Speedlights / strobist - light modifiers

MindofMel

MindofMel

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Hi all...

After some bog standard amateur guidance - so using speedlights to light my subjects - apart from the flashes and the triggers.. What exactly do I need.

Watching the likes of dom bower etc they all have modifiers that work with their flashes. What do I need to buy to attach to my light stand to get flashes usable with softboxes and umbrellas?

I found this: but how does that connect an umbrella

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Softbox-S...trols_Softboxes_Diffusers&hash=item19ca4a488d
 
the softbox that you linked doesn't connect an umbrella, it only works with that softbox.

For an umbrella, you need an umbrella adapter. There's a lot to choose from. The ones from cotswold photo on ebay, or from calumet, are probably your best bets.
 
ill be intrested in this too as i think this is the way i will be going
 
Hotshoe flashes can be fitted to modifiers in two basic ways...

There's the home made approach, you can make honeycombs out of straws which work, within limitations, and plenty of bits and pieces can be home made.

Or you can fit an adapter that in effect puts a S-fit fitting onto the front of your hotshoe flash.

One that takes a single flashgun is OK for small softboxes (although you'll need to fit a Stofen-type diffuser to get even reasonably even light distribution) and other modifiers, or you can get a similar thing that takes 3 flashguns, this will be needed both for large softboxes and for when more power is needed.

In each case, they are made of steel and it's the adapter, not the flashgun, that takes the weight.
 
MindofMel said:
Thanks for the reply Gary.. Lots of info in there.

In your opinion, what is the largest size softbox, one flash(plus stofen) could adequately light?
Click to expand...
Maybe 100 x 100cm, it may not be perfectly evenly lit and there won't be a lot of power, so you may need to put the ISO at around 400 or so - but it will work
 
Marcus Geezer said:
Try searching for a brollybox on ebay. Works a bit like a brolly but with slightly different results and great for strobist work.
Click to expand...

I second that. They're a very cheap way to decent light, but do what I do and shorten the shaft or you'll poke peoples eyes out.

Using a stofen will, as Garry said, soften the light. I go further and layer some tape over the front of the stofen to limit the light that exits that way for a more even effect.
 
The soft box you've linked is the type I use out in the field and they're pretty good - the ball joints have got better in recent years (they used to not lock properly under the weight) and that size of soft box is big enough to give a very different light to a bar flash, without wasting too much owed. I used to see about 1.5 stops light loss through mine, although it was just the front diffuser fitted. Gives a soft light and is very good for head & shoulders shots and small product photography.

One tip I have is to do away with the hotshot fitting on the bracket and just screw the thumbscrew directly into the thread on the receiver unit. You might need to add one more rubber washer. I do this because the clamp-type coldshoes (where the flash attaches) can crush the fitting on some triggers; I did this on my Phottix Strato Mk1 and the result was if the soft box was angled, the whole flash/trigger could slide out and fall off.

If you want something bigger then Phottix (among others) do some Westcott Apollo copies that provide really nice quality light. They are based on an umbrella arrangement so fold up like a brolly, but in what is a relatively slimline package, you can have a big soft box. I use the 28" Apollo but I think there are bigger versions. The bigger ones might require more than one flashgun to put some serious power out though.
 
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