: an umbrella. For the money, it can’t be beat. They exist in all sizes and even the big PLMs (parabolic light modiers), which can have diameters o more than 80 inches (two me-ters), are still relatively aordable. Because o their size, PLMs are great or group shots or lling in shadows over a broad area. Yet, or all their qualities, there are some disadvantages to umbrellas, the most impor-tant o which are spill and control—light can easily go past the umbrella or bounce around, which not only draws power but also means the exposure o the rest o  the environment is less easy to control.

A logical next step is to use sotboxes. They are also sotening modiers, but they don’t have the spill umbrellas have, so they oer you more control in terms o directing their sot light. This control can even be enhanced by adding a so-called grid or egg crate that cre-ates sot yet highly directional light.

We already discussed a highly interest-ing little sotbox, the LumiQuest SB III, in Volume 1. Here, I’ll introduce you to our more I oten use.

The graph shows the sotboxes in scale. The little square on the let (1) is a bare fash head. The yellow oval (number 3) is an average human head. It’s easy to see that no matter how close you put your bare fash to a person (e.g. or portraiture), it’ll always be a small, hard light source. At 8 x 9 inches, the LumiQuest SB III (2) is still a small sotbox in absolute terms, but it’s 20 times bigger than a bare fash and about the size o a human head. When placed close

enough, this little sotbox really becomes a sot light source. The next step up is a Las-tolite Ezybox (the 54 x 54 cm version) (4). Then we have the 28-inch Westcott Apollo (5) and its big brother, the 50-inch Westcott Apollo (7). The 30-inch FourSquare (6) is part o a complete multi-fash bracket system and will be discussed in paragraph 2.4.2.

2

Gear

... Sotenng Moders: Sotboxes

.. More Moders

Anything that’s refective or translucent can

 be a light modier when you re a fash at 

or through it: that includes shower curtains,

 bed sheets, lamp shades, a groom’s shirt, a

piece o paper, the white back o a poster.

 2 3 4 5 6 7

A grid or

egg crate.

Shown

here is the

one or the

Lastolite

Ezybox.

(18)

^

The Lastolite Ezybox exists in three sizes.

Since it can only be used with one fash,

it’s best used away rom heavy sunlight. As

the fash controls remain accessible, it’s a

good system i you use optical triggering or

manual radio triggers that require you to

change output power on the fash. It sets up

and olds down very easily into a ball-shaped

package (once you get the hang o it). It’s a

very polyvalent modier that you can use or

headshots and, in a pinch, waist-up portraits.

^

I’ve attached two small pieces o 

“male” Velcro to both sides o my

Westcott so I can fip the ront

diuser backwards and keep

it rom fapping around in the

wind. The picture in case 4 was

lit this way.

^

The Westcott Apollo sotboxes are dierent in that they old like an umbrella, yet set up like a

sotbox. The fash is placed inside, which means you really should use a radio trigger (although,

used inside, it might be possible to trigger it even with an optical signal). I you want to avoid

having to open the ront diuser each time you want to change the output power, you’ll want a

radio trigger that is capable o remotely controlling power, such as the latest PocketWizards or

RadioPoppers. The advantage o having the fash inside is that you can put multiple fashes on

a multi-fash bracket. Also, as the fashes ace the silver refective surace, you can remove the

ront diuser i you want an edgier look or i you simply want to maximize your light output.

One o my avourite modiers is the 28-inch Westcott Apollo (5). It clos-es like an umbrella and can be attached to almost any umbrella adapter. Lastly, I’ll occasionally use a 50-inch Westcott Apollo. It shares not only its name with the lunar module but almost its size as well! It produces extremely sot light. I use this sotbox a lot when photographing babies,

toddlers, and children. Because o its size, it produces a big zone o  relatively consistent and sot light so my subjects can move around a bit (as they tend to do) and still be in the lit zone. Unortunately, it cannot be tilted much on a normal light stand without using a so-called boom arm. O course, you can ask an assistant to tilt it or you i necessary.      2  .

     2  .      1  .

(19)

^

This was shot with the 50-inch Apollo. Although it looks like a studio shot, it was done at a riend’s house. The Apollo was behind me and slightly

above my head (I was kneeling as well, to be at the same height as the child). I triggered the fash behind me with a PocketWizard Plus II. I you don’t

move your fash and your subject all that much, you can just leave your fash power as it is, so there’s no need to open the cover o the sotbox a lot.

Two additional fashes were used to make the background white. (The walls were grey.) I could have made the grey wall white with just the power

o the two fashes as discussed in “Another Brick in the Wall” in chapter 2.2.3., but I decided to gaer-tape a white sheet to the wall to make lie (and

recycling times) easier on my fashes. In non-studio cases such as this, where you have less control, I just try to make sure the area immediately

surrounding my subject is white, without that white refecting too much onto the back o my subject. That way I can easily clean up the rest o the

background in Photoshop or even Lightroom without having to make complex selections around the hair and clothes.

In a pinch, I could have used just one fash on the background, hiding it behind my subject. With a moving subject however, that’s a guaranteed recipe

or extra post-processing work—cloning out a light stand that suddenly grows out o the subject’s head.

One advantage o shooting on a white background is that you can make composite pictures like these, or ool people into thinking that your riends

are blessed with quadruplets!

     2  .      2  .      1  .

I’ve only listed the sotboxes I’ve been satisactorily using mysel, but you’ll nd countless others online with new ones added on a weekly basis. No doubt there is one to suit your own budget and size requirements.

jwestcott.com | lumiquest.com | lastolite.com | lightwaredirect.com (FourSquare)

^

The setup shot shows that

you don’t need a studio and

studio lights to get

studio-quality output.

(20)

As noted in Volume 1, all that sot light magic does become boring ater a while. Those modiers also eat up a lot o precious fash power, especially when working outside. Sometimes, using just a straight fash can create very dramatic portraits. Zooming your fash to its maximum zoom setting will create a spotlight eect. As an added bonus, your eective fash power will increase with your zoom setting. I you want to control the beam o your light even more, you can use grids, snoots, and fags. Snoots are cone-shaped modiers that allow you to ocus the light even tighter. Grids are another way to concentrate your light.

2

Gear

... Restrctng Moders: Grds, Snoots, Flags and More

.. More Moders

The raw power o a zoomed fash, triggered

in ull-power high-speed sync mode at

1/5000 o a second. Post-processing took less

than a minute in Lightroom, using one o my

avourite presets rom

X-Equals.com and

(21)

Grids are great or rim-lighting people to separate them rom the background. The grids not only con-centrate the light but also help to keep it out o the lens, avoiding fare. Most o this stu is pretty easy to make yoursel (black gaer tape, glue, a pair o scissors, cardboard boxes or tubes and black straws are really all you need), but i you’ve got two let hands like me, you just get them ready-made. David Honl is a well-known supplier o lighting modi-ers or small fashes. ExpoImaging also produces some interesting modiers: the Rogue FlashBender system consists o  panels o dierent sizes that are white on one side and black on the other. They have metallic inserts in them, allowing you to bend them into dierent light shaping tools: fags, refectors (more use-ul or on-camera fash), and snoots.

2

Gear

... Restrctng Moders: Grds, Snoots, Flags and More – contnued

.. More Moders

^

A grid (shown here rom Honl Photo). Use the

tilting and swivelling capacities o your fash

and adapter to make the orientation o the

grid match the orientation o the subject you

want to rim-light.

^

Two grids and one small sotbox held by an assistant were used to create this intimate

portrait in what was a very crowded living room. Eliminating the clutter brings the ocus

on the child. Two gridded rim lights (ideally, I would use the same grid let and right)

separate him rom the background. The small sotbox gives some rontal ll light and

(22)

ExpoImaging also produces the Rogue Grid, an ingenious three-in-one grid that lets you to turn your fash into a 16-, 25-, or 45-degree spot. When working with these restrict-ing modiers, correct placement o your fash is paramount. It’s really a game o inches and degrees: tilting your fash ve degrees to the wrong side may result in it miss-ing the subject completely. I you want to see whether the light o  a restricting modier will reach your subject, all you have to do is have your subject look at the fash rom their position and ask them i they can see the actual white o the fash head through the grid. I  they can see the fash, the fash can see them: it’s a two-way street. With o-camera fash becoming more popular, ever more modiers abound, some o which are adaptations o modiers typically ound on bigger studio fash systems. So, now there are miniature Speedlight versions o refectors, barn doors, and ring fashes, which are—in their expensive big fash version—very popular with ashion photographers. I have no personal experience with them but David Hobby, godather o the whole o-camera small fash movement and ounder o the highly inormative www.strobist.com website, is known or using a ring fash as an on-axis (i.e. coming rom the camera) ll light.

Beauty dishes are another avourite modier o ashion and portrait photographers worldwide. They used to exist only or big studio fashes but are now being de-veloped in versions that are adapted to small fashes. Inversely, manuacturers o big studio modiers are also starting to oer adapters that allow you to attach your small fash to these bigger modiers. Did I mention these are exciting times to be a small-fash photographer?

honlphoto.com (small fash grids, fags, snoots, and gels) expoimaging.com (Rogue FlashBender line o fash grids, fags, snoots, gels, Ray Flash ringfash)

rosco.com (gels)

lumodi.com (small fash beauty dishes) orbisfash.com (small fash ringfash)

2

Gear

... Restrctng Moders: Grds, Snoots, Flags and More – contnued

.. More Moders

A beauty dish or small

fash. Shown here are

the ones rom Lumodi,

available in 11-, 14-, and

18-inch sizes.

(23)

Is it a background? Is it a portable white wall? No, it’s the Lastolite HiLite. This is a modier that’s in a category o its own. It’s a 6-by-7-oot squarish structure that’s translucent on one side and pops up like a refector (and olds back the same way2). It’s about one oot wide,

which not only allows it to stand on itsel when there’s no wind, but also allows or two fashes to be red into it rom each o its sides (don’t point the fashes to the ront, but to the white refective surace on the inside back, to avoid hotspots). This turns it into a portable white background, simpliying high-key portraiture work on location (see also the inset “Another Brick in the Wall” on the next page). But, thinking slightly outside the box reveals some other ap-plications: when you place it to the side o or at a 45-degree angle towards your subject, it becomes a gigantic sotbox, imitating a huge window. Interesting or group shots.

O course, you can also make a DIY version o this by just using a shower curtain on a ramework (or in a doorway) and putting your fashes behind that. You’ll lose some o the evenness o the light, and you might look slightly less proessional, but you’ll save a couple o hundred dollars. See the “100-Dollar Studio” paragraph in the interview with Bert Stephani at the end o this book. lastolite.com

2

Gear

... Portable Hgh-key Background

.. More Moders

The Lastolite HiLite

is a collapsible,

sel-standing background

into which you can re

one or preerably two

fashes to make a pure

white background.

2Setting up is straightorward, but olding 

back into place takes some practice: ortunately, YouTube’s your riend with a couple o great videos. Just do a search on “Lastolite HiLite olding” and you’ll nd all

(24)

     2  .      2  .      3  .

This job taught me never to assume anything when setting out or a location shoot. The assignment was a very typical one: a law rm needed portraits o its senior partners, pho-tographed on a white background, or use on their website. Normally, in cases like this, i you haven’t brought your own white background, you just position your subject in ront o the brightest wall in the oce and then use a dash o fash to turn that background into pure white. Ater all, every oce has a white wall somewhere, right? Wrong! There wasn’t a white background to be spotted in this whole building (a pretty big one at that). All the walls were made out o big, medium-grey concrete blocks. So I put up two fashes to “nuke” the medium-grey back-ground into white. In doing so, I had to turn my fashes much higher in power than I would have had to with a white wall. Moreover, I needed to dial my fashes higher still to turn the even darker cement between the blocks into white! Power issues aside, the real concern in cases like this is that the higher you have to dial your fashes, the more light will bounce back onto the back o your subject and the rest o the room. This complicates the rest o your lighting setup, creates the risk o fare, and possibly even makes your subject’s back too bright, lead-ing to washed-out shoulders, hair, and cheekbones. Remembering the inverse square law, the trick is to put your subject ar enough rom the wall (i possible) and try

to avoid direct spill light coming rom your background fash(es) (using fags, or instance), so that you can light the wall and the subject separately and give each the amount o power that’s needed or the job at hand: over-exposing the grey wall into white and correctly over-exposing the subject. In this case, the subject was lit by a Lastolite Ezybox to camera let and a refector to camera right. Using fashes and remembering the undamentals al-lowed me to pull this one o.3 But, I now carry a

HiLite with me on those assignments where I don’t know what kind o walls will be closing in on me! The HiLite allows me to create white walls whenever I like, with a minimum o power. As the fash heads are put inside it, and the sides can be closed with zip-pers, there’s no risk o unwanted spill, either. A cheaper way is to work with a (portable) white seam-less background. The denitive internet resource or that is Zack Arias’ three-part “White Seamless Tutorial.” zackarias.com (there’s a link to the White Seam-less Tutorial rom the Popular Posts section).

3In this case I made sure that the background

area immediately surrounding my subject was white. I I had that, I knew that I could turn the outer parts o the rame to white in Photoshop, without having to make complex selections.

 Another Brck

n the Wall…

(25)

I you’ve looked at the images in Volume 1, you know I preer umbrellas or port-ability, aordport-ability, and ease o setup. That’s why I always take one with me, even when I’m travelling light. How-ever, or pure quality o light and the shape o the catchlights, I, like many other photographers, preer a sotbox. Its use needn’t be conned to just a main light: cover up the let and right third with black cloth and you have an instant so called striplight, great or rim-lighting people.

Gaer-tape a cross onto the ace o your sotbox and it mimics the antique win-dows you nd in old mansions. Or, some-thing I picked up rom Bert Stephani’s Motivational Light DVD and already mentioned in passing in Volume 1: cut out a gure or a number rom a piece o black Styrooam that’s the size o your sotbox and use that to create original catchlights. But there’s more: just like you can use the HiLite as a gigantic sotbox instead o the background it’s actually designed to be, you can use a medium to large sotbox as

a highly portable mini white background or tight portraits, as illustrated below. You can also experiment with the position o your light source and use a technique called eathering: let the bulk o the light pass by your subject and work with the “edges” o the light, where the light al-lo is more pronounced and dramatic. Needless to say, you’re better o do-ing this inside—outside you normally need all the power you can get…

2

Gear

.. Thnkng Outsde the Sotbox

Who says the biggest modier always has to be the main light?

Here I used a 50-inch Westcott Apollo as a background light

and the (by comparison) tiny LumiQuest SB III as a main light.

Don’t let the wide-angle setup shot ool you: the main light is

pointing down, and the model is standing very close to it, but

not under it. We’re working in the allo zone o the light here.

You can also see I’ve put some gaer tape on the sotbox to

minimize hotspots on the orehead and the bridge o the nose.

This lighting style, where the light is above your model, is called butterfy lighting, because o the

butterfy-shaped shadows it casts under the nose.

(26)

We already covered the basic use o gels (or lters, as they’re also called) in Volume 1, where we put a CTO lter (colour temperature orange) on a fash to make it match the colour tem-perature o ambient light such as a household light bulb. However, you can also use gels or creative eects, as case 7 in chapter 3 o this book points out. Featured photographer Jürgen Doom, one o the photographers interviewed in chapter 4, oten creatively uses gels in his work. He cuts the gels or his Speedlights out o bigger sheets, and attaches Velcro to the ends. He does so at the ront side and the reverse side. That way, he can stack two quarter CTOs together to make a hal CTO. I you’re not o the DIY variety, there’s a wide choice available commercially, too. Honl Photo has dierent sets o gels ranging rom purely practical to moody. These gels have (male) Velcro attached

to them so they are compatible with the Honl Speed Strap (or any fash onto which you’ve put (emale) Velcro). Rosco, typically a supplier o large gels or studio and cin-ematographic use, have a so-called Strobist Collection.

Rogue FlashBenders also have two series o gels, one generic and one or use with their Rogue Grid. A nice touch is that each gel has a men-tion o how many -stops o power it “eats up,” so those working manu-ally know immediately by how much they have to crank up their fash. When you use fashes with gels at high-power settings, be careul not to melt the gels, as your fash head can become quite hot. honlphoto.com | rosco.com | expoimaging.com (Rogue Gels)

2

Gear

... Colour Gels

.. More Useul Stu 

I you’re not bankrupt by now or you have a birthday wish list to write,

I’ll quickly point out some other things that might come in handy.

Gels can be used to alter the

colour temperature o your

fash. The lower fash does not

have a gel applied to it. Put on

a CTO gel as I did in the top

fash and you can have it pass

as the setting sun!

(27)

I you want to combine multiple fashes into a single, more powerul light source, you’ll need a bracket that can hold them all. Below are but a ew o a huge oering.  Just remember that you’ll also have to

trigger all these fashes in some way. The most versatile (but also most expensive) way is to equip each fash with its own trigger. More economically, you can set up just one fash with a trigger and re the others as slaves, i they support this (see 2.1.2.), although in that case you lose that ancy high-speed sync option! Alternatively, the TriFlash

ex-ists in a more expensive TriFlash Sync version that lets you trigger three fashes with just one trigger,

albeit in manual-only mode (and also without high-speed sync). I high-speed sync is important and you don’t want to ork out the money or as many triggers as you have fashes, you can use Nikon’s or Canon’s own inrared triggering system to trigger remote fash-es. We talked about this in depth in Vol-ume 1 and also discussed the limitations o this when working in plain sunlight. As it’s paramount that your inrared signal can be picked up by the remote fash, some modiers (such as umbrellas

or the FourSquare, the back o which can be opened to allow the inrared signal to pass) are more suitable than others. When using any o these multi-bracket setups bare, watch out or ugly double, triple, or quadruple cast shadows! Sometimes, there’s just no place to put the traditional bracket/light stand combo. In these cases, having a couple o  Manrotto Justin Clamps, Super Clamps, or Magic Arms can come in really handy.

2

Gear

... Mult-Flash Brackets and Clamps

.. More Useul Stu 

A Manrotto clamp

that allows you to

attach a fash to a

door, a branch o a

tree, and so on…

^

The Lovegrove Gemini rom

well-known UK o-camera fash

photographer and workshop leader

Damien Lovegrove is a sturdy

bracket that accommodates two

fashes (lovegroveconsulting.com).

The FourSquare holds—you guessed it—our fashes

and there’s even an add-on piece that allows you to add

our more to a mind- (and wallet-)blowing total o eight.

The FourSquare block itsel costs about $100, and can

be used with an umbrella. However, the more popular

option is a $269.95 kit that includes a proprietary

30-inch sotbox as well. The whole setup breaks down

nicely into a 1 kg, 18-inch carrying pouch. I you add the

cheapest manual third-party fashes (like the Y

ones), you can be all set or about $600, which isn’t bad

or so much portable power (lightwaredirect.com).

I you want to use high-speed sync and thus need

top-o-the-line brand fashes, the cost increases veold, not

including any triggers. Sports photographer Dave Black

(daveblackphotography.com) uses this high-end setup

a lot when photographing ast-paced action.

^

The Lastolite TriFlash

holds three fashes.

Shown here is the Sync

version (lastolite.com)

(28)

I you oten shoot outdoors in bright sun, you know how dicult it is to inspect your LCD. Sure enough, most o the time you can check your histogram even i the sun’s too bright to check the actual picture, but your histogram won’t tell you i your fash hit the right part o your image. That’s where the Hoodman Loupe with its built-in diopter adjustment comes built-in handy. Still, even with a Hoodman Loupe, I’d advise you to evaluate your pictures on a bigger screen as soon as possible. hoodmanusa.com

Neutral density lters allow you to block light. They’re handy when you want to work with wide open aper-tures in bright sunlight or when you want to use slower shutter speeds, to picture movement as a fow. With regards to o-camera fash, they can be interesting or keeping your shutter speed below sync speed, e.g. when you’re using a non-high-speed-sync compatible fash or triggering system. The advantage o the vari-able lters is that they can block a range o light, e.g. rom two to eight stops, just by turning the lter ring. In a pinch, a polarizing lter will also work to cut down your shutter speed. I use the Fader ND MK II by Light Crat Workshop because it’s relatively aordable, but other options exist. lightcratworkshop.com

Why on earth do I mention a portable printer in the gear section o a book on o-camera fash? Well: i  you’re into photographing people, especially in remote places, it’s always nice i you can give an immedi-ate thank you to your impromptu models. To that eect, I carry a Polaroid Pogo printer with me. No more broken promises o emailing or sending pictures. I owe many o my pictures to the ice-breaking qualities o this printer. Have a look at case 9 and try to nd the Pogo print playing hide and seek in the image! polaroid.com

2

Gear

... Hoodman Loupe

... (Varable)

Neutral Densty Flter

... Portable Prnter

.. More Useul Stu 

(29)

Since o-camera fash is very much about portability, I want my entire outt to be as trans-portable as possible. In Volume 1, I showed you my minimalist travel setup. Here you can see the setup I use or commercial assignments. All my portable fash gear ts nicely into this ThinkTank Airport TakeO. My photo gear then gets packed in the Speed Racer waist belt. I chose the Airport TakeO be-cause it combines the comort o a rolling bag with the ability to use it as an impromptu back-pack or those harder-to-reach locations, such as the rootop terrace that was the location o  the picture eatured in case 5. thinktankphoto.com

2

Gear

..6. Packng It All

.. More Useul Stu 

SB 900 (x )

SB 900 x  Honl Speed Strap

Honl Gels

SB 700

PocketWzard Plus II (not shown)

PocketWzard TT + Zone Controller AC

Westcott Collapsble Reversble Umbrella

Manrotto Nano Lght Stand (x )

PocketWzard TT Flex (x ) Manrotto Justn Clamp

Honl Speed Grds (x )

Westcott Apollo 8 nch (strapped to the sde, not shown)

Gaer Tape

Umbrella Bracket 

Lastolte Trfash Sync

Cover ld - nsde (not shown): Arport TakeO Ran Cover, Pencls & Pens, Speedlght Stands & Rogue Gels, Spare Batteres, Rogue Flashbenders, Mscellaneous Smal l Items Cover ld - outsde (not shown): Lumquest LT SotBox,  nch MacBook Pro, Backdrop Cloth

(30)

We’ve looked at various tools and brackets that allow you to combine multiple fashes into a more powerul light source, and there are spe-cic reasons why that may be more interesting than using a single studio strobe with a battery pack. The rst is that you can use (any number o) compatible small fashes in high-speed sync, which allows or sync speeds up to 1/8000. The second is that when you’re done, you can break that multi-Speedlight rig back down into individual fashes that you can use separately. This is something you obvi-ously can’t do with one big strobe.

However, there are some inconveniences, too…

•There’s the multiple shadow problem when

the fashes are used bare. It’s better to use modiers, but they eat up part o the light you were looking to add when adding more than one fash in the rst place. Catch 22!

•Unless you’re using cheaper manual fashes or

second-hand ones, the price tag runs up quickly.

•I you use these setups to overpower the

sun-light, you’ll likely use them at ull power. Con-tinuous ull power use will not only drain your batteries very quickly, but might also damage your fash or at least trigger its thermal protec-tion. It’s not unny watching your fash go into a 10-minute R&R in the middle o a shoot.

•There are a number o other practical issues as

well: at our batteries per fash, the number o  batteries you have to carry and recharge adds up quickly, too. You can o course use dedicated battery packs, but that in turn adds to the overall price tag. Weight also becomes an issue: one small fash has a size and weight advantage over a studio strobe, but three or more don’t. Once you leave the realm o small hotshoe fashes and start looking or aordable, portable

studio strobes, you’ll nd an overwhelming choice and you’ll notice that the concept o  portability and aordability varies greatly rom one manuacturer to another. Going into detail alls beyond the scope o this eBook. On the next page, I just want to mention a couple o  systems that seem interesting rom a price, perormance, and portability standpoint and thereore seem well-suited as a logical next step or someone looking or a little more.

2

Gear

.. Outgrowng Your Small Flashes

The more you evolve in your use o o-camera fash, the more you’ll demand o yoursel and your small fashes.

Soon, you’ll want to use them or things they weren’t really designed or, like overpowering sunlight outdoors.

(31)

The rst is the Elinchrom Ranger Quadra. It consists o a very small and lightweight (smaller and lighter than a hotshoe fash, in act) fash head rated at 400 watt seconds and a relatively lightweight battery pack. The two together weigh in at less than our kg. Power levels can be remotely set through the custom Elinchrom Skyport triggers and there are ways to integrate the Quadra into a small fash setup.

Another recent addition to the realm o portable lightweight fash systems is the TritonFlash Lith-ium Strobe Kit rom Photofex. It packs a 300 Ws head and a long-lie rechargeable lithium battery into a lightweight 5 lb package. While it can be triggered remotely without cables, the power has to be set on the fash head. This can be inconven-ient when your fash is up high on a light stand and you need to change its power requently.

On the other hand, this architecture allows or two fashes to

be red at dierent power levels by

the same battery. The second is the 640 Ws Einstein fash head rom Paul C. Bu with a Vagabond Mini battery pack.

The fash head is bigger and heavier than the Ranger Quadra, but the battery itsel is smaller and light-er, making the total weight about the same. One thing I like about this system is the act that—using an optional PocketWizard PowerMC2 receiver—its power can also be remotely set and it can be used together with hotshoe fashes in a PocketWizard MiniTT1, FlexTT5, and AC3 triggering environment.  Just remember, there is not one tool that will be right or all jobs. And it needn’t

be an either/or proposition. Both these systems oer ways o integrating any small fashes you already own into your setup as additional light sources. elinchrom.com | paulcbu.com | photofex.com

2

Gear

(32)
(33)

     3  .      1  .

When One Lght Just Won’t Do:

(34)

Let’s start this chapter with the bonus picture we ended Volume 1 with.

As a photographer, I mostly live on Aperture Prior-ity Lane. The lower end o Aperture PriorPrior-ity Lane, to be more precise. I love playing with depth o eld and as a consequence, have paid more than a air share o money or so-called ast lenses. Yet, occasionally, I’ll move to the upper end o Aperture Priority Lane, /22 territory.

The general idea or this picture is similar to the one in case 9 o Volume 1. It’s shot into the sun, but here I really wanted the sun in the picture. In order to achieve the starburst eect, you have to use an aperture o /16 or smaller (i.e. higher -stop).

I also underexposed the ambient light to get more detail in the sky. The more underexposed, the better the star pattern would show.

The LCD on my camera helped me to gure out the ambi-ent settings. Then I manually set the power o my fash. I actually wanted to light the skater with an umbrella rst, because I thought the sot umbrella light would contrast nicely with the sun and the subject. Unortunately, the umbrella wasted too much precious fash power and I didn’t have a sotbox with me. I did bring one with me to experiment one week later, leading to the picture o case 4, which also became the cover picture o Volume 1. Overpowering the sun (remember, we’re not work-ing at the normal ambient exposure the camera sug-gests, but going darker than that, which requires a higher aperture and/or a aster shutter speed) really stresses your fash. Especially when you’re working in high-speed sync mode, like I did here at 1/320 o a second.

I even had to add another fash, also at ull power. Even when it’s not necessary (as it was or this photo), adding a second fash can come in handy because it cuts your recycle time in hal, avoids overheating, and saves those precious batteries.

The picture isn’t completely sharp (there’s a typi-cal blur rozen by fash around his legs) but I don’t nd this a problem here: it adds to the eeling o speed. I I had wanted to reeze him completely, I could have used a aster shutter speed, oset by an in-crease in ISO. (I couldn’t oset it by opening up the lens, as I needed that aperture or the starburst.)

3

Ten Case Studies

.. When One Lght Just Won’t Do:

Sunburst at Noon

Shooting at /22 on a sunny day stresses

your fash a lot. In these cases a second

or even third fash comes in handy.

References

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