cham

I could tell you where to get information on flashes but i'd get shot on here... i don't think they link people posting links to the site on here... but anyway to answer your question...

 

it all depends on how much money you want to spend... if you want to spend the money on a 580 II then go for it it's a great flash unit. it really does depend on what you are planning on doing with it though...

 

if you don't need to use TTL the have a look at the vivitar 285HV (although you'll need to trigger it another way) which is a great flash and many a "strobist" are using these right now. Or you could get a nikon SB-26 or SB-28 which are fairly cheap and these will fire with the st-e2 but you can't use ettl with them either.

 

if you need the ettl then you can always get a 550ex or 430ex a lot cheaper than the new 580...

it could be... you could try sticking some gaffer tape over it I always do this with the metal hot shoe adapters on my light stands. but there are plenty of plastic shoe'd optical slaves that might be worth a try.

 

the central pin is the one that fires off the flash... the others are usually for ttl etc...

it depends on what you want to do... you can stop down the ambient and balance the light with the flash so you don't loose detail in the background (or when outside in the sky)

 

you can use the light inside for backlighting and balance that with a flash gun so in effect you're using a more than one light set up...

 

there's so many things you can do with a small strobe.

i just squeezed the hot shoe down on the camera and it doesn't seem to have done it at all since i posted this... i think it's just a bad contact

lol do all us strobists hang out on photo.net when there's not much going on in forums over there?

i second the photek softlighter i got mine yesterday and it pretty much deals with everything i need until i need to go bigger than 60" it's in-expensive well made and easy to carry...

 

i'd stay away from small softboxes as the light source is still quite small on them...

 

if you're using a lightsphere outside you're really wasting a lot flash power although it could be an option to stick that in a larger softbox and see what happens...

 

my money is on the photek though

I'm with roy on that recommendation,

 

bogen (manfrotto) do compact light stands that are less than 1kg in weight and fold down really small, add a couple of double folding umbrella's from westcott a brackets and you have an ultra portable solution.

I second the dean collins set... can't go wrong there...

"Be careful you don't over heat them, those little lights were not made for this sort of work"

 

that's crap, these lights are perfectly suitable for this type of work, if you were going to use one umbrella you could easily get away with just using the one light in that... and use one as a backlight...

 

be careful of any bounce if you're going to go down that route

 

for shots of people with glasses you just need to position the lights a little higher/wider and that'll get rid of any reflections

 

but yes take a few sets of batteries with you or invest in a battery pack.

 

like eric said though you need to practice your set up before you go do the job... just take your time and get it right you'll be fine...

 

PS have a look at strobist101 for some great ideas

i just think the catchlights look freaky... i suppose you could always edit them out afterwards :)

have a look at www.mpex.com/strobist/strobistkits.htm you can get a decent set up including strobes modifiers stands etc for about $182

 

as was said up there i'd definately recommend reading the strobist site as well

 

"less equipment + more brains = better photography" :)

cheap and easy solution is a photek softlighter... i've been trying to get my hands on one of these for awhile as I can only find them in the US... but it's relatively cheap (about $65) and you can use it as an umbrella as well. put that together with a reflector or two and you have a very quick cheap setup for portraits.

 

but you didn't mention where you are or if that's 600 USD or 600 GBP etc...

 

if you want to spend 600GBP and you live in the uk i would spend some of that on a good lighting course and then you won't make a mistake of buying something because of the marketing of the product.

 

other than that look up s t r o b i s t it's a very worthwhile read

The memory card plays a small bit in that as well...

 

the XTi's cache (the place where the data goes before it goes into the CF card) isn't huge so it'll take a few photos quickly then slow down. the faster the write time of CF card the faster it can dump the cache meaning you don't have to wait as long to fire another burst of photos.

 

however if you're shooting weddings, i would take a bit more time to compose and get the shot right the first time.

 

but i have a 580ex and a 550ex... the 430 does take awhile to recharge.

 

personally apart from the ergonomics and few other extras that you don't really need a 580... i had the choice of either a 430ex or a 550ex as a second flash awhile ago and the 550 is a more versatile unit for a about the same price.

for a reflector just use a large sheet of white card or cover that in wrinkled foile if you want a more harsh source

 

if you take the flash off camera and fire onto a wall or a large piece of card you'll get better results usually than a direct flash depending on what effect you want.

 

if anything look up the s t r o b i s t

i have an st-e2 and a 580ex as well as a 550ex... and the answer is yes you can although the flash ratio control is only for A and B channels it doesn't support anything else... but it works really well and is really useful in lowlight situations because of the AF assist light

sean i second the s trobist site... maybe they blocked it through excessive use? lol

these annoymous ratings really do annoy me though... i wish you could turn just the annonymous ratings off...

if the sunlight is too harsh through a window on certain days, just hang some diffusion material like some white cloth etc, you'll get a nice soft light that way just remember to adjust the white balance (unless you always shoot in b&w in case the cloth isn't a perfect white

it's a real pain, but as far as lasolite stuff goes it's really expensive for what it is... looks like i'm going to have to get one of these when i'm in canada at christmas time then...

depends on how much area you're trying to light with the 580...

 

I have the same set up at the moment and i'm not finding it problemactic with not having enough power...

 

although i do make sure i don't have the zoom on the flash head on it's widest setting, not sure if that'll make a difference to you

true she shouldn't have been wearing something so low cut at that age...

 

but to me it looks like a lighting problem... the two shadows from the jacket converging to form a darker shadow... I've asked the photography "experts" here at work and they concur with my thoughts...

 

i always like how the american media finds these "experts" to back up the slant they're taking on the story

Anyone know where i can get one of these in the UK and possibly try it out

before buying it?

 

I can't seem to find anywhere that sells them here.

does anyone know where to get one of these photek softlighters from the UK... i'm not a fan of overseas shipping as i've had some nasty surprises with import duty

"i'm trying to duplicate, or at the very least, emulate, this photo"

 

caleb no one said that he was shooting at a concert... especially as he's trying to emulate the shot... not only that but it's not like you can see a crowd or stage in that shot... the only way you know it's from a concert is because of the people in the shot... so you can use softboxes yes

i use a 580 and 550 and i have to admit, this website http://strobist.blogspot.com has helped me to no end with working out how to produce professional results using small strobes...

 

obviously a set of bowens would make it easier for you but for me lugging around that type of equipment is just not possible!