D7000 as flash commander, using non-Nikon flash

[Loose Canon]

Well thank you sir.

If I would have been shooting for these guys I would have insisted they provide me with a flawless bottle instead of the one I borrowed (stole without her knowing it) from my Beloved Bride!

[Manfred M]

Thanks Kathy - you are right on all counts.

I have the Einsteins and a Vagabond mini, so am set with those if I travel by car. I have a large Pelican case for the heads, so a couple or three light stands, the triggers. the Vagobond mini kit and a couple of light modifiers and the back of the car is pretty full.

I picked up the Wistro 360 because it is much more portable, especially when traveling by air and all I need to do is switch out the Balcar speedring on my Paul C Buff light modifiers and pop on the Bowens one an I am in business in less than a minute. It's small, light and portable. It's small enough that I pop it on a light duty stand and I am in business.

The main downside (other than not being compatible with my PocketWizards for remote control of the light versus just triggering it) is the lack of power. I was shooting with it last weekend and all I was doing was using it as a bounce flash and needed pretty well full power to light things the way I wanted to. I prefer a bit more "headroom", but certainly understood the tradeoff when I bought the unit.

I've never actually used HSS other than in a test situation, so I doubt I'll be running out and upgrading the FT-16.

Just to add a few more test results here regarding HSS and the hardware I have lying around:

I have tested the Godox Witstro AD360 with my PocketWizards: I have a couple of Flex TT5, A Mini TT1, a Plus II and a Plus III transceivers, as well as an AC3 Zone Controller (used with the Flex TT5 or Mini TT1 only). I also have four MC2 units, but these are for the Einstein 640 units, so did not get used:

I set the flash into HHS mode and tested different triggering methods. The AC3 was not able to communicate with the flash, but there was a bit of simple workaround. By leaving the Godox receiver on the flash and the FT-16 in my hand, I was able to change the HSS power setting remotely. Tests were done with the D800.

1. Plus II / Plus III on either the camera or flash - unable to use HSS at all. One pleasant surprise was that I was able to shoot at synch speed (1/250 sec). The Einsteins have to be shot at 1/200th.

2. Mini TT1 or Flex TT5 on camera and Plus II or Plus III on flash - was able to use HSS at speeds up to 1/1000th sec.

3. Mini TT1 or Flex TT5 on camera and Flex TT5 on flash (Mini TT1 is a transmitter only) - Able to achieve HSS at shutter speeds up to 1/8000th sec

This is great, because I now have some workable options for HSS with the Witstro AD360, if I need this without buying any more triggers.

Using

[brucehughw]

Hi, Manfred.

In a couple of your posts you mentioned owning various soft boxes. Could you please recommend a manufacturer (decent quality, neither top nor bottom of the line)? Also, does the same manufacturer sell a stand for it? I plan to place it in front of an AlienBees 1600 or Nikon 700-SB.

Thanks very much, Bruce

The entire moonlight is indeed outside the soft box, but a 30" x 60" rectangular soft box or a 47" octagon blocks a lot of light. In many of my setups very little light will hit the sensor.

[Manfred M]

Hi, Manfred.

In a couple of your posts you mentioned owning various soft boxes. Could you please recommend a manufacturer (decent quality, neither top nor bottom of the line)? Also, does the same manufacturer sell a stand for it? I plan to place it in front of an AlienBees 1600 or Nikon 700-SB.

Thanks very much, Bruce

Much of my equipment is from the same company that makes the Alien Bees, Paul C Buff. Their equipment is well priced and reasonable quality.

A couple of things to consider:

1. Your SB-700 is not going to do well in a softbox as it has about 1/10th the power of the Alien Bees 1600. Although there are some softboxes made for small flash, I am not a fan to these.

2. Studio lights use different speed rings for mounting, so your softbox will require one with the appropriate speed ring. The Paul C Buff lights use a Balcar type speed ring. You can find the soft boxes at:

http://paulcbuff.com/

3. The soft box that you plan to use will be dependent on your subject, small ones for small subjects, large ones for large subjects. You need to figure out what you are planning to use the softbox for before you consider getting one of these.

4. Speedlights work well with umbrellas. To use an umbrella, you also need a light stand, an unbrella holder as well as the umbrella. Just as with soft boxes, you need to determine what you are planning to shoot before selecting an umbrella.

5. Yes, you can order light stands from Paul C Buff. I have a couple of air cushion ones. I also have others from Manfrotto and I also use C-stands as well. As with anything else, it depends on what you plan to shoot. I also use sandbags with the light stands at times.

I'd suggest you look over what is on their website and then get back to me with questions.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Manfred,

May I ask a question (actually, make that more than one) ...

I assume the term "air cushioned" means the telescopic sections are virtually air tight, so when you undo the clamp, if you're not holding the weight (never a good practice), it won't smash down in 0.001 micro seconds damaging the kit and likely photographer and/or subject too
Instead; it slowly descends in a more controlled manner?

Is that feature worth having I wonder?
Given that, with good procedure, you'd always be supporting the column and head weight before releasing the clamp.

It is to help me determine things like this that I am starting small, with a single flash, brolly and stand, rather than (as I'd love too) rushing out and buying everything I think I'll need for anything I'd like to shoot in the next few years
It is so hard resisting that temptation

Cheers, Dave

[brucehughw]

Manfred,

Thanks very much for the information and advice. Yes, like Dave I plan to start slow. I might even make a frame out of 1 x 1 (inch) lumber to hold diffusion material and use that before buying soft boxes and the like. It's hard to know what one wants before getting some experience shooting, and it's hard to get some decent experience shooting w/o some equipment. Fortunately, I've got the borrowed flashes and the frame won't take long to build and it will cost less than $10 (US). I'm taking a studio workshop this weekend (four hours) and will get a better idea then how the various pieces work together.

Thanks again. I'll likely be back with more questions at some point.

Bruce

Much of my equipment is from the same company that makes the Alien Bees, Paul C Buff. Their equipment is well priced and reasonable quality.

A couple of things to consider:

[brucehughw]

Hi, Dave.

I was puzzling over your post to Manfred, wondering if "brolly" was some obscure piece of photographic equipment that I hadn't heard of. Then I figured it out. . Good luck with studio stuff. Sounds like we're both venturing into this new area.

Bruce

Hi Manfred,

...
It is to help me determine things like this that I am starting small, with a single flash, brolly and stand, rather than (as I'd love too) rushing out and buying everything I think I'll need for anything I'd like to shoot in the next few years
It is so hard resisting that temptation

Cheers, Dave

[Mike Buckley]

Dave: Your understanding of the "air cushioning" capability is correct.

One of my light stands has that capability and the others don't. I always put the heavier items on it. That's not because of the air cushioning; it's because the stand that has that capability is built heavier, making it a better fit with heavier equipment on top of it.

I think the issue of whether air cushioning is helpful probably has more to do with the user's tendencies than anything else. As an example, I know that capability hasn't been helpful to me so far because I've never had the height of the stand suddenly decrease. I think that's because I'm particularly careful when attending to heavier, larger equipment, which is almost always more expensive than the lighter, smaller equipment because of the obvious consequences if something goes wrong.

[Loose Canon]

I have a fair assortment of speedlight modifiers Bruce. I like Westcott modifiers and they also make stands. You will also need umbrella holders for these softboxes because they are built on an umbrella (brolly) frame.

The way they work is that they are coated with a highly reflective silver material on the umbrella part. The speedlight is mounted backwards (aimed away from the subject) and fired into this silver coated body of the umbrella. The light is then bounced off this and through the diffusion material on the face of the softbox. This is to get a more even distribution of light before it goes through the diffusion material to help avoid hotspots. If you build a diffusion panel and fire a flash directly through it you are likely to run into this hotspot issue. You could design a box such as mentioned and line it with aluminum foil to simulate these umbrella frame boxes.

For studio I also use Buff equipment probably for about the same reasons Manfred does. While these are on an umbrella-like frame (with different mountings) they are built with a baffle system. They also have the reflective material but they are mounted to the light which is facing the subject. They fire into a diffusion panel (baffle) is then bounced into the body of the box and finally out through the diffusion panel on the face of the box. You get a much more diffuse light and hotspots are pretty much a non-issue.

One of the major reasons (for me at least) for using studio heads like your AB is because the quality of the modifiers (hence quality of light) is so much better for these lights than for speedlights.

I know no one asked me (so I’m going to say it anyway!) but this is my take on dampened stands. I’m not a huge fan. I suppose they might save you sometime or another but I have yet to need that saving. I find them kind of fussy to adjust. If you want to lower the light on one of these you have to lower it and wait for the dampening action to disburse, lower it some more, wait, rinse and repeat. I just find them kind of a pain so I quit purchasing them after I got some experience with them.

I would recommend having some sandbags on hand to bag your stands. Once you get a modifier/light on a lightweight stand you are on borrowed time if not bagged. I use both lightweight and C-stands (preferred) but will almost always bag a light stand. Nothing worse than watching one of your lights bite the dust!

[Manfred M]

Dave / Bruce - Mike has answered that question very well. Terry has also popped in a response while I was typing, so let me add a few more thoughts on the cushioned versus non-cushioned. Mike and Terry also tend to shoot different subjects than I do, both do a lot of shooting of products and smaller objects whereas I have tended to use mine when shooting people.

My very first light stand did not have air cushioning, and I bought it for very much the same purpose you have right now, to use with a small flash and umbrella. Once I started getting into studio lighting with studio flash, I generally bought light stands that are air-cushioned. Most of my light stands are air-cushioned and the only other one I have that is not is my short background light stand.

Advantages / disadvantages of air cushioning?

First of all, think of them as insurance. A studio light with a light modifier will be a lot heavier than a small flash with an umbrella. One small mistake while you are concentrating on setting up / taking down your lights means a lot of expensive gear will come crashing down and can crush your fingers or damage your equipment. They are fairly cheap insurance.

The downsides are that they are slightly more expensive that a non-cushioned light stand, tend to be a bit heavier and that feature is not available on all models of stands. So if you are looking for a more portable solution, especially if you are mainly looking as small flash and umbrellas, these might not be your first choice.

Terry's comments on sandbags is very valid and I also work very much the same way he does. I have actual sand in some but do throw some of my lead dive weights or water-filled double ziploc bags when I am looking for a more portable solution,

[Mike Buckley]

Not having sand readily available, plant fertilizer is the best I have found for filling bags when it comes to the combination of cost and weight.

[Dave Humphries]

Thanks to you all for the updates on the pros and cons of lighting stand design.

My first one (non-cushioned) arrived in the post shortly after I typed the above, so I had a quick play - as you do

It is pretty lightweight and if the flash and brolly are positioned between two legs, it is obviously more prone to tipping over with a gentle nudge than if rotated 60 degrees so one leg is directly under the weight above. I can see some form of weighting will be wise.

The stand was only 9.50 GBP ($14-ish?), so I really wasn't expecting much (although it wasn't the cheapest) - it will be adequate to get me started, well at least the first shoot, which might be next weekend.

I took some shots of the illumination of the brolly to see the coverage and it seems that with the flash zoom at the slave default of "24mm", it is a bit concentrated in the middle, but with the WA flap deployed (giving "14mm"), it spreads beyond the edges, so I'll need to play with brolly spindle length (e.g. flash to brolly distance) or possibly use the "20mm" setting for the (flash) zoom.

I have one reflector brolly on order (silver) and am sure I'll add another (white) soon.
Fascinating this flash/strobe stuff, addictive too, I fear.

Cheers, Dave

[Manfred M]

It is pretty lightweight and if the flash and brolly are positioned between two legs, it is obviously more prone to tipping over with a gentle nudge than if rotated 60 degrees so one leg is directly under the weight above. I can see some form of weighting will be wise.

Best thing to do Dave is to line up the umbrella with one leg so that the bulk of the weigh of the setup is right over the the leg; i.e. the shaft of the umbrella lines up with the forward leg. If I were to use sandbags, would sandbag the other two legs. I see a lot of people put a sandbag on the front leg, that would be better than nothing, but not as good as what I have suggested.

I did some quick existing light snapshots of the setup showing front, side and back views. I'm doing some shooting so the areas had other gear lying around, so these are not studio shots. I have placed sandbags on the legs, but they are empty.












The flash / flash holder are a bit different that the one you are likely using, but close enough to demonstrate the approach.

By all means play with the positioning of the umbrella (slide it back and forth on the rod (most stable when things are close to the flash) and different light spreads on the flash.

The light stand is my original cheap unit without the air cushioning. I was actually testing the Godox Witstro AD360 with my small rectangular soft box. The setup I have for it uses a Bowens speed ring, so I had to switch out the Balcar I normally use.

[Dave Humphries]

Thanks once again Manfred,

Your pictures confirm what I had in mind - as you say, the flash head is different, but the approach is valid.

[brucehughw]

Manfred, Terry, and Mike,

thanks once again for sharing your expertise and recommending products and manufacturers. As I get more into flash and studio photography, this will help me make better choices. There's a lot of products and manufacturers out there, and it's great to know what I need and who produces quality items.

While we're on this thread, do you (and others following the thread) mind sharing what sort of subjects you like to photograph indoors? It will give me some ideas.

Bruce

[Mike Buckley]

Bruce,

My passion is combining my photography and wine hobbies, so I photograph anything having to do with wine. That meant having to learn how to photograph glass because wine is almost always stored and served in glass and because any liquid has many of the photographic characteristics of glass. That led to photographing only glass itself including broken glass. I do a small amount of abstract photography of those subjects but will do more once I purchase a macro lens. For examples of all of that, check out my website, which is devoted exclusively to tabletop photography.

I have recently begun combining my cooking and photography hobbies by photographing food but only in a context that we normally don't see or at least don't notice. I will eventually move on to photographing food in a traditional context mostly to enjoy photographing the favorite dishes I prepare. I haven't added any food photography to my website yet because I don't yet have enough images in that genre to make a worthy gallery.

I occasionally (rarely) photograph family in my house, table settings, and anything that I want to have in the future as a reminder of a special occasion. Any photography of family is done in a very informal style as part of a family event rather than as a photo shoot. Family photos are always captured handheld with a flash unit mounted on the camera. When practical, the flash is always bounced off a ceiling or wall and a modifier throws a little bit of light directly toward the subject's face.

[brucehughw]

Thanks, Mike. Great ideas -- combining other interests with the photography interest. I'll look at your website. I'll also probably follow the same path re family photos. I was at a seder (Passover dinner) the other night and someone pulled out an iPhone for a group photo (30+ people) afterwards. I cringed (sorry, Apple) and said to myself, next year my camera and the flash are coming along to this event.

[Manfred M]

Bruce - I tend to shoot mainly portraits with my gear and every so often (usually when I get "cabin fever" during longer runs of winter weather) I will do some experimental shooting (smoke, funky lighting) or product shots of 3-D art or other interesting items we have picked up on our travels. As we have been traveling during more during that time of year and had lots of PP work to do after we got home, I have not done as much studio shooting as I had planned to do post-retirement.

Unlike Mike and Terry, I have not been able to set up a temporary studio area in the house. My wife claimed the area I had my eye one when our oldest daughter moved out (her bedroom became the guest room) and the old guest room that had been also done dual duty as my wife's office is 100% her office now. Perhaps when our younger daughter moves out, I'll get to set things up in her bedroom. In the meantime, it's a set up and break down operation after every photo studio session...

[Loose Canon]

I wouldn’t mind at all Bruce but you’ve already seen some of the kind of stuff I like to photograph.

When I started in the studio I went to a local glass blower, introduced myself, and made a deal to photograph his work. At the time I considered glass to be the toughest subject I could get my hands on so that’s where I wanted to start. I then found that glass was just the beginning and there were other things that presented even more of a challenge and I gravitated toward those. It was apparent pretty quick that planning and shooting composites was going to be a big part of what I was wanting to produce, so that was a pretty cool aspect that presented itself in the process.

I do portraiture from time to time but not so much as the “still life” kind of stuff. As Dave mentioned, I found this type of photography highly addictive and fascinating. One reason I prefer still life over portraiture is that I can get lost in the studio for hours trying to make something happen with no human distraction of any kind. There is a certain peace of mind that happens with me when I am focused in that way to the exclusion of everything else! When I’m there, I’m not worried about the day to day! That the yard needs mowing or the electric bill is due fades in comparison! And that is a good spot for me to be anytime I can get the chance!

[brucehughw]

Thanks for sharing your experience and ideas about indoor subjects, Manfred. I'll have a better appreciation for them when I look at images on your website.

PS My current studio is 1/2 of a pool table (which may become a subject itself at some point) and space behind it for the lights. Probably won't expand any time soon.