Help with off-camera lighting equipment

[picturesque]

<p>Here's the B&H equivalent. It is apparently a Photoflex kit.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/419377-REG/Photoflex__LiteDome_XTC_Extra_Small.html">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/419377-REG/Photoflex__LiteDome_XTC_Extra_Small.html</a></p>

<p>Two Pocket Wizards. Note the miniphone to PC cable comes with. On the one going to the 430EX, you use a lanyard to hang it from the stand somewhere.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/441353-REG/PocketWizard_801_125_Plus_II_Transceiver_Radio.html#specifications">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/441353-REG/PocketWizard_801_125_Plus_II_Transceiver_Radio.html#specifications</a></p>

<p>2 different hotshoe adapters.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.flashzebra.com/products/0126/index.shtml">http://www.flashzebra.com/products/0126/index.shtml</a><br>

<a href="http://www.flashzebra.com/products/0138/index.shtml">http://www.flashzebra.com/products/0138/index.shtml</a></p>

<p>You may want to look at the following.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.flashzebra.com/products/0070/index.shtml">http://www.flashzebra.com/products/0070/index.shtml</a></p>

<p>Or the following to put your PW next to the left side of the camera, where the PC socket is. However, you will need a cold shoe which will 'dangle' the hotshoe contact or use an insulated cold shoe like the one shown so you don't misfire the unit on the metal plate.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/423407-REG/Custom_Brackets_CBMINI_CB_Mini_Camera_.html">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/423407-REG/Custom_Brackets_CBMINI_CB_Mini_Camera_.html</a><br>

<a href="http://www.flashzebra.com/hotshoes-shoes/0066.shtml">http://www.flashzebra.com/hotshoes-shoes/0066.shtml</a></p>

<p>There are other ways to connect the PW to the camera, as mentioned above.</p>

[davebell]

<p>Don't think that Pocket Wizards are the only way to go. Consider the Elinchrom Skyports as an excellent quality, extremely reliable, much smaller (than previous gen Pocket Wizards and probably roughly similar in size to the new ones), and a lot cheaper alternative. Of course they only support manual flash as per the previous generation Pocket Wizards, but I am hoping they shortly produce a ETTL version as well.</p>

[picturesque]

You may also be interested in the following. I believe the unit can be screwed to the tripod socket of the camera.

 

http://www.flashzebra.com/products/0070/index.shtml

[scrivyscriv]

<p>MK,<br>

off topic, but wanted to mention it... I like your website, but the brick/ivy shot of the b&g is really dark, even on my macbook with its supernova LCD screen. It looks cool but doesn't really seem to jive with your soft & bright style.</p>

[angelacardenas]

<p>Hi Kay!<br>

You can get the same items you are looking for on amazon.com at a better price. However, if you want to go to a store that can offer you assistance with lighting without a side a rudeness. Go to http://www.kmcamera.com/ located close to broadway and Canal St. its a small store but the staff is great, even over the phone. You can also go to http://www.calumetphoto.com/ on 22th St. and 5th Ave, the prices are great and the staff is great too. Adorama is a good store, but they do lack in customer service big time. I also purchased a Canon 5D from their store and I asked about using flash and a PW at the same time and the rep had no idea what I was talking about. In fact the rep told me that , such thing was NOT possible, didn't even bother to check. I just made my purchase and left. <br>

Good luck!</p>

[picturesque]

<p>While frequenting and supporting local camera stores can be a good thing, I'd refrain from asking camera store salespeople about anything important, unless you've developed a long standing relationship with a particular person you know to be honest and knowledgeable. By nature, salespeople will sell you what they have in stock, or what they can make a nice profit from selling. And unless they are photographers themselves, they aren't going to know all the ins and outs of photographic technique and gear.</p>

<p>Better to research online, since now, you can pretty much find out anything about anything online. Also, unforutnately, smaller stores aren't going to have the variety of gear that one might want. The Photoflex kit, for instance. Calumet doesn't stock it. Plus, it is good to know about specialty places like Flash Zebra or Michael Bass. You can't find what they carry at the big stores.</p>

<p>As for 'copying' what Jasmine Starr does, it doesn't hurt. It wouldn't be what I'd choose, but there is no harm in getting the gear, using it, figuring out what one likes or not, and adjusting the set up.</p>

[g.e._masana]

<p>>>they didn't use the box to bounce the flash.>><br /> <br /> The soft box is not really bouncing so much as it's more a shoot-through softener. Which makes me think Ms. Star must've been in a small room, because that's going to cut down the amount of light traveling to the subjects on the dance floor. Plus, as it will only light the area in front of it, are you going to plan on waltzing every one over to where you have the softbox set up all night long?</p>

[wedding-photography-denver]

<p>G.E. makes another good point regarding the use of softboxes. They are relatively directional light sources.</p>

[picturesque]

<p>If you look at the blog images, you see that the off camera flash was actually used as accent/rim light most of the time in large rooms, something which a bare flash could easily have done without much difference in the quality of the accent/rim light. In only a couple of images is it used as key light, and one of them is a situation where Ms. Star might have waltzed the couple over to the softbox. Either that or they happened to be near it.</p>

<p>In any case, as I said above--doesn't hurt to get the specific gear, play with it and figure things out from there.</p>

[mark_t5]

<p>an umbrella is probably a better choice since the light spill is much wider than a softbox.</p>

[missy_kay]

<p><em>there is no harm in getting the gear, using it, figuring out what one likes or not, and adjusting the set up.</em><br>

Thank you... I agree</p>

[mike_whalen]

<p>Hi Missy,<br>

Check out the Strobist site (<a href="http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/">http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/</a>) for some good lessons on how to use off-camera flash. Be sure to check out all the tutorials on the right side of the page. Another good source for lighting is Scott Kelby's "The Digital Photography Book", Volume 2. Very easy read with allot of good suggestions on equipment and a section on weddings. You can also find a bunch of 'strobist' videos on youtube. Also, for less than half the cost consider using a "Cybersync" by Paul C. Buff for your wireless trigger. These are very reliable and build extremely rugged. Good luck.</p>

[silverdae]

<p>David Ziser is also a master of off camera flash. Check out his blog for a wealth of information.</p>

[DickArnold]

<p>I have had a set of studio lights for twenty years. I have used them in a number of venues but rarely at one of my weddings. Why? As someone said, softboxes are most effective close to the subject to soften features by surrounding the subject with wide source light. They are directional. As you move them further away they become increasingly less effective for this primary skin softening purpose. I took a course from Monte Zucker where he advocated the use of bare bulb flash which is by definition non-directional for this function. If you don't know about Monte he was one of the all time class acts in wedding photography until he passed away in 2007. What I learned in my weddings is to keep things simple when it comes to lighting in order not to miss pictures when the action picks up. I always felt I was there to record the event and not to give a lot of direction and to place people where my lighting was the best. I still use my studio lights on location occasionally. I would, if I were to use a bare bulb, take my flash meter ( 20 years old also) to assure correct exposure. </p>

[blackriverimages]

<p>I would second the Strobist site as a good place to start. IF funding is any kind of issue with your new set-up I would urge you to consider the Yongnuo Rf-602 radio trigger/rec/shutter releases.</p>

<p>These are the latest from Hong Kong and have a range of about 100 yards(which is all you really need) radio-controlled so no need to worry about line of sight, and most importantly you spend about $50 and get one transmitter and two receivers, so for less than $100 you could have an entire back up system.</p>

<p>They use batteries that are not proprietary. I think AAA and one of the CR2 lithium that is a bit pricey at about 7-10 dollars. These provide trigger only and you can not adjust output of the flash-but neither does the Pocket Wizard.</p>

<p>If you are a Canon shooter you might check into the flashzebra site- they have a hot-shoe replacement for Canon flashes for about 50 bucks that is any easy switch out that gives you a standard plug at the base of the flash for connectivity.</p>

<p>Shipping from Hong Kong takes about 2-3 weeks. At the very least this would be a much more affordable way to try this out and if you do not like it you can sell those things easy on ebay and you will not have a great deal of money invested. Do a search on ebay for Yongnuo RF-602 and you will get lots of options. Most of us buy from the seller that has Youngnuo in their name. DealExtreme also sells but seems to take longer to ship. BTW shipping is FREE!</p>

<p>Bob Wyatt</p>

[chad_hoelzel1]

<p>I second the choice of radio popper. It's in the 900mhz range so doesn't have the interference problem that the PW does. I would probably get a few strobes off camera (two) and get some stands. You'll have to do lost of playing around first so you can figure out what works. If you want to save some money just get 3 canon flashes and use the limited range canon wireless first then get the radio poppers.</p>