Beginner Flash set up for museum/car collections

[aj124]

Afternoon TP, I will soon be involved in a project that will most likely require me to have a flash set up, it will see me shooting car interiors in museums and private collections (with permission/out of hours).
I normally use fixed studio lamps to light the cars interiors I normally shoot, but the nature of this project will not allow me to take the larger set up I'm used too, I have very little flash experience to date but understand the basics and will have time to practice once I have some kit.

Could anyone recommend me a set up, I shoot with a Canon 650d currently but this may see an upgrade. From reading on here I think a pair of yn600ex and a yn-e3-rt with a couple of stands and some form of diffusers would work, but any advise or recommendations will be gratefully received.

 

[Garry Edwards]

I did something similar a few days ago, shooting the interior of a landrover that a friend wants to sell.

I used one of our Atom 180's, simply because it's a barebulb unit, which means that for most of the shots, I simply hid the flash unit out of sight and bounced the flash off of where the headlining would have been on any other make of car

And, because it has remote control I was also able to leave it there for the exterior shots, making the inside brighter than the outside, which not only helped with the shots but also prevented reflections on the windows.
The Yongnuo flashguns aren't barebulb, but will more or less do the job. I very much doubt whether you will need either diffusers or light stands for this purpose. I can't think of any reason why you would need to upgrade your camera for this.

 

[aj124]

Thanks Gary, that setup looks interesting although my budget would be stretched slightly. Would I need a trigger for my 650? My reason for stands would be shooting an open car incase I can't bounce the light appropriately.
I see you are affiliated with lencarta, can you tell me the weight of the kit?

 

[HoppyUK]

Afternoon TP, I will soon be involved in a project that will most likely require me to have a flash set up, it will see me shooting car interiors in museums and private collections (with permission/out of hours).
I normally use fixed studio lamps to light the cars interiors I normally shoot, but the nature of this project will not allow me to take the larger set up I'm used too, I have very little flash experience to date but understand the basics and will have time to practice once I have some kit.

Could anyone recommend me a set up, I shoot with a Canon 650d currently but this may see an upgrade. From reading on here I think a pair of yn600ex and a yn-e3-rt with a couple of stands and some form of diffusers would work, but any advise or recommendations will be gratefully received.

Good choice. I have a bunch of those. A cheap diffuser cap (Stofen type) is a good idea when you need to spread light around at close quarters.

 

[Garry Edwards]

Thanks Gary, that setup looks interesting although my budget would be stretched slightly. Would I need a trigger for my 650? My reason for stands would be shooting an open car incase I can't bounce the light appropriately.
I see you are affiliated with lencarta, can you tell me the weight of the kit?

You can in fact use any radio trigger with it, but our one gives full remote control as well as triggering.
Fair point about the light stands. In the real world, I think you'll struggle to get a single stand that does everything - the low ones don't go high enough and the high ones don't go low enough, but low ones cover 80-90% of what's needed for this type of shoot. We do one that goes from floor to 91cm. An alternative is to simply fit the flashgun onto a tripod, which may be your best solution.

 

[Nod]

Cheap tripods which are often less than ideal for camera support duties are ideal for use as stands for speedlights/flashguns. Sometimes crop up in charity shops but that might take a while.

 

[aj124]

I did something similar a few days ago, shooting the interior of a landrover that a friend wants to sell.

I used one of our Atom 180's, simply because it's a barebulb unit, which means that for most of the shots, I simply hid the flash unit out of sight and bounced the flash off of where the headlining would have been on any other make of car

And, because it has remote control I was also able to leave it there for the exterior shots, making the inside brighter than the outside, which not only helped with the shots but also prevented reflections on the windows.
The Yongnuo flashguns aren't barebulb, but will more or less do the job. I very much doubt whether you will need either diffusers or light stands for this purpose. I can't think of any reason why you would need to upgrade your camera for this.

Gary, when you shot the interior was one unit enough?

I am now torn between the yongnuo speed lights and an atom 180. It's made more difficult with my lack of experience with flash. Up to now I have only really used continuous light or a small canon auto flash I used to have.

 

[Garry Edwards]

Yes, one was fine for my purpose, but it's possible that you may have different needs. I was either shooting small details that only needed light from a single direction, or taking general shots with the flash bouncing off of the inside of the roof, which made the entire roof into a very large light source.
This doesn't work quite as well with a low powered hotshot Flashgun that needs a diffuser because the reflector is non removable, but it can be done with a high I SO setting.