Problems with strobist kit portraits

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Halflap

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Steve
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I have three flashguns along with stands and umbrellas for each. Using Cactus V4 triggers. The room I am using is small (about 3m square)

The problem I have is that when I mount the umbrella adaptor / trigger / flash to the lightstand the flash head is quite a way from the centre of the umbrella. Because of this I do not seem to be able to fill the umbrella with light. I have to mount the trigger between the flash and the umbrella adaptor as none of my flashes have a sync port.

Because of the above the shots seem to have very harsh lighting which is not that much more flattering than direct flash. I tried to use "clamshell" lighting with one umbrella above the other and single umbrella with reflector and two umbrellas (main and fill).

Unfortunately I am unable to post examples as the only practice I can get is with my wife and she has threatened to remove parts of my body with a large knife if I post any of the shots.

Anyone got any ideas how I can improve my shots before the weekend when my niece is having her 16th birthday party and I have offered to take some shots. I would like to get some head and shoulders and a few full length.
 
Without shots people are going to struggle to help, time for a self portrait or a giant teddy me thinks.
 
How about something like...

lbracket1.jpg
 
That looks good but how does it connect to stand. I have an umbrella adaptor which is topped by a cold shoe
 
It comes complete with the umbrella adapter - basically what you see in the pic minus the flashgun
 
Halflap said:
I have three flashguns along with stands and umbrellas for each. Using Cactus V4 triggers. The room I am using is small (about 3m square)

The problem I have is that when I mount the umbrella adaptor / trigger / flash to the lightstand the flash head is quite a way from the centre of the umbrella. Because of this I do not seem to be able to fill the umbrella with light. I have to mount the trigger between the flash and the umbrella adaptor as none of my flashes have a sync port.

Because of the above the shots seem to have very harsh lighting which is not that much more flattering than direct flash. I tried to use "clamshell" lighting with one umbrella above the other and single umbrella with reflector and two umbrellas (main and fill).

Unfortunately I am unable to post examples as the only practice I can get is with my wife and she has threatened to remove parts of my body with a large knife if I post any of the shots.

Anyone got any ideas how I can improve my shots before the weekend when my niece is having her 16th birthday party and I have offered to take some shots. I would like to get some head and shoulders and a few full length.
Click to expand...

If we can't get a piccie.... :naughty:

Maybe we could suffice with some of the setting you are using for both the flash and camera ?

F8 @ 125/sec ISO 100 Flash @ 1/2 power - brolly at 1.5ms away ? (as an example)

Cheers
 
Thanks FITP. That looks perfect. I only have 2 problems.

1. I need to sort this and get some practice in before Saturday.

2. My car is in for clutch repair + Road tax + new glasses = ~£1200 to find before the end of the month.

I think I may have temporarily resolved the issue for the moment.

This is the problem I was getting
4814817655_f882941745_o.jpg


I have pulled out the wideangle screen on the flash :bonk: and now get this
4815441364_5d56e1139d_o.jpg


I am going to give it another go with my "model" once she agrees to do it.

I can see an order coming to you next month. May go with softboxes though as in the confines of the small room, umbrellas may not be the best option.

Thanks for the help so quickly.
 
Halflap said:
Thanks FITP. That looks perfect. I only have 2 problems.

1. I need to sort this and get some practice in before Saturday.

2. My car is in for clutch repair + Road tax + new glasses = ~£1200 to find before the end of the month.

I think I may have temporarily resolved the issue for the moment.

This is the problem I was getting
4814817655_f882941745_o.jpg


I have pulled out the wideangle screen on the flash :bonk: and now get this
4815441364_5d56e1139d_o.jpg


I am going to give it another go with my "model" once she agrees to do it.

I can see an order coming to you next month. May go with softboxes though as in the confines of the small room, umbrellas may not be the best option.

Thanks for the help so quickly.
Click to expand...

This will work fine. Also it's worth trying with a stofen attached. You'll lose light, but it will fill the brolly. Joe McNally does this. :)
 
I'm inclined to believe you may have a problem with your settings as even though the first example is only lighting up the top half of the brolly it's surface area is huge compared to a bare flash.. And tbh you should be able to get decent enough results even with that.. Are you able to post the settings you used as mentioned earlier? better still a self portrait it doesn't have to be all pretty like!! :p
 
I had this problem when I was starting out.

I fixed it one of three ways:

1. Used the Manfrotto bracket, which has an angled umbrella slot so the single flash always hits the middle of the shoot through umbrella.

2. Used two flashguns behind the shoot through umbrella - used this bracket

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Flash-Umbrell...graphy_StudioEquipment_RL&hash=item27aeeddf21

and attached this to it

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Opteka-FB-100...=Camera_Flash_Accessories&hash=item563e091479

Thus, one flash is upside down and the other is upright, while the umbrella hole is just about perfectly centred between the two. This gives perfectly even light over the shoot through. Its also far better than two guns side by side, as the output from each is lozenge shaped and so will not fill the top and bottom very well.

3. Converted to reflective umbrella, which being reflective and given that light travels at about 186,000 miles per second (I think), evens out the light coming from the umbrella far more than a shoot through. I do still sometimes place two guns in front of it however, if I want more power.

I now always chose reflective umbrellas over shoot through, preferring them for a number of reasons.
 
Thanks for all the help. Flipping out the wideangle diffuser seems to have helped (sample shot here)

I had used shoot through umbrella as the room is tiny ( 3m square ) and I had read that to get soft lighting required the light source to be close to the subject. With a reflective umbrella the light stand would be in the doorway and quite a distance from the subject. Also I could only get the subject 1m or so from the backdrop.

I really need to get lots more practice so will definately make a note of the suggestions so far and try them out
 
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