Cheap and Easy

[Loupey]

Well maybe not "cheap" cheap

Let me back up a bit: 2 years ago I started buying some lighting equipment that I thought would give me the flexibility I wanted to travel easily yet would allow me to add to the system in the future. I started off with two Canon 430EX strobes, Canon ST-E2 transmitter, two telescoping light stands, and two white umbrellas.

At the time, I opted not to get the 580EX strobe to use as the master as I didn't want to have a flash on the hot shoe. I suppose I could have covered the flash with black tape but then I would have needed a 3rd strobe. You get the point.

Still far from an "expert" of any degree in this type of photography. But I can say I'm having a blast! It's like learning photography all over again.


Naturally my early test subjects were my children. The shot of my daughter is a two light setup as mentioned above. The strobe on the left is high and aimed at the ceiling/wall while the strobe on the right is aimed down towards the face. The shot of my son is actually just a one-strobe/umbrella setup to highlight the glasses he just started wearing at the time. A quick shot at the kitchen table with my wife holding the light stand horizontally with the umbrella (used as a diffuser) placed near his forehead.


I'll try to find some more examples if these are helpful. Like I said, I'm just learning so any and all input will be highly appreciated :thumbsup:

[gahspidy]

Great results, Loupey. Yes, the Canon Speedlite wireless setup is not cheap, as I know oh so well, but they are practical, convenient and very efficient. BTW, the 580 EX ll can be used as a master without it firing a flash. It can just trigger the other units.
I have two 580 EX ll, a 420 EX, umbrellas and stands.
Loupey, I just ordered a medium size softbox from Photoflex with hardware that allows me to mount my flash to fire through it on a lightstand. I'll let you know how that goes.
Great looking results from a very simple set up

[gahspidy]

Loupey, do you feel that the E-TTL system gives you much problem when it comes to subjects blinking and squinting from the pre-flash?. The E-TTL system is tremendous in every aspect in that it nails exposure, adjusting ratios is a snap, but i have alot of problems with subjects blinking from the pre flash it uses to evaluate its exposure.
I'm thinking of firing my flashes in the Manual mode and adjusting the individual output for each right from the 580 EX ll mounted on camera. I still have the convenience of doing all adjustment right from the camera flashead but won't have the preflash.

[Loupey]

Thanks for the feedback, Gary.

As for the preflash - I haven't had a problem with people blinking to it. It occurs so close to the main flash that I think it might be humanly impossible to blink that fast. I heard it quoted somewhere before, but a "blink of an eye" is actually quite slow - something like 0.1 or 0.05 of a second if I remember hearing it right.

Now I did find that one animal could react fast enough - a squirrel. In my viewfinder, just before it blacks out, I could see the preflash illuminate the head in one position, but every image came out with the head in a slightly different position.

How I think I resolved that issue (it was a long time ago so I may be wrong), was that I used the mirror lockup. When you lock up the mirror, the preflash is triggered right away and the data is stored in memory. When the shutter is finally tripped, only the main flash is fired. Might work for your people shots too. Check it out.


Here are a few more 2 strobe examples. The knife shots were interesting in that there were so many variables to keep in mind (angle of the steel, extent of the shadows on the leather, evenness of the illumination, ... not to mention that I had to hold the knife with my left hand crossed over to my right side while trying to manually focus the tube mounted 50mm f/1.8 which kept creeping on me ). Having the lights/umbrellas on stands was nice as I had the stands leaning over the backs and arm rests of my sofa. The umbrellas were either on my head or on my face. I think they're OK.

[MJS]

Nice stuff with the portables Loupey. Since I mix and match my SB800 with old Sunpack's, I run everything in full manual, set on slave and trigger the main with a cheap wireless set from the Backdrop outlet. I did need to get a female 1/8" mono jack and solder it onto an old PC cord for the receiver to work with the PC terminal on the SB899. I went on the cheap since I can't afford the cool and expensive triggers.

[Loupey]

Thanks, Michael, for the information. I'm not good enough to run the strobes in manual. So while I always keep the camera in full manual, I do run the strobes with E-TTL.



When I started with the 430's, I knew the output power was going to be limited and I was a little worried about lighting large rooms with them. My client's clients weren't always on a time table ideally suited for photography so it made for some interesting times. But I think I eventually found combinations of lighting and camera angles/settings which worked OK given the situations.

Here are two examples combining largely ambient lighting (mixed between outdoor and incandescent) with the 2 strobe setup used mostly as fill lighting.

[MJS]

nice interiors. Where are the. strobes and how did you set the WB.

[racedraper]

just wondering that if you put black tape of the pop up flash will this cause it to burn out cause of the heat? I thought abut doing the same thing with mine. I know how you feel, I just bought my first higher end flashes and the TLL is great. I like the pic of the glasses and the fire,it should be used for an advertisement.

[Loupey]

Michael - thanks. The strobe locations I'm not 100% sure now. But I usually position them opposite the windows which cause such harsh shadows (even when drawn) on the opposite side. Normally they are on either side of me. White balance has been the toughest hurdle for me. These two examples were with the custom WB feature of the SLR. But the mixed lighting in some situations were really ugly on "film".

racedraper - thank for commenting. I don't know what would be the advantage of taping over a pop-up flash. On the Canon system, the IR transmitter sits directly on the hot-shoe so the pop-up cannot be used concurrently. Appreciate the feedback


Two more examples. The first is from the other corner of the previous image. On this one you can see the hot reflection on the chair on the left. I was trying to get more light under the table. You can see that the mixed lighting is creating a different color combination. In the second image, the two strobes are both to my right to light the row of chairs on the near side (opposite the large, open window).

[Loupey]

Thought I'd share these images I took with just one 430EX strobe. Still fired with the ST-E2 transmitter. Some simply bounced off ceilings or walls.

Being new to it, I was happy with them. Artificial lights really do open up a whole world of possibilities.