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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Intro to flashes - monolights and hot shoe flashes
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 11/07/2004 09:45:06 PM · #1
Here are some photos to try and help explain some of the terminology or functionality for anyone interested. The color and lighting are poopie but I shot 'em in just a few minutes and didn't setup the white paper or move any furniture outta the way so ya get what ya get.

A monolight is a flash unit. It usually utlizes both a regular light for modeling purposes and a strobe to generate the flash of light (fig 1). Monolights can be differentiated from flash heads and powerpack units because these lights plug directly into AC power; they don't require a separate power unit. All of these lights that I've ever seen have fans to help cut down the heat that can buildup through usage.


Fig 1

One of the benefits of these lights is that they can be modified with a number of apparati such as barn doors, snoots, combs, softboxes, umrellas, etc. To modify the light shown in figure 2 with a softbox you need a speedring. The speedring is designed to fit a particular manufacturer's light (or a set of manufacturers may all use a similar mounting system so that modifiers can be used with all their lights. Unless I'm mistaken all Paul C Buff lights (AlienBees and White Lightnings) can utilize Balcar mountings. In figure 2 you'll see that a speed ring has been mounted to the light. The speedring in this shot does not have any light modifying equipment attached to it. Normally you would want to attach the light modifying equipment to the speedring before mounting the speedring to the monolight (or flash head if that was what you were using instead of a monolight).


Fig 2

Next you see a closeup of a softbox coupled to the speedring and the softbox isn't closed at the back end. This allows you to work more usefully with the speedring. You can utilize this opening to grasp either the speedring or the legs of the softbox when trying to attach the softbox to the monolight.


Fig 3

This is a similar shot to figure 3 except that the softbox has been closed at the back so that light doesn't escape the back of the softbox but is forced forward to illuminate the subject.


Fig 4

Figures 5 & 6 show the softbox from the front. In figure 5 you'll see the softbox without the outer diffusion panel but with the inner baffle. Since the softbox by itself would tend to intensify the light coming from the monolight (by directing more of the light to a smaller space), the inner baffle is used to help disperse the light and create a slightly softer light that fills a space more evenly. In figure 6 you'll notice that the inner baffle has been left in and the outer diffusion panel has been attached (with Velcro (TM) or some other similarly hook-and-loopy type connecting contraption). You want to make sure when you put the diffusion panel on that you connect it all the way around. If you leave a gap then light that has not been as diffused can bleed out the hole and create a hotspot on your composition. The softbox can be used without the inner baffle and the diffusion panel, it can be used with either of the two items or it can be used with both. You can also mount colored gels inside the softbox to create a color cast to the light if you want. The whole point with these devices is to modify the light that is directed at the scene you are composing.


Fig 5


Fig 6

Now that we've seen a monolight and a monolight with a softbox attached, we should look at what comes with most monolights as soon as you order them. The reflector. In figure 7 you'll notice a metal piece has been attached to the front of the monolight. This metal piece is a 7" reflector. It could be 8" or 6" but Alien Bees gives you a 7" reflector. It is good for directing light to a scene. It affects the light fall off which is one way that flash units are measured. Since this item lets less light disperse it gives you the effect of making the light more intense and directional. It can be used to modify the light even more by adding a gel or a comb (see Fig 8).


Fig 7


Fig 7a (forgot to make a place for it when I was writing)


Fig 8

The comb in figure 8 is used to really direct the light as it lands on your intended subject. You should notice a piece of paper or cloth at the top of the comb. This has a number on it. The comb in figure 8 is a 20 degree comb. It means that light will only disperse 20 degrees from being a straight on light at 10 feet. Alien Bees sells a 10 degree, 20 degree, 30 degree and 40 degree. I'm sure other manufacturers have similar products with similar variations in how much they disperse light over a given space.

Starting with figure 9 we move into hot-shoe flash units. These units typically have replaceable internal power sources (batteries) and some have connections for external DC power. These units have hot shoe connections to allow the camera to control their functions directly. In figure 9 you'll notice that we're looking at a Canon 550EX mounted to a fake hot shoe connection that has in turn been mounted to a tripod. This light from this flash has been modified by placing a StoFen OmniBounce over the head of the flash unit.


Fig 9

Next we see the same flash but this time we've modified its light with a LumiQuest ProMax 80/20 PocketBounce with a silver insert (Fig 10). While I find that the OmniBounce tends to diffuse the light and make it fill more of the space, the ProMax 80/20 tends to provide more directional light but its still softened up enough that it doesn't give the same flat appearance that the flash can produce by itself when aimed directly at a subject. The silver insert gives the added benefit of putting catchlights into the subject's eyes without blinding him/her the way a reflector can tend to do.


Fig 10

Finally we finish up with two new additions. In figure 11 we've placed the diffusion panel on the ProMax 80/20 pocket bounce to help soften the light. I find that this seldom produces effects that I like. I'm sure many people use this tool effectively and it comes as part of the insert packet from LumiQuest so it can't hurt or cost extra to try it. Also at the bottom of the flash unit you should notice a light trigger. This is a useful alternative to people who want to use their hot shoe flashes without needing to purchase radio remotes or proprietary triggers (such as the ST-E2). This trigger allows me to set the 550EX manually and then trigger the unit with the flash from my "key" flash unit. I like to use these flashes (550EX, 420EX and SunPak 6600) with these triggers to illuminate the backdrop or as kicker lights to rim light a subject as they can be pretty close to full power (or even full power) and still only have an ancilliary effect on the overall composition.


Fig 11

I hope you find this useful,

Kevin

Message edited by author 2004-11-11 05:53:21.
 11/07/2004 09:56:36 PM · #2
Thanks for this post. It will make venturing into new lighting arrangements easier.
 11/07/2004 10:37:02 PM · #3
Wow, very impressive ... thanks!!!

this should be moved to a tutorials sort of forum, so it doesn;t get buried in the standard forims, a little like the "how did they do that" things.

Excellent stuff, and exactly what I need right now :)

Do you know what model of light trigger you are using there? I heard some are no good with digital cameras, due to the pre-flash ... but I think with studio monolights that won;t be an issue (yes?).

Message edited by author 2004-11-07 22:41:49.
 11/07/2004 10:41:13 PM · #4
great thread! Thanks Kevin. I just got my speedlite a couple of days ago & used it 2day for the first time.

I have umbrellas that I am far too daft to figure out how to set up. will there be a next into to or tute on these?
 11/08/2004 12:08:07 AM · #5
Excellent Info! Thanks for taking the time. What am I saying, you are always helping us knowledge deficient portrait shootin' morons out. (C:
 11/08/2004 01:47:19 AM · #6
wow, thanks for the great info and making it easy to understand. If you felt like you were saying things WAY to easy.. you weren't it was just right!!!

but now i have more questions :(

how do you fire your monolights? do you use the oncamera flash, or does that 'wreck' the lighting.. or do you use the st-e2.. or something else?
 11/08/2004 05:10:03 AM · #7
Originally posted by leaf:
how do you fire your monolights? do you use the oncamera flash, or does that 'wreck' the lighting.. or do you use the st-e2.. or something else?


The way we are doing it on the lighting course I have started is the camera flash triggering the monolights. We just point the hot-shoe flash upwards and that sets them off without any real effect on the lighting of the pic (as the small amount of flash is insignificant for the pics we are doing when compared to the strong studio strobes).

I have an ST-E2 so intend to use that if also using the 580ex or 420ex as part of the lighting setup, and they in turn can fire the monolights (when I get a couple).

I believe there can be an issue with some cameras though if they fire anything like a pre-flash (anti-red-eye for instance) as that can trigger the monolights as well.

Message edited by author 2004-11-08 05:10:56.
 11/08/2004 05:22:16 AM · #8
Can we put this somewhere?
Maybe in the HDTDT?
This is a great refference.
 11/08/2004 05:29:43 AM · #9
Originally posted by Philos31:
Can we put this somewhere?
Maybe in the HDTDT?
This is a great refference.


I agree entirely, this really should be stored somewhere easy to find and not get lost in months to come in the general forums.
 11/08/2004 06:09:25 AM · #10
Excellent tutorial!
This is one of the reason I really like this site ! c")

ps. It would be really wise to put this in the tutorial section.
 11/08/2004 08:31:06 AM · #11
Originally posted by Natator:
I have an ST-E2 so intend to use that if also using the 580ex or 420ex as part of the lighting setup, and they in turn can fire the monolights (when I get a couple).

I believe there can be an issue with some cameras though if they fire anything like a pre-flash (anti-red-eye for instance) as that can trigger the monolights as well.

All Canon flashes fire a "pre-flash" for metering purposes; the 550EX and 580EX can be set to "Manual" mode (where you pre-set the flash power and avoid the metering pre-flash). To really see this pre-flash, you need to enable rear-curtain sync, and take a picture with a longer shutter time. You'll see the metering pre-flash right before the shutter opens, the shutter will open, and then the real flash will fire at the end of the exposure.

The ST-E2 contains a regular flash tube -- it is just smaller, and the visible light emitted from it is blocked by the infrared pass-filter on the front. The wireless protocol used by the Canon Speedlights is light-based. When you start a flash exposure with the ST-E2, a series of encoded flashes are emitted for "group A". The group A Speedlights decode the flashes and fire their metering pre-flash so the camera can meter them. Then "group B" is instructed to fire their metering flash, then "group C". The camera then determines the proper power ratio and emits a series of IR flashes to each slave group that signals the power setting to fire at. Finally, the ST-E2 emits the "flash now!" signal at the appropriate time and all Speedlights fire simultaneously.

The point of all this... many optical triggers that are built into studio strobes are also IR sensitive, so the communication pulses from the ST-E2 can set off any monolights before the shutter even opens. It would be advisable to invest in some PocketWizards, which a provide a much more reliable method of firing your studio strobes (and aren't dependent on "seeing" the light since they are RF-based devices.) There are also lower-cost RF-based solutions like this.

Just something to think about...

P.S. I haven't ever mixed Speedlights and studio strobes for the simple reason that the Speedlights don't have a (continuous) modeling light.

Message edited by author 2004-11-08 08:38:37.
 11/08/2004 05:24:07 PM · #12
Great additional info there Eddy, thanks :)
 11/09/2004 08:47:47 AM · #13
Thank you KevinRiggs for your most illumi...informative tutorial! It was very much appreciated. :)
 11/09/2004 09:47:31 AM · #14
This is one thread I'll be adding to my "Watch" list, ...until it gets moved to the Tutorial section :-) Thanks!!!

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