Ok I'm in thick skin mode.
The aim is get quite a bit of practice in beforehand so I really understand the setup and know what I'm doing on the day. I have 2 months until the session.
I don't do things by halves and I'm quick to learn and if you don't push your boundaries you'll never move on. This is not a high end photo shoot, just a series of portrait shots for a company who want photos of their staff on the web. They'll be taken in their offices, (which I will assess before the day), in a room with white walls. I need to carry the equipment as there's no where to park. So it all needs to be relatively light. It's not going be a portfolio piece, but a very good way to push my boundaries on the lighting front. I'm going above and beyond what they need, but would like to do it properly.
I've been watching quite a few tutorials on youtube and yes, my suggested lighting setup for two flashes is not ideal. So will look to move lighting around/behind/off centre front etc.
My biggest query is which are the best cost effective transmitters to make the canon 600 and 430 speedlites talk to each other. Lots of suggestions for canons Speed lite Transmitter ST E2, but wondered if there was an alternative?
Once again. Many thanks for constructive criticism.
You have the right attitude June
Get the kit you need and get some practise. You should be fine with speedlights for this job but looking forward, studio heads are the way to go if mains power is available (via an extension cable if needs be) or there are now quite a few excellent battery powered studio strobes about with few downsides apart from cost. Studio heads have modelling lights, fast recycle, and plenty of power - not that you'll need extra power for this job but you will for say larger group shots or when working outside in daylight. Speedlights and studio heads work well together. When it comes to portability, any lighting kit tends to be a bit cumbersome but it's the stands and softboxes etc that make up the bulk.
This is basic stuff, but here are a few things I wish I'd known when I started out:
- Brightness reduces quickly with distance basically following the inverse square law that says double the distance equals quarter the brightness - a drop of two stops. That's why the white wall immediately behind your subjects will appear grey unless you put some extra light on it.
- The larger the light source, the softer the shadows, and size is relative to distance (and the size of your subject). So a softbox moved further back becomes harder, closer becomes softer.
- Light bounces/reflects off a surface at the same angle it strikes, like a snooker ball off the cushion.
- There should be only one key/main light source (with very few exceptions). Even if you have six lights, just one will be doing 90% of the work. All additional lights should have a particular and complimentary purpose, eg background, accent or hairlight etc.
- A reflector, like a white/silver fold-up jobbie for a tenner, is like having another light and very easy to use.
Keep us posted and good luck
