how to set up flash kits

[Dre Lee]

I am some what new to the "mono lights".

My kit has no specific instruction.
I shoot with a Sony DSC F828 w/ uv filter and diffusion filter on most of the time.
I use the manual setting all the time so that I learn as though I was using an older manual system for the sake of learning more of the technique vs "the digital easy does it".
My light kit is manufactured by a company called YIN YAN and it was bought off of EBAY.

I'm having exposure / maybe flash sync problems.

What is the recommended set up formula
(shutter speed/apeture/ distance and angle of light position to camera)

[another view]

Hi and welcome - I moved your thread here to the lighting forum where you'll probably get more help.

The first thing I'd recommend is a good flash meter like a Sekonic L358. You could probably get fairly close without a meter (but with practice) and rely on the histogram display on the camera to fine tune the settings, but that will take a lot of time. With a flash meter, you'll know right away what your aperture should be.

[handstrap]

I am some what new to the "mono lights".

My kit has no specific instruction.
I shoot with a Sony DSC F828 w/ uv filter and diffusion filter on most of the time.
I use the manual setting all the time so that I learn as though I was using an older manual system for the sake of learning more of the technique vs "the digital easy does it".
My light kit is manufactured by a company called YIN YAN and it was bought off of EBAY.

I'm having exposure / maybe flash sync problems.

What is the recommended set up formula
(shutter speed/apeture/ distance and angle of light position to camera)

You will be connecting your flash system to your camera via a pc/acc cord. This is the sync lead that comes with your light kit and plugs into your light at one end and your camera at the other. In the absence of any specific instructions for your camera... as to external flash sync speed, you should go for 1/125 or slightly lower if you can only make the setting in 100ths of a second and divisors by two. This is unlikely to be too fast but if it is, you will see part of the image obscured by a black bar that shows that the shutter speed was too fast for the flash sync speed you selected. The exposure is made by the flash under studio lights so slow speeds such as 1/60th or 1/30th are not a problem.

Your flash lights may have as slow as 1/700th of a second duration or they may be anywhere up to 1/2000th of a second in duration. You will need to buy a good flashmeter and Sekonic make excellent meters for the purpose. You plug the sync lead from the flash light into them and use the flash meter to trigger the flash then you meter everything... all over the background and then the subject. The higher end meters allow you to make readings without a sysnc cord.

I suggest that you work with just one single light first. It is easier to see the effect of the light as you change its position... besides which there are numerous texts on studio lighting. Exposure is critical with digital imaging. Any highlight that is blown is not recoverable because if the area is white, there is no detail to recover. Shadow recovery is possible if you are able to shoot RAW. Careful exposure will yield good results.

Try using the single light and softbox at nearly the camera position and slightly higher than the lens axis and the model's eye height. This will produce a small neat shadow under the nose (sometimes referred to as "butterfly" lighting and it is expecially glamorous in females. It was a Hollywood lighting technique. Try using reflective materials to balance the light and fill in the shadows. Watch where the shadows fall and exhaust every possible light position with a singloe light and reflectors before you move to a two or three light set up.

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