How to combine On Camera Flash with Alien Bees

<p>I am shooting a wedding reception in a few weeks. I want to set up my Alien Bees 6400 with an umbrella high up, as an accent/background light, and use my Quantaray flash on my Nikon D5000 as the main light with a bounce card. My predicament is that the hot shoe will be occupied with my Quantaray flash, so how do I trigger the radio transmitter, which needs a hot shoe? Does anyone know of a hot shoe splitter or some accessory I could use? </p>

<p>- Trent</p>

<p>Does your Quantaray flash have a PC connector on it?</p>

<p>You might try emailing Michael Bass Designs (http://michaelbass.blogspot.com/) and see if they have a solution.... I don't know of one. On a side note, what is the point to the umbrella?</p>

<p>I use pocket wizards and I run a sync cord from my on camera flash to the transmitter so that whenever I use the speedlight it triggers the Pocket Wizard transmitter which in turn sets off the alien bee. You will need to cover your slave sensor on your alien bee or people using their camera flashes will trigger your alien bee. If the room you are shooting has white or gray walls/ceiling you can bounce the AB into the ceiling and will give you a really nice light. Make sure your stand is tied to something or has some heavy sandbags on it or a drunk wedding guest will knock it over and break your light. I have had that happen more than once, even with the light bungee corded to the wall. Also when you having a light as powerful as an alien bee going off in the room, the guests may get a little pissed off, especially those who sit by the light. I used to set up AB's at receptions and now use nikon speedlights for fill. The photos may look great, but the wedding planner may never recommend you if the guests are unhappy about the flash ruining their experience.</p>

<p>You need to use Nikon AS-15 Sync terminal adapter. It will use your camera hot shoe and provide PC sync socket for your flash Alien Bees,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/37086-REG/Nikon_3066_AS_15_Sync_Terminal_Adapter.html">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/37086-REG/Nikon_3066_AS_15_Sync_Terminal_Adapter.html</a></p>

<p>Other solutions exist like Wein Safe Sync, and generic types, that take hot shoe and also provide single point hot shoe on the top, and the PC sync socket on a side of the adapter. So you could use in hot shoe flash and studio flash via the PC sync socket, both at the same time.<br /><br />Search B&H for non-Nikon 3rd marty solutins. There are dozen of them there..</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thanks Guys! Matt, I just ordered the SLFA hotshoe adapter from Paul C Buff that you recommended in a similar thread. I will attach that to my hotshoe and connect my CST Radio Transmitter, so I can still attach the Quanatray and trigger the Alienbees. The Quantaray does not have a pc connector, so it has to stay on the camera and occupy the hotshoe. So that adapter allows me to use the transmitter at the same time. Thanks again everyone! </p>

<p>John, the point of the umbrella was to direct the light across the dance floor. Do you recommend a more effective setup? I am open to any ideas. I have never used this technique; I have only read about it. </p>

<p>Search for other Nikon adapters and sync cords in:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nikonlinks.com/unklbil/accessory.htm#AS">http://www.nikonlinks.com/unklbil/accessory.htm#AS</a></p>

<p>Also:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/89982-REG/Hama_HA_6952_Hot_Shoe_Adapter_2.html">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/89982-REG/Hama_HA_6952_Hot_Shoe_Adapter_2.html</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/227625-REG/Speedotron_23508_Safe_Sync_Hot_Shoe.html">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/227625-REG/Speedotron_23508_Safe_Sync_Hot_Shoe.html</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/89976-REG/Hama_HA_6899.html#accessories">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/89976-REG/Hama_HA_6899.html#accessories</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/89977-REG/Hama_HA_6950.html#reviews">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/89977-REG/Hama_HA_6950.html#reviews</a></p>

 

<p>Trent,</p>

<p>Will you be working alone or with an assistant? We used to do the same thing with a couple of Vivitar 283's by having one on camera and the other one slaved and hand held, aimed at the B&G or whomever the subject was during the dancing and the bouquet and garter toss as well as the cake cutting. A simple plug-in Slave on the remote flash worked perfectly. The big advantage was that an assistant is far more mobile than a stand and could place the second flash anywhere needed, high or low, for the most flattering illumination such as almost at floor level to silhouette the bride and groom as they danced. A few prearranged hand signals took care of communication.</p>

<p>The one disadvantage was that occasionally, another flash would trigger my remote and a few seconds would pass before I could make my shot. Usually no big deal and a radio remote trigger should eliminate that.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that it looks like all of the solutions mean you won't be using the on-camera flash in any type of i-TTL mode. As far as using an umbrella to direct light across the dance floor, I suppose I would be wary about what you've read! Of course opinions can vary, but for me, I don't care what color the walls or ceilings are, I am going to be bouncing off of them (no umbrella, just the standard reflector). Yes, the light will pick up the color of whatever it was bounced off of but, in my opinion, this just adds flavor/ambience to the image. Regardless, using an umbrella at any sort of distance from the subject won't do anything for you but make your light stand out. Because of distance, it certainly isn't going to make the light any softer. It will provide some diffusion, but if that is all you are looking for then a diffusion sock will do the same thing and your light won't stick out (or at lest not as much as it would with an umbrella!). And as far as direction goes, point the light in the direction you want! Using an umbrella would actually give you a narrower spread of light! If that is what I wanted, I would just get a different reflector.</p>