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poopinmymouth posted:I just happened to do a platon study recently. I only used a single flash into a small 24" silver umbrella placed high and directly in front. Ha! I was right when I said a small softbox above eye level. You used an umbrella but the effect would be nearly identical.
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Dec 26, 2008 05:12
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baptism of fiber posted:drat, nicely done. I always figured those 'halos' were a separate strobe lighting the background. Judging by the pupils, it must have been pretty dark in the studio, right? This studio was just a wall in my living room. Part of my post process was removing the yellow of the wall paint. If you look at all his portraits, the halo is either a super elaborate cut out, or he does it in post, because it always follows the exact silhouette of the person. Look especially at the one of Bill Clinton sitting. I'm 95% positive he does the halo in post processing. There were a few 50 watt lamps on in the room, but the flash was so bright it killed it completely. Basically the only light contributing was the main flash.
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Dec 26, 2008 14:11
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ConfusedUs posted:Ha! I was right when I said a small softbox above eye level. You used an umbrella but the effect would be nearly identical. I saw a video of Platon's work recently, and it looks like he always uses a single soft ish light above and center. The times he is outside it looks like a soft box because of the distance away he has to be, but for his portraits I think it's a beauty dish.
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Dec 26, 2008 14:13
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poopinmymouth posted:I saw a video of Platon's work recently, and it looks like he always uses a single soft ish light above and center. The times he is outside it looks like a soft box because of the distance away he has to be, but for his portraits I think it's a beauty dish. I follow your blog pretty regularly, and I loved the Platon study. One thing I've had a hard time with though is finding where to buy that really small umbrella you have - any suggestions?
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Dec 27, 2008 09:05
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SoundMonkey posted:I follow your blog pretty regularly, and I loved the Platon study. One thing I've had a hard time with though is finding where to buy that really small umbrella you have - any suggestions? amazon.com or from the source directly, https://www.alzodigital.com Seems they are the only ones that make it that small. The next smallest is 27", which seems more common.
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Dec 27, 2008 13:16
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Had my mind made up about getting the 2 B400 kit from alien bees, but came accross a boxing week sale on the Elinchrome D-Lite 4's. Here's a link: http://vistek.ca/store/ProPhotoLighting/236466/elinchrom-dlite-4-to-go-set-includes-fan-cooled-2x400ws-2x-softbo.aspx Can someone tell me how these compare to the alien bees? This same store also carries the Elinchrome Skyports (remote triggers). How do those compare to the cybersyncs?
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Dec 29, 2008 01:34
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Luk3 posted:Had my mind made up about getting the 2 B400 kit from alien bees, but came accross a boxing week sale on the Elinchrome D-Lite 4's. Here's a link: http://vistek.ca/store/ProPhotoLighting/236466/elinchrom-dlite-4-to-go-set-includes-fan-cooled-2x400ws-2x-softbo.aspx Whoa those Elinchroms are really cheap, is that in CAD?
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Dec 29, 2008 06:35
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MrButterpants posted:Even the basics of when to use CTO's and Window Green gels isn't intuitive. Just think of it as, if your images's WB matches your light source, things illuminated by it will be truely colored. If your image's WB is lower than your light source, things illuminated by that source will be bluer. If it is higher, they will be oranger. Since you can control some light sources, you can use this to your advantage. Personally I think it's a lovely way of getting blue skies because it just turns everything blue, and the sky was already blue... for strong blue skies I get the best results by reducing the lightness of the aquas and blues with the hsl tab in lightroom.
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Dec 30, 2008 21:25
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I just ordered a B800 today. Hopefully it'll arrive next week along with my replacement camera battery.
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Dec 30, 2008 21:30
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How do you guys stick gels in front of hotshoe flashes? Do you go the strobist way with velcro and such?
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Dec 30, 2008 21:57
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PowerLlama posted:How do you guys stick gels in front of hotshoe flashes? Do you go the strobist way with velcro and such? Pretty much yeah.
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Dec 30, 2008 23:02
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The Fomo posted:I just ordered a B800 today. Hopefully it'll arrive next week along with my replacement camera battery. I took a 2x6cm strip of stiff plastic from a package, bent it in the middle, and taped it to the bottom so that it forms a 90 degree angle, half on the front of the flash, half on the bottom of it. It is clear, so it does not hinder the flash itself, but it serves as a place to slip the gels into and hold firmly in place.
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Dec 30, 2008 23:27
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I almost checked out on these @ Gadget Infinity: 2x https://www.gadgetinfinity.com/product.php?productid=17022 2x https://www.gadgetinfinity.com/product.php?productid=17024 But I realized the umbrella might not be as sturdy as it needs to be to put up with wind and stuff. Has anyone tried those? Should I save up for a while longer and get some 'real' stuff somewhere else? Vistek.ca umbrellas are very expensive in comparison. (Basic bounce / shoot through combinaison umbrella goes for about 44$ each) Things to note: I'm Canadian (lovely currency, can't buy from the state anymore) and I'm not quite ready to go all out on alien bees and the like. I have a couple strobes that I want to use with cactus triggers to see if this is for me. I sorta needs stands, clamps and umbrella to get started however. So, any recommendations for a 200 CAD budget?
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Jan 2, 2009 20:46
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I have finally entered the wonderful world of off-camera lighting! (Well, I will enter it once my order ships) I went the cheap route to start with and got: 2 Vivitar 285HV Flashes, 2 Cactus V2s receivers and 1 transmitter, the Strobist Rosco Color Effects Gel Pack and some extra batteries for the Cactus receivers. All of this cost the same amount as one new 430EX II, so I figure, what's there to lose (other than TTL)? I can't wait to start messing around with flashes!
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Jan 2, 2009 21:14
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Personally, I dont like the swivel adapters from Gadget Infinity because they dont have the easily adjustable arm rather they have a little screw type to adjust the angle of the adapter. If you just want to get started, you can look at something like this. Its cheap, the adapters are pretty solid for their price, and come with everything but the light source starting off. I would always put some sort of weight on the stands base because putting an umbrella on a lightweight stand is asking to break your gear. You need a backpack or something to hold it in place. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/475575-REG/Impact__Digital_Flash_Umbrella_Mount.html http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/475575-REG/Impact__Digital_Flash_Umbrella_Mount.html Oh I see you are in canada, Im not quite sure what the exchange rate is now that your buck is a little cheaper.
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Jan 2, 2009 21:19
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IsaacNewton posted:Things to note: I'm Canadian (lovely currency, can't buy from the state anymore) and I'm not quite ready to go all out on alien bees and the like. I have a couple strobes that I want to use with cactus triggers to see if this is for me. I sorta needs stands, clamps and umbrella to get started however. Depending where you are in Canada, Opus sells a stand/umbrella/swivel kit for hotshoe flashes for under a hundred dollars. I've used a bunch of hotshoe flashes and now my alienbees on it, and no complaints. The hotshoe mount thing that comes with it is a bit of a piece of poo poo, but yours might be okay, or you could just get an adapter and screw into that. I got mine at Kerrisdale Camera, London Drugs might have a similar thing.
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Jan 2, 2009 21:33
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Verman posted:Personally, I dont like the swivel adapters from Gadget Infinity because they dont have the easily adjustable arm rather they have a little screw type to adjust the angle of the adapter. With the 44$ shipping, it's about 175$ CAD. It's still in my price range, but might burst out with the customs. SoundMonkey posted:Depending where you are in Canada, Opus sells a stand/umbrella/swivel kit for hotshoe flashes for under a hundred dollars.. I live in Québec, pretty far north where there isn't a photo / art store within a 300 km radius, I gotta do it online. 
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Jan 2, 2009 21:45
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Holy lord the shipping/importation totally does kill a deal. goes from $100-180 almost. Christ that sucks. Before you order, I might try looking at both Adorama and B&H because they have pretty similar kits like that, I believe that Impact is B&H store brand as Flashpoint is for Adorama. Either way I think they have very similar quality and you wont really be dissapointed by it as long as you arent expecting professional quality stuff. I was suprised by the quality (much better than I thought it would be for the price) and I would definitely buy it again. Maybe some stronger/heavier stands but other than that everything was pretty nice.
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Jan 2, 2009 22:01
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Can you show me pics you've taken with those stands? I can't find a proper review for the set anywhere and I'd like to see it in action before I lay all that dough.  The umbrellas look a bit small, but I never used an umbrella so what would I know.
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Jan 2, 2009 22:15
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Does anyone have an opinions on the LumiQuest softboxes? http://www.lumiquest.com/products/softbox.htm in particular...
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Jan 2, 2009 22:59
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omnibounce is better and more flexible, you can put a piece of semi translucent plastic in front to get almost the same effect
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Jan 2, 2009 23:49
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Gambl0r posted:I have finally entered the wonderful world of off-camera lighting! (Well, I will enter it once my order ships) I went the cheap route to start with and got: You don't really need TTL unless you're working in an unpredictable environment and not confident about working manual. It's a different way of working but manual gives you complete control and as long as you familiarize yourself with your flashes it'll become second nature.
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Jan 3, 2009 00:42
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I'm prepared to go ahead and get this lighting kit to start out with strobes, at long last, and finally begin ditching the hot 'n heavy worklights. I'd also like to pick up a medium softbox to go with it. I don't know the specifics of how these things interact with one another, how can I know if the softbox I buy will mount or whatever with my setup?
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Jan 5, 2009 21:53
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$250 seems like quite a bit of money for that kit. Its nice for convenience and the fact that its all in one package but I would rather put that money towards a monolight like an alienbees or elenchrome. Dont get me wrong, Vivi-mules are great and portable but if you are looking for studio style lighting, I think that getting better lights is the best way to go, I wish I had realized this before going the whole "using flashes as studio strobes" route. Some softboxes attach to the light stand, others attach to the monolight, Im not quite sure as I dont have much familiarity with softboxes but as far as umbrellas go, they go directly into your light stand swivel adapter. Either way you go, good luck and have fun. Off camera lighting is fun when you start getting into it and makes your pictures look 100X better.
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Jan 5, 2009 22:40
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Yeah that is a lot of money for what it is, and I bet that stand and umbrella are the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel as far as quality goes (that is usually how any kind of kit is, they give you cheap-o accessories to increase their margin as much as possible). Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think you can even mount a softbox to a hotshoe flash. The way it works on strobes is you buy a speedring, which attaches to the modifier mount on your light, and then the speedring has places for the softbox poles to attach to. Even if you could do it it seems like a bad idea to me, softboxes and speedrings are heavy - I can't really imagine how it would work in a way that wouldn't (eventually) damage the flash. Plus I doubt a hotshoe flash has enough power to light up anything other than a really small softbox without shooting at a ridiculously low f/stop. I've never seen a softbox/speedring that attached to the stand like Verman said either. I would go with an Alien Bee (cheapest one: $225) and get a decent used stand or softbox on Ebay. If you're going to be lugging stands and modifiers around anyways the difference between a hotshoe flash and a monolight is minimal.
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Jan 5, 2009 22:48
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 I got the link to the thing from this thread. I don't want AB because I'm tired of having to plug lights into walls*. I mean I read a page of people bickering over SB-26 vs Vivitar and finally made a decision, only to have more arguing. This poo poo is confusing and frustrating.That said I already have several umbrellas, two reflective and one pass through. I don't have stands, gels, strobes, triggers or clamps. This kit covered that so it seemed to fit the bill. I didn't want the umbrella but there it was in the kit. If I can put together a comparable rig for less than I will. I have very little money so each dollar has to count. I want portable and am not looking to make a studio proper. poo poo I can set up and tear down and stuff in the trunk when I'm done. *Edit: I mean the necessity of carting along extension cords, multiplug adaptors, finding out the house you're shooting at was built in the 1920s and all the outlets are 2-prong so you need adapters, etc. etc. I want to be able to set up out in the middle of a field and not look for an electrical outlet. 
pwn fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Jan 5, 2009 |
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Jan 5, 2009 23:06
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Spend your $250, buy two really nice stands, a bag to carry it all in, a Vivitar, cactus triggers (or radio poppers JrX). As far as softboxes go, you are stuck with the Lumiquest Mini Softbox or some jankety one that I saw which attaches to the vertical pole of a light stand. This is where hot shoe flashes just dont fit the bill for professional lighting which is what softboxes are usually for. Consider the Vivitar a light duty truck. It can haul a decent amount but it has its limits. Hot shoe flashes were meant to be on or near the camera, now they are being used as cheap alternatives to monolights, which means that flashes werent meant to hold softboxes etc. Most light modifiers were meant to be attached to studio lights.
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Jan 5, 2009 23:16
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Verman posted:Spend your $250, buy two really nice stands, a bag to carry it all in, a Vivitar, cactus triggers (or radio poppers JrX). As far as softboxes go, you are stuck with the Lumiquest Mini Softbox or some jankety one that I saw which attaches to the vertical pole of a light stand. This is where hot shoe flashes just dont fit the bill for professional lighting which is what softboxes are usually for. Thank you and brad industry for the help, if I come off short it's not personal.
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Jan 5, 2009 23:27
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If you plan on shooting fairly rapidly, the 285HV may give you fits since it can take up 10 seconds to recharge when shooting at full power. Of course if you're going at 1/16 power you can shoot as fast as you like. So the answer would be to buy 16 285HVs and rig them all up on the same softbox.
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Jan 5, 2009 23:33
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You didnt seem short, just frustrated as getting into lighting (photo gear in general) can get really frustrating when you try to not spend too much and still get good gear.
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Jan 6, 2009 00:27
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You didn't come off as short, it's cool. Lighting gear never goes obsolete and makes much more of a difference than anything else you could buy so just keep that in mind. I mean, look at the gear thread where dudes drop thousands on L glass or the latest and greatest body for tiny, meaningless gains in sharpness or whatever. I use (and love) my Vagabond battery pack for shooting in the middle of fields, but of course that's more money
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Jan 6, 2009 01:57
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brad industry posted:Lighting gear never goes obsolete I found that out trying to find good used lighting gear.
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Jan 6, 2009 02:05
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brad industry posted:I use (and love) my Vagabond battery pack for shooting in the middle of fields, but of course that's more money This is my next purchase, I got a B1600 as recommended in the gear thread and I absolutely love it. I can shoot at f/8, ISO 100 with a double baffed softbox quite easily, if not more (if needed). quote:I found that out trying to find good used lighting gear. Hahahah 
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Jan 6, 2009 03:42
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So out of curiosity, what is so bad about buying 3 hotshoe flashes and just using them as the lighting, as opposed to getting studio lights? It seems like the flashes would be good as they'd be incredibly portable and not need any powerpoints....
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Jan 6, 2009 04:34
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Womens Jeans posted:So out of curiosity, what is so bad about buying 3 hotshoe flashes and just using them as the lighting, as opposed to getting studio lights? It seems like the flashes would be good as they'd be incredibly portable and not need any powerpoints.... Correct me if I'm wrong but I think we just spent the last ~4 pages discussing the differences between the different lighting options.
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Jan 6, 2009 04:37
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I can't even imagine what kind of bizarre, ghettotastic setup you would need to rig together 3 hotshoe flashes to a modifier. Imagine trying to actually set that up on location vs. just screwing a head on a stand. Plus now you have to buy 3 triggers and god forbid you need more than one light source (or have to adjust the power on 3 seperate tiny menus! jesus). For the price of 3 hotshoe flashes and 3 triggers you could just buy a strobe and battery pack and have money left over. Maybe this just seems obvious to me because I do it all the time, but the biggest pain in the rear end with shooting on location isn't moving heads, battery packs, and cords around it's light stands. At least you can put heads in a rolling case and just sling a battery pack over your shoulder - stands and modifiers are heavy and awkward to carry. You're going to be bringing stands out no matter what, seems kind of silly for the battery pack to be the determining factor. brad industry fucked around with this message at 05:05 on Jan 6, 2009 |
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Jan 6, 2009 05:02
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brad industry posted:For the price of 3 hotshoe flashes and 3 triggers you could just buy a strobe and battery pack and have money left over. But wouldn't that mean you're only 1/3rd of the way to the setup you would have with the 3 hotshoe flashes? Spending 1/3rd of the money is definitely one advantage, I would think.
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Jan 6, 2009 06:03
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Womens Jeans posted:So out of curiosity, what is so bad about buying 3 hotshoe flashes and just using them as the lighting, as opposed to getting studio lights? It seems like the flashes would be good as they'd be incredibly portable and not need any powerpoints.... First, you're talking at least four large hotshoe flashes to compete with one low-power studio light, which as an aside can recycle from full in half a second vs. 7-10 for hotshoe flashes at full (which they'd have to be, to poo poo out that kind of light). Second, it'd be impossible to mount them to a modifier, as brad said, even one as simple as an umbrella. This is really the same discussion as buying expensive camera bodies. Is there any shot I've taken that I actually could not have taken on an entry level body? Probably not. However, it makes my photography a lot easier when I can concentrate on that instead of fiddling with stupid settings and fighting with the gear. Same with lighting. I'm sure you could theoretically do studio light things with a bunch of hotshoe flashes, but you're going to be spending a lot more time getting angry at your lights and a lot less time taking pictures.
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Jan 6, 2009 07:13
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Gambl0r posted:But wouldn't that mean you're only 1/3rd of the way to the setup you would have with the 3 hotshoe flashes? Spending 1/3rd of the money is definitely one advantage, I would think. I think he's under the impression of the guy trying to use 3 shoe mount flashes on one stand.
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Jan 6, 2009 07:14
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Gambl0r posted:But wouldn't that mean you're only 1/3rd of the way to the setup you would have with the 3 hotshoe flashes? Spending 1/3rd of the money is definitely one advantage, I would think. Yeah but a decent hotshoe flash costs just as much (or more) than some of these entry level monolights like the AB's. Unless we're talking some of the low powered, really cheap ones which are kind of apples and oranges anyways. It's already been pointed out that the quality of light and flexibility of strobes is higher even when things like power are equal. I'm not saying don't buy hotshoe flashes, just do the research and figure out what works best for whatever you want to do. A lot of this stuff seems like it should be cheaper or more portable on paper but once you actually cart it out to a location and use it the pros and cons become obvious and things like an extra 10lbs vs 10 second recycle times make a lot more sense. I highly recommend that you guys who have never used some of this equipment rent a few things first and play around with it before you make a decision. I know not all cities have rental houses, but if you do it's really a lot cheaper than you would think. Most places only charge you for one day if you pick up on a Friday and return on Monday.
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Jan 6, 2009 07:43
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