Hey guys,
I recently got the wireless transmitter and receiver that Matt Antonino has mention as a backup option for pocketwizards. Now, I placed the transmitter on the hot shoe and they reeceiver on the flash. Now, what do I do? How do I choose where to place it? Am I supposed to bounce it off something? How do I control the output of the flashes? I only experimented a few times, but my images were becoming blown out. Also, the transmitter Matt recommended works, but the lights on the transmitter and receiver do not turn on. Is that a problem? Please help... I am beginning to think that this device is defective. Thanks.

Hmm...as far as direction of the lighting, shooting the flash from the side of the subject or bouncing off of a wall or something so that they're indirectly lit from the side usually makes for great lighting. I'm afraid that's as far as my expertise goes

Lots of info and cool stuff to try here:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/

Sarah is (as usual) spot on... that blog is so full of amazing, easy to understand thoughts on lighting! Just don't try to read it all in one sitting!

James,
Can you dial down your flash? Or maybe move it further away from your subject?
The "pseudo wizards" only light up when you push test, I think.
I just got mine and am having a test run tomorrow!
Candy

In strobist, if you don't have all the equipment they describe, is that a problem? Also, can anyone tell me why the light does not turn on, on my receiver and transmitter.


I can dial down on my flash in manual mode. I have the 430ex. Say if you are moving your flash, then you would have to keep and changing the power of the flash. How do I figure out the output I need from my flash on the fly. Do I have to keep on testing the power by taking picture and adjusting it that way?

Attend Zack's One Light Workshop!

You've jumped into the deep end of the pool, James. The water is fine but you'll need to learn to swim. Becoming proficient with off-camera lighting takes time and lots of practice.

Check out the Lighting 101 material on Strobist.com. Most of your initial questions are answered there. You have everything you need to get started--camera, flash, and some way to trigger the flash. Eventually you'll want a light stand, umbrella adaptor, and an umbrella but you can use what you have now.

To address one of your questions--setting exposure--try this:

1. Set your camera to manual mode
2. Set the shutter speed (try 1/200)
3. Set the aperture to something (try f/5.6--whatever)
4. Set your flash to manual mode 1/4 power
5. Take a picture of your hand at the place where your subject will be
6. Look at the histogram: Is it blown out? Reduce the flash power or close down your aperture and shoot another frame. Is it underexposed? Open the aperture or increase the flash power.
7. Repeat as necessary

This is the technique I used to do this:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

There's a lot more to it than this (balancing ambient w/ your flash, for example) but this should at least get you started.

Great post michael... I too have lots of pictures of my hand...

Show us your hand !!!! Why do you hide such art from us?

Thanks Michael. Two questions. Did you bounce the flash when you took those pictures or did you use a diffuser? How do you deal with you subjects back to the one of your strobes?

You beat me to it! I was just going to say that.

Great info. your getting here roro ! It's all about practice, trial and error. I really would love to go to Zack's one light workshop, I think that's what we both need.

As far as the little itty bitty red light on the unit, it only comes on when it is activated. Mine works great, it's a pretty slick little gadget eh !

I second the rec for Zack's one light workshop. There's so much about lighting that is equipment independent, and so much that is simply about the physics of light's behavior.

Light is such a beautiful thing -- welcome to the ranks of those of us obsessed with it!

Leann

+1 on the Strobist site. He is getting ready to start the lighting 102 in a few days. He gives the assignments, you do them and post them to a Flickr page them get feedback from 10,000 plus members. If you can not get to the "One Light" this may help until you can. I would also check out the Strobist Flickr page most people post a picture of their setup along with their shots.

I also started keeping a lighting log of shots I have taken and where I had my lights and the settings. I take two shots the one I want and them step back and include the setup, print both and put in a little note book as a reference. Just helps me has a starting point so I am not taking 20 pictures of my hand which I have.


Allen

My flash, a Nikon SB-26, is on a light stand camera right, about 10' from the subjects. No modifiers, just good 'ole hard light. The exposure for this shot was 1/60, f/7.1 at ISO 400. The flash was probably set at 1/4 or 1/8 power (can't remember). Since I have a relatively low shutter speed, some of the ambient light--like the candle flames and a little bit of room light--adds to the exposure. If I had wanted to reduce the ambient exposure, I would have set a faster shutter speed.

When you're looking at lit photographs, try to reverse-engineer the light. Look at the direction (hint: check the shadows), type (hard or soft), and see if you can determine the number of sources. This is a really good exercise that will help you understand lighting better.

And I'll say what's already been said: Zack's OneLight Workshop is a great introduction to off-camera lighting.

At least you don't have them as 16x20s on your walls........if so, I'd be worried.

When you say activated, do you mean turned on?

Nope, probably only when it is sending/receiving a signal.

That's how mine work.

Alright. I understand.
Thanks for your help guys.
If I have any questions, I will notify you guys.

Exactly ! And, +1 on Stobist.

Here's a shot I did yesterday evening about 30 mins. after sundown with this little gadget.
I ordered another receiver and was testing it... which worked great. I'm still not to confident in the reliablity of this unit. I mean it works fine and it will get me seasoned for the PW's soon... 1600 ft. fires everytime WOW ! I want !

T G I F

I really like that shot Burt!
Thanks for sharing it!

Burt,
Did you somehow bounce the flash on the flower or was it shot with direct off-camera flash?

I have been reading strobist lately. I do not have an umbrella, but I am tryng to figure out how to use flash by just bouncing it on walls. I am still having trouble understanding placement of my flashes. When I take picture and try to life the shadows, the area in which the flash is hidden glows with white and is overexposed. Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks

Good morning, Thx TeeJay.

Hey roro,

I used a lightstand, umbrella bracket, 60" white umbrella and a 430EX. Bouncing the flash into the umbrella about 10' or so to my right and I was about 4' from subject with the 50mm @ 125 F2.2 ISO was 200 taken with a 20D.

Read this post

http://www.opensourcephoto.net/forum/index...?showtopic=5326

Practice is the best way! Just go manual, pick a shutter speed maybe 125 or 200 to start and Fstop @ 5.6. Put your flash around 10- 15' feet away from subject to your right or left. Flash on manual @ 1/4 power. Now take a shot, control the exposure with your Fstop and move your flash around to taste. This oughta get you on the path. Do some test pops and watch the light spread on your subject. Shoot and chimp " look".

I wish I had little more time here, but my wife is ready to go to the beach.

Hope this helps.

roro: One thing that I learned from Strobist.com that really really really helps you understand using flash (on and off-camera) is that when you are adding an artificial light (flash), you are adding another component to the exposure. Basically, you can break it down into 2 parts each controlled independently—flash exposure and ambient exposure.

Ambient exposure is controlled by your shutter/aperture/iso combination while the flash exposure is controlled by iso/aperture. As everyone has said, just experiment.

Hope that helps. I actually had that written on my wall for a few months so it would sink in.

It is kind of confusing, but I think it I will try to remember that. Also, I think I may need to buy two light stands, an extra flash, and umbrellas to really use off-camera lighting to its full potential. When I take pictures right now with off-camera lighting, I get a radial gradient of blown out whites from where I placed the light to the proper exposure. It is kind of frustrating and I can not fix it.

Write it down. Keep it in your mind and shoot shoot shoot to experiment.

Try this, it may help. I think someone already said this, but the more you get pounded with it the more you'll start to understand. Set your flash at say 1/4th and set your shutter to 1/125 or your max sync speed. Now play around with your f/stop crank it down to 8 and chimp, crank it down to 11 and see what that looks like. The flash exposure should be less. The main thing to keep in mind is that your aperture is controlling the amount of flash exposure hitting the sensor.

Good luck!!

What is a good subject to test the off-camera flash experiments on besides a person and how should I place the flash near that object? I wish there was a video tutorial on this topic. I am really a visual learner.

BEST TEST SUBJECT EVER.

In the absense of Mandy, any doll head or dress up doll head would work. Or a halloween mask on a basketball - anything with contours really. position the flashes all over - learn what it does to move it.