Canon 580EXll strobes on location

[gahspidy]

This is a self portrait i recently did on a location i scouted out. I invested in the 580EXll strobes because I liked the portability idea of them and this is one example. This location was "off limits" and i really was taking a chance being here at all, so it was good to have a very light set up that I could walk in with and run out with too.

The strobes were set in Manual mode (everything was actually). the main was set on a adorama lite stand (very light and portable) against the window wall and to the right high up about 7ft. The other strobe was on camera (only brought one light stand) and rotated to bounce of the wall behind me, just to add some fill to the room as I exposed for the window light.
The infrared signals from the strobes were able to easily communicate with eachother and even better, the Canon 5D mkll gave me the abilty to adjust the output of each right from the camera.
It is not technically perfect, but i don't think I would have got the shot if I had to lug larger equipment to this place.
I have just learned also that pocket wizard makes a transceiver that is dedicated to the Canon DSLR and will transmit E-TTLll info to the other strobes. Now this is getting interesting.

[jetrim]

This is a really nice shot Gary, you did a great job configuring the lighting and I think I tend to agree that a location pack/head setup would not have yielded much better results. Also impressive is how you held the crisp detail in the shadow areas. That pocket wizard info is interesting!

[berrywise]

Nice shot Gary. I own three AlienBee 800s and three 580 flash units and I think I probably use the small flashes a lot more. It's pretty rare that I need the amount of power that the Bees can produce.

I really need to play around with the Mark II's ability to set the power. I usually just use my light meter to do all the readings for me but I could see where it could come in handy to be able to do that right at the camera.

A word of warning my friend purchased the new pocket wizards you speak of and they were nothing but a headache for him.

Thanks for sharing.

[gahspidy]

Thanks guys for the comments. Berry, I am disappointed to hear that about the PW. I'm still looking to get the radio transceivers and so will just have to go with the standard ones and use everything manually. i may also get another 580EXll. They are pretty amazing and a few of them can light up quite a lot.

[draymorton]

Excellent shot, Gary. From the sound of it, you were shooting with the STE-2?

I would probably get another 580EXII myself, but purchasing an AB800 would actually be cheaper.

Likewise, Pocketwizards are awesome, but they require deep-ass, er, pockets.

[BlueRob]

Great shot there! The use of light really stands out :thumbsup:

[gahspidy]

Dray, I have the ST-E2 but rarely use it. It does not offer the extent of function that the controls on the 580EXll have. I had a 580 on camera swiveled back to bounce of the wall behind camera for fill. the other was on a light stand. With my 5D mkll I can control everything from the camera as long as a 580EXll is in the hotshoe. Much less contol available if the ST-E2 is in the hot seat. Basically, the ST-E2 will become obsolete.

I just looked into and ordered some cybersync battery powered RX'ers and a TX from Paul Buff (Alien Bees) Half the price of the PW and although the range is not as great, they are supposed to be well built and reliable.
Now I'll be able to have both 580EXll off camera and I'll probably wind up buying a Vivitar flash with a third RX since I will be setting everything up manually. No need to shell out the big bucks for another 580.

Rob, thanks for the comment

[draymorton]

Ah, so THAT'S why I see guys shooting with the flash swiveled backwards on their cameras.

So you're saying you can control the output of each speedlite as long as you have one in the hotshoe? I thought only Nikon offered that feature.

Cybersyncs were a good choice. That's what I use and they've worked flawlessly. A lot of folks seem to use Radio Poppers and swear by them. Never understood the advantages of the RPs.

[gahspidy]

So you're saying you an control the output of each speedlite as long as you have one in the hotshoe? I thought only Nikon offered that feature.

Cybersyncs were a good choice. That's what I use and they've worked flawlessly. A lot of folks seem to use Radio Poppers and swear by them. Never understood the advantages of the RPs.

Yup, i am able to control each speedlite, set them up in groups if desired, control zoom, output, manual or ETT-L, ratios all from the menu screen on the 5Dmkll The problem is the IR signal is lousy in certain situations. For this self portrait, I did not seem to have an issue with flash communicating with eachother. However, the other day i was in another location trying to set up a shot and was very limited as to where i could place my light because they were not connectiong very well. Turned out i had to have the light very close the the camera mounted 580. Frustrating, and so I decided to go with the Cybersync. Glad to know you have good experiecne with them. I did not want to plug in the super cheap Chinese made radios into my 3,000.00 camera body I heard some stories about having to resolder poor connections with some of these offerings. . .
Paul Buff (Alien Bees) has a new controller out called the Cyber Commander
http://www.white-lightning.com/cybersyncplus.html
This looks like a highly ambitious system but if it works as they intend it would be an amazing studio investment, I think.