Got my Umbrella...two first shots....

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM for Nikon

06/18/2010 12:26:27 AM · #1

Actually, the one with me and the dog was taken handheld by my 11yr old ! The one I took of her was a fun shot. Both were taken with the on cam flash set on 1/64 power.

These were taken withen five minutes of opening the stand, clamp and umbrella.

I have another speedlight without an umbrella. How could I best use that speedlight along with my umbrella loaded speedlight?

Bump for this edit:

My kit came with one white/translucent and one black outside/silver inside umbrellas. When using the white as a bounce/reflect, should I put the black/silver around the "outside" of the white umbrella?

Thanks,

Message edited by author 2010-06-19 00:20:19.

kgeary

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

06/18/2010 12:30:11 AM · #2

Originally posted by kenskid:

With two strobes you could crosslight. How are you going to fire the second strobe? Does it function as a slave to your main flash?

Message edited by author 2010-06-18 00:30:35.

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM for Nikon

06/18/2010 12:36:14 AM · #3

Oh...yes. Both flashes are fired automatically from my camera. Both can be set to slave. I use both on manual and adjust power as needed.

Crosslight? So when using my umbrella, what should I be doing with the other "raw" flash?

Originally posted by kgeary:

Originally posted by kenskid:
Actually, the one with me and the dog was taken handheld by my 11yr old ! The one I took of her was a fun shot. Both were taken with the on cam flash set on 1/64 power.

These were taken withen five minutes of opening the stand, clamp and umbrella.

I have another speedlight without an umbrella. How could I best use that speedlight along with my umbrella loaded speedlight?

With two strobes you could crosslight. How are you going to fire the second strobe? Does it function as a slave to your main flash?

kgeary

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

06/18/2010 12:42:29 AM · #4

I would put it diagonally across from and behind subject. This will create separation from the background via rimlighting. So the flashes are aimed at each other and the subject is caught in the middle.

Message edited by author 2010-06-18 00:44:32.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100

06/18/2010 12:49:43 AM · #5

Oh..I see. I don't really have any paper or muslin backgrounds yet. Will that technique work even on shots like the one I posted...will plain "windows" or "walls" in background?

Originally posted by kgeary:

spiritualspatula

06/18/2010 12:59:16 AM · #6

Originally posted by kenskid:

Oh..I see. I don't really have any paper or muslin backgrounds yet. Will that technique work even on shots like the one I posted...will plain "windows" or "walls" in background?

Originally posted by kgeary:
I would put it diagonally across from and behind subject. This will create separation from the background via rimlighting. So the flashes are aimed at each other and the subject is caught in the middle.

Don't use windows in the background, cause they're bright. Bring your shutter up to underexpose the background. You can take a shot with a black background in most any room in a house if you know what you're looking to do.
You could also use the second strobe as your key light to sculpt features and then your umbrella for a nice soft fill... so like umbrella to the right, strobe to the left. Fire the umbrella strobe at a power that's high enough to decrease shadows but still maintain structure.

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM for Nikon

06/18/2010 01:03:30 AM · #7

Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

Originally posted by kenskid:
Oh..I see. I don't really have any paper or muslin backgrounds yet. Will that technique work even on shots like the one I posted...will plain "windows" or "walls" in background?

Originally posted by kgeary:
I would put it diagonally across from and behind subject. This will create separation from the background via rimlighting. So the flashes are aimed at each other and the subject is caught in the middle.

Don't use windows in the background, cause they're bright. Bring your shutter up to underexpose the background. You can take a shot with a black background in most any room in a house if you know what you're looking to do.
You could also use the second strobe as your key light to sculpt features and then your umbrella for a nice soft fill... so like umbrella to the right, strobe to the left. Fire the umbrella strobe at a power that's high enough to decrease shadows but still maintain structure.

Message edited by author 2010-06-18 01:06:08.

kgeary

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

06/18/2010 01:10:29 AM · #8

Originally posted by kenskid:

Ok...so use the non-umbrella off cam as I normally would and used the umbrella on the other strobe to lighten the shadows up?

Also...so if I go up on the fstops, it will darken all but what my flash is lighting...!

See, I know my cam inside and out and use it on 100% manual but it has never crossed my mind to use it to black out a bland background!....Learning all the time.

Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

Originally posted by kenskid:
Oh..I see. I don't really have any paper or muslin backgrounds yet. Will that technique work even on shots like the one I posted...will plain "windows" or "walls" in background?

Originally posted by kgeary:
I would put it diagonally across from and behind subject. This will create separation from the background via rimlighting. So the flashes are aimed at each other and the subject is caught in the middle.

Don't use windows in the background, cause they're bright. Bring your shutter up to underexpose the background. You can take a shot with a black background in most any room in a house if you know what you're looking to do.
You could also use the second strobe as your key light to sculpt features and then your umbrella for a nice soft fill... so like umbrella to the right, strobe to the left. Fire the umbrella strobe at a power that's high enough to decrease shadows but still maintain structure.

I'd still go for the crosslighting. I'd get a reflector to act as a "3rd light source" to soften the shadows on the non-key light side. The bare flash should be the rim light flash. If you increase the aperture you'll darken the bg. it will result in less flash getting through as well. The higher the f-stop the more flash power you need to light the subject. But you're doing this inside...it won't be a problem.

Message edited by author 2010-06-18 01:12:18.

MattO

Nikon D4

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

06/18/2010 05:52:47 PM · #9

Both of these are cross lit photos. Although the second is a bit hot and they are shot through Big softboxes. My main go to is cross lighting for almost all indoor shoots.

Citadel

Nikon D7500

06/18/2010 05:59:21 PM · #10

One thing to try at some point is the Auto FP option. With it enabled you'll be able to get shutter speeds higher than 1/250. That opens up a couple of options for you. 1) You can use a larger aperture without the ambient light blowing out the scene. 2) You can absolutely kill the ambient light.

The trade off is that it can eat your batteries. The reason is that with normal flash its on for about 1/1000 of a second. With the auto FP option its on for the whole duration of the shot. As such you need to have your light pretty close to your subject.

eta: the Auto part of Auto FP means it will only turn on when needed. The other thing to note is that you need to have everything in TTL for this to work.

I learned this all in the last few days (i.e. when I started reading the Hot Shoe Diaries

Message edited by author 2010-06-18 18:01:08.

06/18/2010 06:30:34 PM · #11

Both nice IMO

Originally posted by MattO:

Both of these are cross lit photos. Although the second is a bit hot and they are shot through Big softboxes. My main go to is cross lighting for almost all indoor shoots.

06/18/2010 06:31:31 PM · #12

Thanks. I'll try

Originally posted by Citadel:

06/19/2010 12:20:49 AM · #13

Bump...added another question to the OP ! Thanks.

chromeydome

Nikon D7000

06/19/2010 12:27:01 AM · #14

Originally posted by kenskid:

Bump...added another question to the OP ! Thanks.

Yup--when using it as a bounce/reflector umbrella, you'll want to put the silver/black outer cover back on: it helps the efficiency of the bounce, plus helps keep any "shoot thru" from bouncing, in turn, off your walls, ceiling, etc.