studio flash

[BobGilbody]

Yesterday I bought a second hand bundle of gear. I got two stands, two umbrellas, three Glanz Mini Pioneer 43 160 WS flash units, and two Godox 300D flash units. I already had two Neewer receivers and a transmitter so I'm triggering the two Godox units using them.

So far I have spent Aus $200.

Need advice:

1. Should I look out for soft boxes?

2. Will I ever need to use five studio flashes?

3. Are there alternatives to backdrops? At the moment I'm using an old sheet.

This is an test shot:

Still life 07 11 22-4371-DeNoiseAI-standard by Bob Gilbody, on Flickr

Not too happy with the sharpness.


Bob

I did a different set up and opened up the lens a bit and played a lot in light room. This game is totally different to photographing birds.

Still life 07 11 22-4372-2-DeNoiseAI-standard by Bob Gilbody, on Flickr

[pschlute]

Hi Bob

The world of flash photography is very rewarding, because now you are in charge of the light.

My thoughts (as an amateur) :

Soft boxes can be more directional than umbrellas....eg positioned so as not to illuminate the background, whereas an umbrella lights everything.

The most I use to light my subjects (dogs) are three...Key, Fill, and maybe a hair light. You may need to use more if you want to illuminate the background too, either to accentuate it or reduce shadows.

i use Lastolite collapsible backdrops, but an old sheet will work too. If you want the backdrop to be black and featureless, then keeping it as far from the subject as possible, and selecting your flash output correctly will mean it will be unlit or only slightly lit. Even a white sheet can become a black background with careful placement.

As you have discovered, the final finishing touches are dealt with in pp. Selectively reducing the backgound exposure (or increasing it in the case of white background) will give you the final image you want.

Good luck.

[pschlute]

Your test shot above shows it was taken at 1/320s which is above your cameras sync speed...did you use High Speed Sync ?

Using f16 and f22 is possibly going to lead to a softer image due to diffraction. You will do better to use a slightly wider aperture f8-f11 and lower the flash output/move them further away.

[Manfred M]

From what I can tell, the 160-W-s units are not all that powerful, but give the small still life objects that you are shooting, they should be fine. When I look up the Godox 300D, they seem to have roughly the same specs as my Godox Witsro AD-360 units (I have two of these). My main flash are Paul C Buff Einstein 640 which push out more light.

I use a combination of reflectors (with and without grids), softboxes (with and with egg crate grids), umbrellas. I also use scrims, flags and static reflectors. It all depends on what I am shooting. When shooting people, I often use three of four lights and it is very rare that I would ever add a 5th light (that would be for accent lighting only).

My most common shots are single or two light shots (key light and fill light) where the second "light" is either an active one or a simple white foam core or commercial folding reflector.

As Peter has pointed out, the main issue with umbrellas is light spill and soft boxes allow far more control of the light, but they are fairly inefficient (mine all have two baffles and interior reflective material). Depending on the quality of light I am looking for I will remove so and will shoot unbaffled soft boxes. I light feathering my lights in some shooting situations, so that takes a lot more power.

My smallest light modifier is a 3cm snoot and the largest is 215cm reflective umbrella. It all depends on what I am shooting and the modifier I use is driven by the size of the subject. In most cases, I crowd my subject and the modifiers are just out of frame. The larger the modifier (relative to subject size) the softer the light.

I use both Godox and PocketWizard smart triggers in most of my work. Smart triggers allow me to adjust the flash intensitty from my camera and not having to go to the back of the lights to dial in the settings. I do use a flash meter for multiple light setups.

I hope that this helps.

[BobGilbody]

Hello Peter,
Thanks for all the info. I didn't use HS sync so not sure what is going on.

Bob

[BobGilbody]

Hello Manfred,
Thanks for the info. Lots of things to learn. I will keep an eye open for soft boxes locally.

Bob

[rpcrowe]

Here in the USA, I will often go to sewing fabric shops as well as furniture upholstery shops and purchase remnants which can make nice backgrounds. These remnants are usually dirt cheap!

I have also found some very decent fabric on eBay which makes a nice background for my dog portraits. I have fabric in a myriad of colors and textures.



I would assume that hanging this type of fabric would make a decent background for a human portrait.

A neutral gray colored background can be used and depending on your lighting will show up as varying shades of gray and even black. Here is an example of a dark gray background appearing black.



Of course, a standard roll of background paper or other material can also be used. eBay Australia has a selection of photo background materials. If amazon.com is available to you, you can also find a selection of backgrounds on that site.

By the way... If you are using a sheet or other muslin type of material, do not fold it for storage. Fold-lines are difficult to edit out. Instead, cram the fabric into a bag of some type. This will produce erratic creases which (especially if OOF) will not impact your portrait to any great degree. Additionally, a hand-held fabric steamer will remove much of the annoying crease problem.
https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=fabric+...ker-1hour_4_14

Selecting a material that doesn't crease easily is a consideration as is selecting a material that might or might not reflect light.

[BobGilbody]

Hello Richard,
Thanks for the advice.

I'm only using the two Godox lights at the moment. I made up a mini soft box using a plastic lamp shade and baking paper. Sounds weird but works ok for the time being.

Bob

[pschlute]

Hello Richard,
Thanks for the advice.

I'm only using the two Godox lights at the moment. I made up a mini soft box using a plastic lamp shade and baking paper. Sounds weird but works ok for the time being.

Bob

As long as you are getting "even" light without an unwanted colour cast from your home made kit it will work as well as a dedicated purchase.

On another forum I frequent, a poster was using the shiny card you get with a packet of smoked salmon as a warming reflector. It worked well for him. I however would not even attempt to use it. Not because I doubt its ability to work, but because my models are dogs, and no matter how much cleaning, they would still detect what it was and try and eat it !

[BobGilbody]

Thanks Peter.
I bought a fabric steamer for nos. 1 daughter so I could borrow it. I'll take some photos and see what happens.

Bob

[inkista]

Yesterday I bought a second hand bundle of gear. I got two stands, two umbrellas, three Glanz Mini Pioneer 43 160 WS flash units...

Just FYI, those are probably rebranded Godox Mini Pioneers. You might be able to find a user manual here. I'd bet it's one of the Mini Pioneer or the Smart series.

... and two Godox 300D flash units.

The Mini Master series, if you mean the 300Di.

Yeah. Godox proliferated inexpensive AC powered manual monolights like rabbits back in the day.

I already had two Neewer receivers and a transmitter so I'm triggering the two Godox units using them.

Neewer, btw, rebrands from about half a dozen different companies, so no idea what triggers you've got, but if they're the Neewer FC-16, those look like they might be Godox FC-16, which are the only 2.4 Ghz triggers Godox makes that aren't in the Godox X system (eyeroll).

1. Should I look out for soft boxes?

If you want softboxes. You can control spill and use the edges to "feather" the light (make a lighting gradient) vs. umbrellas.

The problem with the Mini Pioneers/Smart Series is there's no modifier mount so you can't bayonet-mount a modifier directly onto them. It's why folks prefer, say, a Godox MS series strobe which has a Bowens S mount on the face (well, that and the built-in X system radio receiver that allows for remote power and modeling light control as well as sync). You may be limited to modifiers made specifically for them, or you have to find a clamp-on adapter to add a Bowens S mount.

It may be simpler to just use umbrellas for now until you know you want a softbox.

Will I ever need to use five studio flashes?

Maybe. Maybe not. But say, two backdrop lights, a key, a fill, and a rim is five lights.

Are there alternatives to backdrops? At the moment I'm using an old sheet.

You could get a pop-up/collapsible one. Just gotta remember how to fold it back it up again.

[pschlute]

Just gotta remember how to fold it back it up again.

It is one of the dark arts, and not to be attempted unless completely sober, or when the Vicar has called round.

[Chataignier]

Most of your questions have been answered very adequately by others, but I would like to add a word about backdrops. They are a pain. Rigid backdrops are never big enough, fabric becomes creased and looks dreadful. A good alternative but one that requires space is simply distance. Position your subject at least 2 or 3m away from whatever is behind - a wall, curtains, whatever - work in the lowest light possible, night for example, set your camera aperture to give a totally black shot at sync speed without the flash, make sure the flash does not illuminate the background (use soft boxes) and then ramp up the flash power to give a correct exposure. Light diminishes with distance according to inverse square law so provided there is no spill onto the background from the flash, the background will remain dark.
Manfred will not like a totally black background though ! (Sorry Manfred, too tempting).

[Chataignier]

A post script : Manfred mentioned that the larger the diffuser is and the closer it is, the softer the light. This is counter intuitive but true and because it is counter intuitive - putting the light closer makes it softer - i made this diagram for my local photo club to help explain why. it's in French, but the diags are self explanatory I think.

[inkista]

It is one of the dark arts, and not to be attempted unless completely sober, or when the Vicar has called round.

Absolutely.

Or you just go to youtube every time you forget how to do it and end up battling a spring-loaded hellbeast. The "fold it like a taco" thing tends to work for me.

[BobGilbody]

Hello Kathy,

Thanks for all the info. Might stick to the black sheet I have as a backdrop.

Bob

[BobGilbody]

Hello David,

I don't think I have enough room in the granny flat to do much with the studio flash other than 'table top' stuff. However one wall of the granny flat is all glass sliding doors. Might do a Lord Snowdon and use natural light for portraits. Then again maybe I will end up using the flashes once I understand them better.

All five lights I have are easily triggered by the flash of another light.

Good to see a diagram. Beats lots of words.

Bob