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Hi guys, I am new and I have lots of dump questions......Like.....


fabianbuchner

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First of My Name is Fabian, I have a canon 90d bought a used 17-40mm f4 L lens and now I am on top of the world.

I feel like a pro LOL...

 

Na not really.

 

Anyway I went to offerup and just purchased a Bowens Calumet 750 travel lite for 50 bucks. Not much info on this one online!

Here is the issue. light works fine! I bought a Glow 34" beauty dish for 80 bucks, when I shoot the slave sensor pickup and fires the strobe, but my picture is dark. Its like the strobe is to slow and fires after the shutter closes.

Now that what I think it is. Reality....... I can't tell because it happens so fast.

I can see the glow of the modeling light ion peoples eyes, but the flash is just not there, tough it fired!

 

I tried slower shutter speed,

 

So, what could be the solution? Maybee buy a flash remote system and plug the receiver in the travel lite? I am kind of lost here

Maybee start with camera settings on flash slave?

 

Thanks for help!

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I found out that it works if I set the flash to manual! Yeahhhhhhh!

 

Cool. Probably what was happening is that your on-camera flash, in auto mode, is doing a low-power preflash, which it uses for an exposure test. Then, within a split second it opens the shutter and fires the flash for real. Here's the problem - your Bowens flash is being fired by the preflash, before the camera actually trips.

 

So when you changed to manual flash the preflash is not used, and everything now works ok.

 

Best of luck with your new system.

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Nice shot, it looks very sharp. One note on composition- there is more empty space on the left than on the right. It is often better to have the subject not directly in the middle of the photo but the more empty space should be on the right than on the left. When looking at a photo the eye moves the same as when reading, from left to right. You don't want the eye to have to see all that empty space before it moves along to the main subject.
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James G. Dainis
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Happy picture, it's great to have a little fun when doing portraits.

 

i'll be a nit picker and say that I would have either included all of the logo on her top, or none of it. Chopping it in half is distracting. Also perhaps some extra hair light to prevent her darl hair from bleeding into the dark background. Or use a rather lighter backdrop.

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Probably what was happening is that your on-camera flash, in auto mode, is doing a low-power preflash, which it uses for an exposure test. Then, within a split second it opens the shutter and fires the flash for real. Here's the problem - your Bowens flash is being fired by the preflash, before the camera actually trips.

That's absolutely what was happening. You might want to get a cheap set of radio triggers so that you don't have to use the camera's popup flash to fire your strobe. Radio triggers are more reliable than optical triggering and work over a longer distance.

 

Only having one light is quite limiting, and as you can see, a so-called 'beauty dish' doesn't give a very 'beautiful' light. It's quite harsh and hard. Female subjects usually benefit from a softer light, or more fill to the shadows.

 

The 'hardness' or 'softness' of light (how sharp and deep the shadows are) is governed by the size of the light source. Your flash could be greatly softened by reflecting it off a large white surface. A white wall or a large white board for example. Or you might want to think about getting a white umbrella attachment for your strobe.

 

Search for a great instructional video called 'One Light Lighting' by Jack Reznicki. It explains the basics of lighting extremely well.

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Interesting! In general, I usually prefer more empty space on the left. I like the way it 'leads up to' the subject. For me as a viewer, the empty space on the right is mainly just for framing the subject. Maybe it's just me.

 

Perhaps one more thing to consider is how the subject's face/eyes are oriented. I think I read somewhere that looking/moving into the largest area of empty space (= 'into the photo') usually looks more 'balanced' than than the other way around. Of course - even if true - there's no reason to always want 'balanced' photos.

 

In this photo( given the slight turn of the head to my left as a viewer) I like @fabianbuchner's placement in the frame slightly to the right.

 

Just my personal feedback.

 

Mike

 

Nice shot, it looks very sharp. One note on composition- there is more empty space on the left than on the right. It is often better to have the subject not directly in the middle of the photo but the more empty space should be on the right than on the left. When looking at a photo the eye moves the same as when reading, from left to right. You don't want the eye to have to see all that empty space before it moves along to the main subject.
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Nice shot, it looks very sharp. One note on composition- there is more empty space on the left than on the right. It is often better to have the subject not directly in the middle of the photo but the more empty space should be on the right than on the left. When looking at a photo the eye moves the same as when reading, from left to right. You don't want the eye to have to see all that empty space before it moves along to the main subject.

 

So in countries that write right to left, it is the other way?

 

And where they write top to bottom?

-- glen

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When looking at a photo the eye moves the same as when reading, from left to right.

Fabian I hope you and others can see beyond this debatable box. Some easy research online of eye tracking, mapping and practical experimentation of your own eye movement should help clear the way.

n e y e

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I know many people say that one should not learn any rules of composition. Personally I think that a beginner should be given some help. I always learned that the center of interest should be to the left of the photo. The eye falls from top left to bottom right. The center of interest should be to the left. When setting up a photo I always put the person to the left of the photo, if there are two people I put the taller one to the left.

 

That is how I set up this photo, with me to the left. I could have put myself to the right but to my way of thinking it doesn't quite look right.

 

jim_view2.jpg.94c1ca0cd351de0bd26752377e1cd54b.jpg

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James G. Dainis
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I know many people say that one should not learn any rules of composition.

different equation, unrelated to where I was coming from. and not what I subscribe to.

Personally I think that a beginner should be given some help.

That's why I spoke up james.

n e y e

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