PIET VAN DEN EYNDE
PIET VAN DEN EYNDE
Advanced Use o O-Camera Flash
Contents
Contents
i: Introducton
i: Introducton
2.2:
2.2:
More Modiers
More Modiers
3:
3:
Ten Case Studies
Ten Case Studies
.:
.:
Going Beyond Sync Speed
Going Beyond Sync Speed
2.3:
2.3:
Thinking Outside the Sotbox
Thinking Outside the Sotbox
4:
4:
Four Interviews
Four Interviews
.2:
.2:
Working With Multiple Flashes
Working With Multiple Flashes
2.4:
2.4:
More Useul Stu
More Useul 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
Contents
Contents
i: Introducton
i: Introducton
2.2:
2.2:
More Modiers
More Modiers
3:
3:
Ten Case Studies
Ten Case Studies
.:
.:
Going Beyond Sync Speed
Going Beyond Sync Speed
2.3:
2.3:
Thinking Outside the Sotbox
Thinking Outside the Sotbox
4:
4:
Four Interviews
Four Interviews
.2:
.2:
Working With Multiple Flashes
Working With Multiple Flashes
2.4:
2.4:
More Useul Stu
More Useul 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
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 modiers.couple o modiers.
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 sotbox.
fash, an umbrella, and a small sotbox.
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
modiers. W
modiers. 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 dierent places or added
up in dierent places or added eect. We’ll stilleect. 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 ater
location lighting and portraiture, because ater
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-lie shoots to the proverbial next level.
lie 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, portolios, and camera
you look into the minds, portolios, 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 rereshing and stimulating as I did.
interviews as rereshing and stimulating as I did.
1
1
Introducton
Introducton
^
^
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
let side is exposed by the sun. On
let 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 sotbox with
tt 28-inch sotbox 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
... Hgh-Speed Sync
Every camera has a sync speed (sometimes reerred to as X-sync or synchro-X): it’s the astest shutter speed that will allow you to eectively 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 eectively becomes more powerul 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 inamous 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 eectively become twice as powerul. 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 oten
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, beore 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
.. Gong Beyond Sync Speed
^
From let 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 eect, 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.
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 ater. Ater 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. Unortunately, 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 manuacturers have high-speed sync turned o by deault 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 inrared wireless fash system we discussed in Making Light allows or high-speed sync.
More Advanced Techniques
... Hgh-Speed Sync – contnued
.. Gong Beyond Sync Speed
Nikon calls this technique Auto FP High
Speed Sync. Canon reers to it as High-Speed
Sync. Because that’s less o a mouthul, 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.
More Advanced Techniques
... Hgh-Speed Sync – Ths One Goes To /8000!
.. Gong 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
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 conused 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 inormation 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 comortable using one o-camera fash beore 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
... Multple Flashes or More Control
.. Gong Beyond Sync Speed
.. Workng wth Multple Flashes
^
I you think this was shot into the setting sun,
quickly head over to case 5.
The Anatomy o a Multi-Flash Setup
There’s a reason why Nikon and Canon allow or up to three dierent groups in their inrared 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 sotbox, 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 sotbox because I wanted the lighting to be sot but dramatic. You could o course use a larger modier 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
... Multple Flashes or More Control – contnued
.. Workng wth Multple 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.
More Advanced Techniques
... Multple Flashes or More Control – contnued
.. Workng wth Multple 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 sotbox
placed relatively close.
The light was eathered
away (i.e. directed not
straight towards but
turned slightly away
rom the model), giving
sot but dramatic
shadow contrast.
Main light at
quarter power.
^
A rim light gives
shine to the hair and
some denition 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.
As described beore, 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 aordable) 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 eciently.
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 dierent patterns onto a background in order to make it look more organic. A ocusing system allows or a choice between a sot 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 diuse the shadows will be.
More Advanced Techniques
... Multple Flashes or More Control – contnued
.. Workng wth Multple 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 let 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.
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 .
Another reason or adding more fashes to your light setup might be to combine them into one more powerul 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 eect 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 let. 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 diuser 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
... Multple Flashes or More Power
.. Workng wth Multple Flashes
^
Watch out with dual or triple undiused fashes: even
the toughest skater would become araid o his own
shadow when he suddenly appears to have our arms
and our legs!
Even when you’re not yet working at ull power, adding more fashes to create a more powerul light source can be a good idea: dividing the workload among several fashes will make it easier on each individual fash, saving battery lie, increasing recycle time, and preventing overheating.
Adding up fashes like this does become costly ater a while, especially i you work with brand fashes like Speedlights or Speedlites. I you oten 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
... Multple Flashes or More Power – contnued
.. Workng wth Multple 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 manuacturer 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 dierence
between packing our SB 900s versus our
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 awul lot with such a small kit.
In this chapter, we’ll cover some more gear, some o which is more expensive. As is oten 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 beore.
When working with the optical inrared 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 inrared 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 oers. 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 Trggerng 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 inormation.
... PocketWzard MnTT, FlexTT & AC ZoneController
The PocketWizard MiniTT1 transmitter
and FlexTT5 transceiver (which can act
as a receiver as well as a transmitter).
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 oer 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 reerred 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 oers 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 modiers 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 reer to the inrared 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 ater 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. Thereore, 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
... PocketWzard MnTT, FlexTT & AC ZoneController – contnued
... Optcally Slavng a Remote Flash
... Changng Your Flash’s Standby Tmng
.. Advanced Trggerng Systems
The LumoPro LP160
is a relatively cheap,
manual-only fash
that oers 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.
In fash photography, it’s generally not the fashes that break the bank, it’s the modiers that suck away most o your precious cash. From the aordable $20 beginner’s umbrellas to the $5,000
parabolic ones—there are modiers 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
satisac-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 useul, light, and cheap light modier: an umbrella. For the money, it can’t be beat. They exist in all sizes and even the big PLMs (parabolic light modiers), which can have diameters o more than 80 inches (two me-ters), are still relatively aordable. 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 sotboxes. They are also sotening modiers, but they don’t have the spill umbrellas have, so they oer you more control in terms o directing their sot light. This control can even be enhanced by adding a so-called grid or egg crate that cre-ates sot yet highly directional light.
We already discussed a highly interest-ing little sotbox, the LumiQuest SB III, in Volume 1. Here, I’ll introduce you to our more I oten use.
The graph shows the sotboxes in scale. The little square on the let (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 sotbox 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 sotbox really becomes a sot 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
... Sotenng Moders: Sotboxes
.. More Moders
Anything that’s refective or translucent can
be a light modier 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.
^
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 modier 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
diuser backwards and keep
it rom fapping around in the
wind. The picture in case 4 was
lit this way.
^
The Westcott Apollo sotboxes are dierent in that they old like an umbrella, yet set up like a
sotbox. 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 diuser 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 surace, you can remove the
ront diuser i you want an edgier look or i you simply want to maximize your light output.
One o my avourite modiers 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 sot light. I use this sotbox a lot when photographing babies,
toddlers, and children. Because o its size, it produces a big zone o relatively consistent and sot light so my subjects can move around a bit (as they tend to do) and still be in the lit zone. Unortunately, 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 .
^
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 sotbox 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 gaer-tape a white sheet to the wall to make lie (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 sotboxes I’ve been satisactorily 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.
As noted in Volume 1, all that sot light magic does become boring ater a while. Those modiers 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 eect. As an added bonus, your eective 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 modiers that allow you to ocus the light even tighter. Grids are another way to concentrate your light.
2
Gear
... Restrctng Moders: Grds, Snoots, Flags and More
.. More Moders
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
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 gaer tape, glue, a pair o scissors, cardboard boxes or tubes and black straws are really all you need), but i you’ve got two let 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 modiers: the Rogue FlashBender system consists o panels o dierent sizes that are white on one side and black on the other. They have metallic inserts in them, allowing you to bend them into dierent light shaping tools: fags, refectors (more use-ul or on-camera fash), and snoots.
2
Gear
... Restrctng Moders: Grds, Snoots, Flags and More – contnued
.. More Moders
^
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 sotbox 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 let and right)
separate him rom the background. The small sotbox gives some rontal ll light and
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 modiers, 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 modier 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 modiers abound, some o which are adaptations o modiers 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, godather o the whole o-camera small fash movement and ounder o the highly inormative 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 modier 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, manuacturers o big studio modiers are also starting to oer adapters that allow you to attach your small fash to these bigger modiers. 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
... Restrctng Moders: Grds, Snoots, Flags and More – contnued
.. More Moders
A beauty dish or small
fash. Shown here are
the ones rom Lumodi,
available in 11-, 14-, and
18-inch sizes.
Is it a background? Is it a portable white wall? No, it’s the Lastolite HiLite. This is a modier 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 surace on the inside back, to avoid hotspots). This turns it into a portable white background, simpliying 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 sotbox, 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 proessional, 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 Hgh-key Background
.. More Moders
The Lastolite HiLite
is a collapsible,
sel-standing background
into which you can re
one or preerably two
fashes to make a pure
white background.
2Setting up is straightorward, 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
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 oce and then use a dash o fash to turn that background into pure white. Ater all, every oce 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 let 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 denitive 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 Brck
n the Wall…
I you’ve looked at the images in Volume 1, you know I preer umbrellas or port-ability, aordport-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, preer a sotbox. Its use needn’t be conned to just a main light: cover up the let and right third with black cloth and you have an instant so called striplight, great or rim-lighting people.
Gaer-tape a cross onto the ace o your sotbox 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 Styrooam that’s the size o your sotbox and use that to create original catchlights. But there’s more: just like you can use the HiLite as a gigantic sotbox instead o the background it’s actually designed to be, you can use a medium to large sotbox 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
.. Thnkng Outsde the Sotbox
Who says the biggest modier 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 gaer tape on the sotbox 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.
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 eects, as case 7 in chapter 3 o this book points out. Featured photographer Jürgen Doom, one o the photographers interviewed in chapter 4, oten 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 dierent 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 careul 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 Useul 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!
I you want to combine multiple fashes into a single, more powerul light source, you’ll need a bracket that can hold them all. Below are but a ew o a huge oering. 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 inrared 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 inrared signal can be picked up by the remote fash, some modiers (such as umbrellas
or the FourSquare, the back o which can be opened to allow the inrared 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 Manrotto Justin Clamps, Super Clamps, or Magic Arms can come in really handy.
2
Gear
... Mult-Flash Brackets and Clamps
.. More Useul Stu
A Manrotto 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 sotbox 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 veold, 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)
I you oten shoot outdoors in bright sun, you know how dicult 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 Crat Workshop because it’s relatively aordable, but other options exist. lightcratworkshop.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 eect, 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
... (Varable)
Neutral Densty Flter
... Portable Prnter
.. More Useul Stu
Since o-camera fash is very much about portability, I want my entire outt 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 comort o a rolling bag with the ability to use it as an impromptu back-pack or those harder-to-reach locations, such as the rootop terrace that was the location o the picture eatured in case 5. thinktankphoto.com
2
Gear
..6. Packng It All
.. More Useul Stu
SB 900 (x )
SB 900 x Honl Speed Strap
Honl Gels
SB 700
PocketWzard Plus II (not shown)
PocketWzard TT + Zone Controller AC
Westcott Collapsble Reversble Umbrella
Manrotto Nano Lght Stand (x )
PocketWzard TT Flex (x ) Manrotto Justn Clamp
Honl Speed Grds (x )
Westcott Apollo 8 nch (strapped to the sde, not shown)
Gaer Tape
Umbrella Bracket
Lastolte Trfash Sync
Cover ld - nsde (not shown): Arport TakeO Ran Cover, Pencls & Pens, Speedlght Stands & Rogue Gels, Spare Batteres, Rogue Flashbenders, Mscellaneous Smal l Items Cover ld - outsde (not shown): Lumquest LT SotBox, nch MacBook Pro, Backdrop Cloth
We’ve looked at various tools and brackets that allow you to combine multiple fashes into a more powerul light source, and there are spe-cic 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 modiers, 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 aordable, portable
studio strobes, you’ll nd an overwhelming choice and you’ll notice that the concept o portability and aordability varies greatly rom one manuacturer 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, perormance, and portability standpoint and thereore seem well-suited as a logical next step or someone looking or a little more.
2
Gear
.. Outgrowng 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.
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-lie 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 dierent 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 oer ways o integrating any small fashes you already own into your setup as additional light sources. elinchrom.com | paulcbu.com | photofex.com
2
Gear
3 . 1 .
When One Lght Just Won’t Do:
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 eect, 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 sot umbrella light would contrast nicely with the sun and the subject. Unortunately, the umbrella wasted too much precious fash power and I didn’t have a sotbox 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, oset by an in-crease in ISO. (I couldn’t oset it by opening up the lens, as I needed that aperture or the starburst.)