Quote Originally Posted by kenna
I am brand new, so please excuse my ignorance...I am not familiar with the terminology quite yet. I have a new d70 and a new baby - a wonderful combination. I've set up a small studio in my home with two lights, both with umbrellas. One light plugs into the top of the camera, the other flashes off the first light. I was told that the camera needed to be set to manual when using the flash, and I don't have a clue as to what camera settings are a good starting place for experimenting in the studio. I realize that there are a variety of settings available, but are there standards I should use as a starting place? My pictures thus far are less than stellar! A main issue I'm having is with color - my whites aren't appearing white, but I can find a solution for that in the archives.

Thanks for being here! I've already spent hours reading the forums and have found the information to be extremely helpful, and not condescending as they were at my local store.

Kenna
Well I hope this helps you....
Are you using a light meter to get your base exposure? We have a 3 light SP system in our studio, with a set up that is similar to yours. I'm an idiot when it comes to studio, but I usually set my light meter for the ISO and shutter speed I'm planning on using, use the light meter to trigger the strobes, and the meter gives me the f-stop to accomplish the exposure. If I needed a different aperture setting (say I really needed f8 not f4, then I can move the lights closer or bump up the output on the strobes). I wish my system had more control over the light output, but it is a cheap system that has capacitors that are not voltage regulated the way the good equipment is(like Norman systems). I have my cameras set to manual, and I just set the shutter speed to maximum flash sync or slower and match the aperture to the meter's reading. From there I check the exposures on my lcd display immediately for feedback and adjust the aperture accordingly or adjust the light output to change the required aperture. Hope that helps, but that's the primitive way I use my studio until I hopefully learn more, and get a better setup. Good luck.