So if i have flash, all i will need is one strobe umbrella and soft box?
I probably need to stop asking stupid questions.....
:dgrin
Which Flash unit do you have....so we all know what we are talking about to help you the most.
Just my .000001cent woth here.......if your camera is wireless capable and your flash is compatable with the wioreless mode of the camera then your are set (for the most part) .... I have been using both studio strobes and sunpak 622 for over 20 yrs....for me it was a no brainer to go strobes...I shot weddings and took my studio strobes with me...then one day I ....I repeat I..........tripped over an orange extension cable that was powering my studio strobes and one came crashing down.....had that been a hot light it would have burned something while on the floor...if it had been cool flourescent lights they would have burst into a million small dnagerous pieces......now I have had a terrible accident that no one was hurt during ...no one but my ego and pride....so I start hunting for battery powered units...enter the sunpak family of large strobes.....similar to studio strobes in the fact thaey are manually operated should be metered with a flash meter are extremely portable and I found battery packs used for under $50.00 foreach strobe ...... sunpak as well as other companies make slave triggers to use with them and also there are radio triggers that can work with them ( i use slave triggers)....no wires to trip over...battery packs can sit under the light stand legs or hand off the stand by way of a el cheapo camera strap........
Very quicky you will want to have no less than 3 lights ( I prefer 4, especially since I use 2 for directly coloring my background ) and the 4th is for hair lighting or as a fill front light.......
Shepsmom.....y9ou are worry way too much....less worry and more fun is what is needed for you........
No light meter...no problem......My sunpak 622 have a guide number(GN) of 200 AT ISO100....so need toi know your aperature setting...well lets start with placeing the light on a stand at 10 feet...no umbrella...just straight frontal light.......divide 200 by 10 and you've got 20 for your aperture...f20...so if your camera does not have f20...go f22 or 18 as a starting point....add more aperture and the scene darkens a bit the background the most.....all modern flashes (that I have dealt with) since the 1960's has had a thyristor circuit in them and that measures the ambient light and AUTOMATICALLY cut s the flash out put...unless you have set the flash to manual and 1/1 (full power) I use mine in the auto mode unless I need to throw light 50 - 100 feet way and that is only done to prove that a flash can reach that distance....so I run the flash on auto and use the test button to meter my subject and then set aperture according most of the time I under expose by 1/2 to 1 stop especially in weddings with a lot of white as I do not want a beautiful lace dress to blow and just be a white smooth beautiful blob and not able to see the design of the dress...................I do the same for other events I have shot...but I still attest my meter(s) are my bestus friends...for the many reasons stated in an earlier post on this thread.........
Thank you Art for all that info. I guess i need to put aside my fears and just dive right in and start experimenting. Aghhh, the fear of something new is terrible. I'm not usually like that, but this stuff is scary .
Thank you everyone for great links and advise! I feel like i'm taking too much of your time. I will let you know what i end up with is and how it works for me. I'm sure i'll be back with more questions as i get myself into this stuff.
Comments
Which Flash unit do you have....so we all know what we are talking about to help you the most.
Just my .000001cent woth here.......if your camera is wireless capable and your flash is compatable with the wioreless mode of the camera then your are set (for the most part) .... I have been using both studio strobes and sunpak 622 for over 20 yrs....for me it was a no brainer to go strobes...I shot weddings and took my studio strobes with me...then one day I ....I repeat I..........tripped over an orange extension cable that was powering my studio strobes and one came crashing down.....had that been a hot light it would have burned something while on the floor...if it had been cool flourescent lights they would have burst into a million small dnagerous pieces......now I have had a terrible accident that no one was hurt during ...no one but my ego and pride....so I start hunting for battery powered units...enter the sunpak family of large strobes.....similar to studio strobes in the fact thaey are manually operated should be metered with a flash meter are extremely portable and I found battery packs used for under $50.00 foreach strobe ...... sunpak as well as other companies make slave triggers to use with them and also there are radio triggers that can work with them ( i use slave triggers)....no wires to trip over...battery packs can sit under the light stand legs or hand off the stand by way of a el cheapo camera strap........
Very quicky you will want to have no less than 3 lights ( I prefer 4, especially since I use 2 for directly coloring my background ) and the 4th is for hair lighting or as a fill front light.......
Shepsmom.....y9ou are worry way too much....less worry and more fun is what is needed for you........
No light meter...no problem......My sunpak 622 have a guide number(GN) of 200 AT ISO100....so need toi know your aperature setting...well lets start with placeing the light on a stand at 10 feet...no umbrella...just straight frontal light.......divide 200 by 10 and you've got 20 for your aperture...f20...so if your camera does not have f20...go f22 or 18 as a starting point....add more aperture and the scene darkens a bit the background the most.....all modern flashes (that I have dealt with) since the 1960's has had a thyristor circuit in them and that measures the ambient light and AUTOMATICALLY cut s the flash out put...unless you have set the flash to manual and 1/1 (full power) I use mine in the auto mode unless I need to throw light 50 - 100 feet way and that is only done to prove that a flash can reach that distance....so I run the flash on auto and use the test button to meter my subject and then set aperture according most of the time I under expose by 1/2 to 1 stop especially in weddings with a lot of white as I do not want a beautiful lace dress to blow and just be a white smooth beautiful blob and not able to see the design of the dress...................I do the same for other events I have shot...but I still attest my meter(s) are my bestus friends...for the many reasons stated in an earlier post on this thread.........
Thank you everyone for great links and advise! I feel like i'm taking too much of your time. I will let you know what i end up with is and how it works for me. I'm sure i'll be back with more questions as i get myself into this stuff.
Thanks again, it was great!!
www.intruecolors.com
Nikon D700 x2/D300
Nikon 70-200 2.8/50 1.8/85 1.8/14.24 2.8
I was able to drum this up in about a day. I will be continuing this blog going further and further into detail.
Linky.
After I cover all of the generic points of off camera flash methods over the next few weeks. I will start going into basic lighting techniques.
This is great for me since it will drive me to learn more than I would ever take on in my own time.
Make sure to leave a comment! And feel free to tell anyone about it!
-Jon
www.intruecolors.com
Nikon D700 x2/D300
Nikon 70-200 2.8/50 1.8/85 1.8/14.24 2.8