The "next level" in photography is artificial lighting, and is what separates the Pros from the Joes.

Post your portable Strobe setups and questions here.

 

Even though I had my two strobes (Canon 430ex & 580ex II) for a while now, and been wanting to do strobe shots ever since I first saw the Strobist blog site,... it's only yesterday that I got to do the off-camera strobe shots as I finally got my radio triggers a week ago.

Again, this is my first time using multiple strobes and triggers, and I would love to get some pointers from those with experience shooting cars. I'm thinking about getting a third strobe for some 3-point lighting.

Cameras:
Canon 40D and Olympus E-520.

Strobes:
Canon 430ex ($250)
Canon 580exII ($420)

Radio Triggers:
Elinchrom Universal transmitter and receivers. ($200 for transmitter/receiver and $100 for each additional receiver)



Cables:
Miniphone to Hotshoe ($30) to connect the receiver to the 430ex as there is no PC jack for the strobe... and...
Miniphone to Nikon PC ($20) to connect the other receiver to the 580ex II.

Stands:
Impact light stands (cheap!) ($20 ea.)

Diffusers:
Sto-Fen Omin-Bounce ($10)
Harbour Design diffuser ($10)

Here's the outtakes/practice shots from the 40D/Tokina 11-16:




And the majority was taken with the E-520/Zuiko 14-54, where different flash outputs/locations were tried:


No flash used for this shot... used for comparison.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

... more shots of the setup:







IMO, it does wonders for tires, as they are pulled out of the shadow of the wheel well.

Next up: flash with back light (sunsets)... hopefully, it goes well. I did previously purchase umbrellas and reflectors. Suggestions? I'm thinking of trying reflected flash off the umbrellas (I have silver). Would it make a difference to use the diffusers when reflecting off the umbrellas?

 

I like your set up. I use a Nikon D70S. Can this set up work with it (I know I will stick to Nikon Strobes/Flash)?

 

nice setup...

 

I couldn't see anything in this thread but the nasty rear tail lights =(

 

Yeah, you want to stick with Nikon flashes or at least flashes with Nikon iTTL compatibility... at least for the first couple flashes. Luckily, for you Nikon users, some of the camera bodies have built-in TTL transmitters that can trigger the flashes.

For Canon users, we need a $200 transmitter or buy the 580ex II to trigger other flashes. This maintains iTTL.

MrX, yeah, you can use this type of setup... the Elinchrom Skyports as triggers with any flash, but you lose iTTL, so you'll have to manually set the flash output.

What the Skyports or Pocket Wizards offer over the the infra-red systems of the camera manufacturers is increased range and reliability. The i-red systems sometimes fail in direct, bright sunlight, and require direct line of sight.

But recently, the RadioPopper transmitter/receivers just been released and makes the best of both worlds... maintaining TTL, and having greater range and reliability.

Honestly, most examples I see on Strobist, most are using cheap, high output flashes from Vivitar and just manually setting flash. I myself, see the value for using TTL with portraits, as the range to flash is minimal and would require less set-up time.

Check out this video of a pro using just two strobes in TTL mode and an off-camera cord for his key light for a bikini photoshoot.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/06...ini-shoot.html

 

So I can technically just get away with a set of these?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...323882&is=GREY

+ mounts and umbrella?

 

Canon 580EX I, 430EX, 420EX, ST-E2
Impact 8 ft light stands

 

^Lets see some pics of the setup. The strobes you were using.

 

I did a little research for you... the D70s has a built-in iTTL flash commander, so you won't need to buy an external commander.

As far as flashes go, you can even go for the SB-400, whose flash range is not as great as the SB-600, but is $110 and is iTTL compatible.

Do some research on iTTL and it's advantages... and it's disadvantages. Main disadvantage again is range, and reliability in bright light. Max range seems to be about 15' from commander to slave.

You don't necessarily need umbrellas or diffusers, but the quality of light is is affected by their usage. Umbrellas will bounce the light from the flash and be less harsh and cause less hot spots because of the greater area the umbrella has. You'll need a shoe mount bracket to hold the umbrella, along with the light stands. The thing about using umbrellas outdoors is that they will blow over if you don't weigh them down. Or you can get a flash head diffuser like the omni-bounce.

If you look at post #8, GR? had to buy a commander, the ST-E2 to trigger the 3 separate flashes. Again, the good thing about his setup is that since he was using TTL (Through the Lens) infra-red based flash communication, flash output and exposure is automatically calculated by the camera. I think the newer Canon bodies let you control external flashes from the body, instead of going over to each flash.

Again, if you want to keep iTTL and have greater range and reliability, google "Radio Popper." They are expensive.

The last flash trigger option is radio triggers like Pocket Wizards, or Skyports, which don't have iTTL, but has extremely more range and reliability in harsher conditions. This option also allows to use higher powered and cheaper strobe alternatives.

Can anybody else comment on this?

 

GR?, about what time was the shots taken? Was ambient light low? Also, what type of diffuser/umbrella? did you use. I have a lightsphere, and will experiment with it to see if it's any good without a ceiling and out in free space.

 

Here are a few of mine ->

1. Canon 5d with either 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8 or 17-40 f4 lenses
2. Photogenic 1250 DR Powerlights
3. Pocketwizard triggers
4. Photogenic umbrellas or open reflector

 

I don't use diffusers or umbrellas. I find it easier to remove the flash reflection off the paint when it's concentrated in a small area rather than a large diffused reflection. Personal preference.

The ST-E2 allows each flash to be controlled on the unit, so I'm able to dial the power for each channel or keep all the flashes at the same power output. I generally get a range of about 30-40', so I'm not always able to use the 70-200 at 200mm. I find that I can shoot at around 150-170mm before I'm too far back (on a 1.3x crop body).

I usually take shots at around 1 hour prior to sun set, so I use a combination of ambient light and artificial light. I haven't tried after sun set shots with just artificial lighting from the strobes. I'll do it in Sept or Oct once my schedule dies down.

 

Thanks ctwentytwo. I'm tempted to try the SB-600s but I think I'm looking for something more like SSP-350z has. I think the flashes are very limiting, specially since I like to take picture in the dark. I just don't want to spend $500 a light. Is there any way I can have a set up with out the triggers and stuff, pretty much the lights are on and they stay on? That is why I was looking at AC/DC converters so I can have some mobility.

 

Yeah you could go out and get something like a few Lowel DP 1k's (usually around 250 bucks each) but would need at least a 2k power source for that. They would stay on and be easy to focus since they stay on all of the time. Most of the pictures I take (like the few I posted) are either in very dim lighting or darkness. Creates a cool effect !

 

I wonder how this would work.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...On_Camera.html

 

Like SSP-350z said, a constant light setup would not be portable. You'll need high power for constant light, and even need a generator.

The lights SSP-350z used in his pics (post#12) is actually a flash, but has "modeling" lights that stay on to help focus and to get a preview of how the lights affect the subject and environment. The modeling light though, is not powerful enough.

You can bring out these bigger, higher output flashes that SSP-350z has, but again, you'll need to buy a power system for them... $300+. Also, they are not as portable as just regular, hot shoe strobes.

You can just get flood lights in the end, and get the generator, but again, how portable would that be?

 

For me personally 100w is not near enough power.

 

I completely forgot about the generator. I have 2 of them, a 4000w and a 5000w

Okay now, I take it that the DP 1 put out actual white light?

 

Its actually tungstan or 34k light compared to 56k