Lighting Setup's and C&C

9 years 7 months ago #392532 by JeremyS
I recently set up my makeshift studio. I have one speedlight with a diffuser, no soft box and no strobes. I also have a 5 in 1 reflector I also used a table lamp to do some lighting, I lit the backdrop with it in this photo and the speedlight was the key light in this photo. It was my first time using this setup/studio and I'm not entirely sure exactly what I'm doing to be honest with you. What could be done better, and what lighting setups do you recommend, and what would be the best layout possible with 1 speed light and 1 reflector. Would I need one more speedlight or a strobe to really get this to work a bit better? 

There is a harsh shadow to the left of the model, which I would love to get rid of but I am limited with my lighting setup, what is the best thing for me to get to upgrade it, another speed light or a strobe?

Anyway, let me know what you think! Here's the photo. 

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9 years 7 months ago #392566 by KCook
The main light is really harsh.  You said a diffuser was used on the speedlight, but the usual little clip-on molded plastic diffusers really don't do anything.  A 5-in-1 reflector was mentioned, but not how it was used.  The "scrim" core of these 5-in-1s make a much better diffuser than the little plastic deals.  Or, you could have bounced the speedlight off the white reflector face of the 5-in-1.  If you are stuck with the speedlight on the camera, here is a link to a study I did -

kellycook.zenfolio.com/speedlight

The full use of a 5-in-1 with the speedlight needs the speedlight to be off the camera.  Which is not that big a deal.  Light stands can be cheap, and it's not hard to find RF trigger sets for $50 USD, or less.  Once you have the speedlight on a stand, an umbrella can come into play, which will be an even more effective diffuser than the 5-in-1.  And umbrellas are fairly cheap as well.  Unfortunately softbox rigs for speedlights can take you north of $50.

I prefer monolights to speedlights, which is why I have only 1 speedlight.  But for right now, find a way to get your speedlight off the camera onto a stand, additional lights can come later.

Kelly Cook

Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/

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9 years 7 months ago #392569 by JeremyS

KCook wrote: The main light is really harsh.  You said a diffuser was used on the speedlight, but the usual little clip-on molded plastic diffusers really don't do anything.  A 5-in-1 reflector was mentioned, but not how it was used.  The "scrim" core of these 5-in-1s make a much better diffuser than the little plastic deals.  Or, you could have bounced the speedlight off the white reflector face of the 5-in-1.  If you are stuck with the speedlight on the camera, here is a link to a study I did -

kellycook.zenfolio.com/speedlight

The full use of a 5-in-1 with the speedlight needs the speedlight to be off the camera.  Which is not that big a deal.  Light stands can be cheap, and it's not hard to find RF trigger sets for $50 USD, or less.  Once you have the speedlight on a stand, an umbrella can come into play, which will be an even more effective diffuser than the 5-in-1.  And umbrellas are fairly cheap as well.  Unfortunately softbox rigs for speedlights can take you north of $50.

I prefer monolights to speedlights, which is why I have only 1 speedlight.  But for right now, find a way to get your speedlight off the camera onto a stand, additional lights can come later.

Kelly Cook


Should have mentioned that my speedlight was off-camera, it was to camera right on a tripod set-up like a light stand. I should have mentioned that, sorry for the confusion. I'll try using the reflector as a diffuser though, I was using the little molded thing so that could be why.


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9 years 7 months ago - 9 years 7 months ago #392657 by KCook

Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/

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9 years 7 months ago - 9 years 7 months ago #392720 by JeremyS

KCook wrote: The specular highlights are very near center, so the light must not have been very far from the camera.  Linkys for ideas on setups with a single light -

photography.tutsplus.com/tutorials/10-wa...ne-light--photo-3313

www.iheartfaces.com/2013/02/off-camera-lighting-tips/

www.dpreview.com/articles/2148100943/the-one-light-studio

neilvn.com/tangents/camera-and-flash-set...you-want-to-achieve/

Kelly


Thanks for those links, they will help a lot. I'm also trying to find a better light setup, to try and stay away from using a speedlight, I don't really like it. What should I be looking for and what exactly would I need to have a one or two light strobe set with an umbrella and soft boxes. Any recommendations, keep in mind my budget is almost as low as you can go, because I don't want to sink a bunch of money into a studio which I may or may not end up using. 

Also, how are strobes set up, do they use the hotshoe, or are they always on lights? If they are hotshoe connected what other things would I need to buy, a pocketwizard or will they be able to be connected through wires etc.


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9 years 7 months ago - 9 years 7 months ago #392749 by KCook
For any multiple light setup I do use my speedlight, simply because I don't have all that many lights.

The difficulty with the very cheapest monolights is their poor quality.  If your light budget is stuck at say, $50 USD, then you may as well consider a "slave light".  Compared to a speedlight, these slaves are primative.  Most cannot adjust output, simply fire at full power every time.

www.amazon.ca/Neewer-Slave-source-Studio...graphy/dp/B00H8KDZR0

More thoughts on budget strobes -

www.photographytalk.com/forum/lighting-a...portrait-photography

www.photographytalk.com/forum/lighting-a...ting-any-suggestions

Some budget monolight brands to shop include Alienbee, Flashpoint, Godox, Impact, Interfit, and Mettle.

Only speedlights and video lights use a hotshoe fitting.  Monolights include a mount for the common light stand stud.  Most slave lights and CFLs simply screw into a common light socket.  There are cheap adapters to fit any and all types of light to a light stand.

Except for slave lights, all strobes need some sort of connection to the camera to fire.  Though some speedlights have an optical sensor/tigger built in, like a slave light.  Tiggering off camera speedlights gets complicated because some cameras have wireless triggering built in, as do some speedlights.  Monolights are simpler.  All monolights have a optical trigger, so can "see" the fire from a speedlight and sync with it (the same as a slave light).  Optical triggering is not 100% reliable, so RF trigger units are often used with monolights.  Such RF triggers use the PC connection built into the monolight (which all monolights have).  There are also expensive "commander" units to allow complete remote control of the fancier monolights.  These operate like the more elaborate RF controllers for speedlights.

Kelly

Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/

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9 years 7 months ago #392752 by JeremyS
Thanks Kelly, that helps a lot with some of my questions. If you were to buy say this set, which includes 2 lights, stands and umbrella's, and has 2 light sockets. Are you able to use normal light bulbs for that or are you limited to using slaves and the like. 


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9 years 7 months ago #392803 by KCook
Ehhh, what set?  I see no link.

The typical sets with common light sockets are for CFL bulbs (spiral fluorescents).  The output from these bulbs, even those with high Watt ratings, is much lower than any strobe.  So when a CFL is the main light the camera will need to be at a much higher ISO, or the shutter speed much lower.  That low shutter speed means that CFLs are Ok for still life subjects, not very desirable for portraits.  Unless your subject is happy with sitting very still.

You could screw a slave light into the same socket, instead of a CFL.  But the slave units are extra large in diameter.  That obstructs using an umbrella with the typical "head" design.  Though you could jury rig an umbrella with a separate fixture to hold the umbrella.  I have not seen a slave used with a softbox.  Dunno if there would be any issues with that attachment.

Unfortunately there are no good solutions that are on the cheap.  Something, usually more than one something, will have to be sacrificed.

Kelly

Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/

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9 years 7 months ago - 9 years 7 months ago #392879 by Don Fischer
Just a thought, don't know squat about portraits, did you try bouncing the light off the ceiling a reflector at her waist? One more quick thought. I'd use a smaller aperture with greater depth of field. Her necklace is out of focus.


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9 years 7 months ago #392923 by JeremyS

KCook wrote: Ehhh, what set?  I see no link.

The typical sets with common light sockets are for CFL bulbs (spiral fluorescents).  The output from these bulbs, even those with high Watt ratings, is much lower than any strobe.  So when a CFL is the main light the camera will need to be at a much higher ISO, or the shutter speed much lower.  That low shutter speed means that CFLs are Ok for still life subjects, not very desirable for portraits.  Unless your subject is happy with sitting very still.

You could screw a slave light into the same socket, instead of a CFL.  But the slave units are extra large in diameter.  That obstructs using an umbrella with the typical "head" design.  Though you could jury rig an umbrella with a separate fixture to hold the umbrella.  I have not seen a slave used with a softbox.  Dunno if there would be any issues with that attachment.

Unfortunately there are no good solutions that are on the cheap.  Something, usually more than one something, will have to be sacrificed.

Kelly


Woops, I forgot to link you lol. Anyways, thanks for the info about slaves, im thinking of using a monolight now, theres some for like 200$ range that seem to be middle of the road. If I bought one, went with my speedlight + reflector that would be a good setup.

@Don, I tried that last night, it dropped some of the highlights and it worked a bit better. I played around with many different positions.


This is going to sound like a real noob question, however when my flash is off-camera, my D800 meters as if there is no flash at all, so for example, it meters that the correct exposure should be 1/2 second at f/11, when I am actually shooting at about 1/200th of a second at f/11. How can this be fixed, and also how do I know what to set my flash to fire at, is that all trial and error?

Thanks for all your help in advance as always.


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9 years 7 months ago #392963 by KCook
AE programming for flash depends completely on the specific camera (we now know is the D800) and the specific flash unit.  This is called "TTL" flash control.  TTL is common practice for on-camera flash work in the field.  But in a studio, with multiple flash units, most pros do not use TTL, instead they are running everything in manual mode.  This is especially true if any of the lights are monolights instead of speedlights.  Which is "trial and error", unless you are using a flash meter.  Even without a meter, you have complete control over your studio environment, so that trial and error phase will be a brief one.  With practice a pro will remember which settings work for any of the setups that he uses frequently.

Kelly

Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/

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9 years 7 months ago #392996 by JeremyS

KCook wrote: AE programming for flash depends completely on the specific camera (we now know is the D800) and the specific flash unit.  This is called "TTL" flash control.  TTL is common practice for on-camera flash work in the field.  But in a studio, with multiple flash units, most pros do not use TTL, instead they are running everything in manual mode.  This is especially true if any of the lights are monolights instead of speedlights.  Which is "trial and error", unless you are using a flash meter.  Even without a meter, you have complete control over your studio environment, so that trial and error phase will be a brief one.  With practice a pro will remember which settings work for any of the setups that he uses frequently.

Kelly


Awesome, thanks Kelly. I wasn't sure exactly if I was doing something wrong, or if that is just how you do it.


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9 years 7 months ago #393012 by KCook
One rather special case.  If your speedlight is TTL compatible with the camera, and you are using a monolight only for fill (reduced light level), then you could have a mixed situation.  Keep the camera and speedlight in TTL mode, set the monolight manually.  But this really only  makes sense if the subject is moving around (dancing?), instead of staying in one location.  Otherwise, where a monolight is the main light, expect to be in manual mode for both camera and lights.

Kelly

Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/

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