Strobist lighting 101 on the cheap

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Benbo

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Ben Temperton
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Hi,

I've just been scanning through the strobist articles before I launch into buying the kit I need and I was just wondering if I could use my old Velbon CX440 tripod instead of buying a new light stand? Do umbrella stand adaptors have the same screw size attachment hole as most cameras for attaching to tripods?

Would there be any disadvantage in using a tripod in this way such as shadow etc?

Cheers
 
First off, get a flashgun and mount it onto that tripod. That's what I do at the moment.

I don't think there is anything to attach an umbrella to that kind of tripod but I might be wrong.

umbrella's are used to soften the light so try working with harsh light to see if you enjoy it before spending the money on more stuff.

Like this (yes its me, aren't I ugly lol)
3119438840_a3db7e8077.jpg
 
There's a couple which will mount to a tripod. Can't remember the names/model numbers. Maybe try the discussion forum at the Strobist Flickr.

Good advice above about starting with one light, working with it and then seeing what you want/need to add.
 
As long as your tripod has a 3/8" or 1/4" thread atop it then you can mount a spigot or two (about £3-6 each) onto the top and attach an umbrella swivel to that.

6aeedb55197f440496c4c60f0ef87a6b.jpg


ASSET_58710.jpg



The only problem I can foresee is that unless your tripod has a really high reach or you have either small subjects or have them sitting down you won't be able to get the flash high enough to light them properly.
 
Most swivels will be complete with inserts that'll work with the tripod thread.

The one from FlashZebra has a cold shoe and is a better design than the cheapo ones off fleabay.

The one from Calumet is the same as the Manfrotto product, but cheaper. Keep an eye on the Calumet website and you can get special offer weekends with free postage. You may need to buy a hot or cold shoe to screw to the top, which could add a tenner.

The Lastolite Metz bracket from Spa Photo is also the Manfrotto, but with additions which make it quite good for securely attaching both flash and trigger, though it's the most expensive and heaviest.
 
Ok so I started playing round with hard light to get a feel of how things like aperature/shutter speed etc affect the flash on full manual mode. After a while, I was trying to achieve a shot where with side on direct flash to light one side of the face and leave the other in darkness.

What I got using 1/200 at f16, ISO 200 with the flash about 2 feet from my head (self-portrait as no other human could withstand the level of faffing) was this:

From_camera.jpg


What I was after though was something like this, with more shadow on the dark side of the face, but equal exposure on the light side of the face.

wanted.jpg


This was acheived in LR with increasing contrast and playing with shadow controllers. But I'd like to know how to achieve such things in camera.

So, I'm basically trying to increase the difference in light between the dark side of the face and the light side. Letting in more light by boosting flash power/opening the aperature would bathe the light side in more light, but would overdo the exposure. From what I can understand, increasing flash power, but reducing the amount of light reaching the camera would achieve the same exposure as the first picture....

So how would I achieve the shot? What's most annoying is I did it by accident earlier on in the evening as I was getting to grips with things, when the ISO was on 400 and the flash was on a different power setting (which I can't seem to retrieve from my camera in EXIF info).

Many thanks
 
Benbo said:
Ok so I started playing round with hard light to get a feel of how things like aperature/shutter speed etc affect the flash on full manual mode. After a while, I was trying to achieve a shot where with side on direct flash to light one side of the face and leave the other in darkness.

What I got using 1/200 at f16, ISO 200 with the flash about 2 feet from my head (self-portrait as no other human could withstand the level of faffing) was this:

From_camera.jpg


What I was after though was something like this, with more shadow on the dark side of the face, but equal exposure on the light side of the face.

wanted.jpg


This was acheived in LR with increasing contrast and playing with shadow controllers. But I'd like to know how to achieve such things in camera.

So, I'm basically trying to increase the difference in light between the dark side of the face and the light side. Letting in more light by boosting flash power/opening the aperature would bathe the light side in more light, but would overdo the exposure. From what I can understand, increasing flash power, but reducing the amount of light reaching the camera would achieve the same exposure as the first picture....

So how would I achieve the shot? What's most annoying is I did it by accident earlier on in the evening as I was getting to grips with things, when the ISO was on 400 and the flash was on a different power setting (which I can't seem to retrieve from my camera in EXIF info).

Many thanks
Click to expand...

I think that making the light more direction could help, so simply shift the stand or umbrella slightly more. If you have a brolly loose it and go for harder light. Also, to start, use the flash in ttl and let it give you back what you take away. As a start, try setting the camera at 100 ISO and then f5/6 with a shutter speed of 1/125 aland start to move things from there with exp comp.

Pete.
 
It could be that your ambient was to high to render the dark side completely black or your flash might have reflected off of a wall or something back onto your face.
 
ahh so there's no way of using the flash to overpower the ambient light and throw the other side of the face into darkness?

Only reason I thought there would be is I remember reading something about using grey backgrounds for portrait shoots so you can light them and either make them black or white depending on how over and under exposed they were in relation to the rest of the picture. I thought that would have been possible in this shot.

However it was shot in a pretty small room, so the light would bounce around quite happily. Will have to try it in a darker/bigger room.

Cheers for the help
 
In the mean time you could try sticking the flash as close to your head as possible and whack it up to full power. Set your iso as low as poss, your shutter speed as fast as it will sync and your aperture as small as possible.

If your lit side of the face it over exposed reduce the flash power, if it's under exposed open the aperture a bit. When you're talking about light bouncing around and backgrounds your heading into light to subject, light to background distance stuff. (re-reading it looks like you've done most of that already actually. You could move your self as close to one wall and as far away from the bouncing wall to help reduce effects. Zoom the flash head in a bit too to stop light straying all over the other walls too.
 
Cheers, will try this tonight.

Kev you're a star.

20090108-DSC_0084.jpg


This was taken at ISO200, 1/200, f22 with flash set to 1/4 power around 18" away from the face and zoomed in to 85mm, sat as far away from the bouncing wall as poss. I think I could still be a bit less timid with the flash as I had to boost the exposure by a stop in LR but the main point is that it worked and threw everything else into deep shadow.

Now whether it works as an image or not is a different matter. Possibly a little cliche?

Anyway, thanks muchly. Nailing this feels like a big step to understanding how flash complements natural light.
 
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