Auto Strobist Thread.
07-25-2008, 12:20 AM
#21
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Went out again to try some stuff out.
This time I tried the strobes sans diffuser on the heads. The umbrella strobe is firing at 1/4. It was windy, so the following shots are without the umbrella. GR? had a good tip... you'll be wasting your batteries and stressing your strobe wasting light power with the diffusers. In the future, the umbrellas and diffusers are staying home.
40D, Canon EF 28-135 IS, f/5.6, 100mm, 1/30 sec, handheld w/ strobes 3 ft from corners of bumper... same arrangement as above.
Next time, I think I'll try the strobes higher and tilted down. See how that turns out. I think I'll add a third strobe in back the next time, with a lightsphere and see how it turns out. I'm sure it'll be more dynamic.
40D, Sigma 50mm f/1.4, f/1.4, 50mm, 1/30 sec, handheld w/ strobes directly in back. You can see the flash heads on the rear quarters of the car.
40D, Sigma 50mm f/1.4, f/1.4, 50mm, 1/25 sec, handheld w/ strobes directly in back like the shot above.
A shot I tried just for the heck of it.
Looking back, I should have bought the Skyports as soon as I could instead of the lenses. I know there are a lot of those out there that swear by available light shots, but off camera flashes can pull so much detail out of the shadows without the drawbacks of on-camera flash.
This time I tried the strobes sans diffuser on the heads. The umbrella strobe is firing at 1/4. It was windy, so the following shots are without the umbrella. GR? had a good tip... you'll be wasting your batteries and stressing your strobe wasting light power with the diffusers. In the future, the umbrellas and diffusers are staying home.
40D, Canon EF 28-135 IS, f/5.6, 100mm, 1/30 sec, handheld w/ strobes 3 ft from corners of bumper... same arrangement as above.
Next time, I think I'll try the strobes higher and tilted down. See how that turns out. I think I'll add a third strobe in back the next time, with a lightsphere and see how it turns out. I'm sure it'll be more dynamic.
40D, Sigma 50mm f/1.4, f/1.4, 50mm, 1/30 sec, handheld w/ strobes directly in back. You can see the flash heads on the rear quarters of the car.
40D, Sigma 50mm f/1.4, f/1.4, 50mm, 1/25 sec, handheld w/ strobes directly in back like the shot above.
A shot I tried just for the heck of it.
Looking back, I should have bought the Skyports as soon as I could instead of the lenses. I know there are a lot of those out there that swear by available light shots, but off camera flashes can pull so much detail out of the shadows without the drawbacks of on-camera flash.
Last edited by ctwentytwo; 07-25-2008 at 12:24 AM.
08-07-2008, 12:03 AM
#22
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Playing around with strobes and gels. Went out yesterday and card got curropted... lost the pics. But I went out today, and retook the shots.
BTW, the Supak 383 flashes are great for off-camera lighting, it really doesn't make any sense to buy expensive Canon flashes unless you want to keep iTTL capabilty. The drawback? No zoom heads on the flash and a bit old fashioned. I really think they're a great bang for the buck, and I may just get 3 more.
Equipment used:
Olympus E-520 w/ 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5
1x Canon 580ex II
1x Canon 430ex
2x Sunpak 383 Super
1x Elinchrom Skyport Universal Transmitter
2x Elinchrom Skyport Universal Receiver w/ Y-splitter and cables
Various color Lee gels
BTW, the Supak 383 flashes are great for off-camera lighting, it really doesn't make any sense to buy expensive Canon flashes unless you want to keep iTTL capabilty. The drawback? No zoom heads on the flash and a bit old fashioned. I really think they're a great bang for the buck, and I may just get 3 more.
Equipment used:
Olympus E-520 w/ 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5
1x Canon 580ex II
1x Canon 430ex
2x Sunpak 383 Super
1x Elinchrom Skyport Universal Transmitter
2x Elinchrom Skyport Universal Receiver w/ Y-splitter and cables
Various color Lee gels
08-07-2008, 07:34 PM
#24
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my friends GTI................
strobist info........ 2min exposure .....just walked around firing the strobe at 1/16 power aka light painting......and lit the bottom of the car obviously.....
strobist info........ 2min exposure .....just walked around firing the strobe at 1/16 power aka light painting......and lit the bottom of the car obviously.....
08-13-2008, 10:13 AM
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Sorry, I don't have any behind the scenes shots but basically it's three lights. One on camera left firing into a softbox, one on camera right firing thru a umbrella and a small light behind the right rear wheel.
10-21-2008, 09:45 PM
#27
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Olympus E-520 with 2 off-camera Sunpak 383 Supers triggered by Elinchrom Skyports.
My other shots had the front lip blend in with the front shadow, so I decided to go back a third time and get it right. It was overcast, ideal for some, but I wanted a bright sun coming from the side to give horizontal shadows to the container in back. I guess I'll go back a fourth time.
BTW, I really need a 3rd trigger
Strobes in back:
Strobe camera left pointing down at front bumper to light the front lip, other strobe pointed at the container background, hence part of it is lit.
Same as above but stronger front key light.
Conventional setup: camera right, camera left.
Same as above by at wide-angle.
My other shots had the front lip blend in with the front shadow, so I decided to go back a third time and get it right. It was overcast, ideal for some, but I wanted a bright sun coming from the side to give horizontal shadows to the container in back. I guess I'll go back a fourth time.
BTW, I really need a 3rd trigger
Strobes in back:
Strobe camera left pointing down at front bumper to light the front lip, other strobe pointed at the container background, hence part of it is lit.
Same as above but stronger front key light.
Conventional setup: camera right, camera left.
Same as above by at wide-angle.
10-23-2008, 12:13 AM
#30
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http://www.bulletproofautomotive.com...il.php?ID=1127
The Radio Poppers are expensive, but I guess the upside of TTL is worth it.
Once you try strobes, it's hard not to use them for every shoot... only laziness will hold you back from using them.
All your photos can benefit greatly just from off-camera fill flash to fill in shadows, add catch lights, etc..
10-25-2008, 01:12 PM
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c22,
you gonna go to this?
http://www.flickr.com/groups/nahui_a...7608105894187/
Should also hop in here.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=302787
you gonna go to this?
http://www.flickr.com/groups/nahui_a...7608105894187/
Should also hop in here.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=302787
10-26-2008, 02:01 AM
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03-05-2009, 10:07 PM
#33
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I may never take another picture without any type of off camera flash...
Been meaning to redo some pics I took awhile back... this time with strobes. Didn't bring a third flash stand, which I should have to light up that rear wheel, but oh well, I guess I'm going to have to go back.
Here's the low down... again, I only used 2 BARE strobes with triggers. You can see the setup in some of the fisheye pics below. Put the camera on manual to to the fastest sync speed (usually 1/250). Adjust aperture for the sunset. Then take test shots adjusting flash output accordingly.
There's actually different ways to do it... like using Aperture Priority (Av) and setting the camera to keep a constant 1/250 sync speed in Av mode. Then all you do is adjust aperture for the sunset, while adjusting flash output.
Or, you can go back to Manual, and slow down shutter speed to adjust for light to keep an aperture of max DOF... you get the idea. Shutter speed should not go too slow though.
All pics handheld... I love tripods and all, but if shutter speed is fast enough, I leave it at home. Much more fun without the tripod holding you back.
The flashes were at full power most of the time... when the sunset was still too bright... and the Duracell AA rechargeables (4x) lasted over 200 shots.
Canon 40D + Tokina 10-17 fisheye + Elinchrom Skyports (2x) + Sunpak 383 Super + Vivitar 285HV.
Olympus E-520 + Olympus Zuiko 14-54 + Elinchrom Skyports (2x) + Sunpak 383 Super + Vivitar 285HV.
Been meaning to redo some pics I took awhile back... this time with strobes. Didn't bring a third flash stand, which I should have to light up that rear wheel, but oh well, I guess I'm going to have to go back.
Here's the low down... again, I only used 2 BARE strobes with triggers. You can see the setup in some of the fisheye pics below. Put the camera on manual to to the fastest sync speed (usually 1/250). Adjust aperture for the sunset. Then take test shots adjusting flash output accordingly.
There's actually different ways to do it... like using Aperture Priority (Av) and setting the camera to keep a constant 1/250 sync speed in Av mode. Then all you do is adjust aperture for the sunset, while adjusting flash output.
Or, you can go back to Manual, and slow down shutter speed to adjust for light to keep an aperture of max DOF... you get the idea. Shutter speed should not go too slow though.
All pics handheld... I love tripods and all, but if shutter speed is fast enough, I leave it at home. Much more fun without the tripod holding you back.
The flashes were at full power most of the time... when the sunset was still too bright... and the Duracell AA rechargeables (4x) lasted over 200 shots.
Canon 40D + Tokina 10-17 fisheye + Elinchrom Skyports (2x) + Sunpak 383 Super + Vivitar 285HV.
Olympus E-520 + Olympus Zuiko 14-54 + Elinchrom Skyports (2x) + Sunpak 383 Super + Vivitar 285HV.
03-06-2009, 05:17 PM
#38
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im still a noob at strobes and other flash photography, but im learning 
im using JTL Moblight 301s
its nice because it has AC and DC power. and has lots of power
some shots with it
1
2
3
4
5
6
im using JTL Moblight 301s
its nice because it has AC and DC power. and has lots of power
some shots with it
1
2
3
4
5
6
03-06-2009, 10:49 PM
#39
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Dizzle, what are you using to power the lights? Wow, yeah, much more power than AA powered strobes. If you are using a DC power pack, they must be expensive.
Good results though, just need an interesting background. God, must be nice having all that power.
Good results though, just need an interesting background. God, must be nice having all that power.
03-07-2009, 12:26 AM
#40
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its battery packs. i can get around 130 flashes at full power which is 300 ws
this is the kit. very resonably priced, the only draw back is they work off of infared which is best for indoors. so outside i couldnt get them to sync and i had to get the wireless set up for it.
but total i have a little less than $1000 invested in the system
http://www.jtl-lighting.com/JTL-Mobi...-Lighting.html
this is the kit. very resonably priced, the only draw back is they work off of infared which is best for indoors. so outside i couldnt get them to sync and i had to get the wireless set up for it.
but total i have a little less than $1000 invested in the system
http://www.jtl-lighting.com/JTL-Mobi...-Lighting.html