This is going to sound stupid but .....

chez1980

chez1980

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Hi all, I'm a bit confused! I have a interfit 150 studio flash lighting kit but my studio flash wont fire! After researching online I'm assuming it's because my conservatory is too bright for the sensors!

Funds are tight so can anyway give me ideas how to solve this?

I have a canon 1100d

Cheryl
 
What are you using to fire it?
Is the slave cell covered?
 
And you're using what to fire them? If it's an infra red, you're probably right. Either don't use the conservatory in bright daylight or get some radio triggers. Even with radio triggers, it's very possible that the ambient lighting conditions will be too bright for the slave sensors to register the flash
 
Thank you, I always use my conservatory in the morning when it's not so bright! I'm using the on board flash at the moment but looking into a speed light! Would a sync lead make any difference to my problem?
 
To be clear, do the Interfits not fire at all, or do they fire but not register on the image? Could be a different cause.

Either way, you shouldn't really be shooting in high ambient light. Sunlight is very bright and will dilute whatever effect the studio heads are having. Conservatory is not a great place either - beware of light reflecting off the glass.
 
The lights work but only at dusk! My conservatory works well as a studio as I prefer natural light & haven't had any real problems yet but I do felt studio fkash would help me with family shoots! Just not sure what to do, try the leads to get them to fire or invest in a better flash? X
 
chez1980 said:
The lights work but only at dusk! My conservatory works well as a studio as I prefer natural light & haven't had any real problems yet but I do felt studio fkash would help me with family shoots! Just not sure what to do, try the leads to get them to fire or invest in a better flash? X
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This is puzzling. They work at dusk, but if you're triggering them off the pop-up, they shouldn't! Or at least they'll fire, but not in sync so won't register on the image - they'll be triggered by the pre-flash from the pop-up, that cannot be disabled on the 1100D :thinking:

Anyway, you could hook one up to a sync cord (you'll need a hot-shoe adapter) but the other will have to fire off the slave, so same problem with that one.

Bottom line, get a cheap set of manual radio triggers - eg Yongnuo RF-602. Only about £30.
 
As above.
But you need to think about what you actually want to achieve here - you don't need better lights, you need an understanding of what lighting is actually about, the creation of the right shadows in the right places, the create the right effect.

From what you say, it seems to me that you view lighting as just being about having enough of it. My advice is to move out of the conservatory, find a way of triggering your lights that actually works and experiment with just one light and see what it can do for you.
 
Thanks for your help, as ivd said before I'm new to all this which is why I'm asking about lighting as I don't understand it! I can't move out of the conservatory as I have no other usable space!
It's not a typical conservatory as it only has light coming through the roof & front window & doesn't get any direct sun till late afternoon.

Lighting does baffle me which I why I'm asking for help, I mainly shoot newborns which my natural available light is perfect for but when I shoot families I use f8 so then my shutter becomes too slow so that's why I'm asking about lightning and flash but as I don't know much it's all a bit scary

Cheryl x
 
Bringing PM conversation into the public arena so that other people can join in if they want to...

Stick to the flash you've got, it may not be the best but it will do. Forget about using the modelling lamps as continuous light, there are all sorts of problems associated with that and very low power is just one of them

All that you need to make your flash head fire reliably (and at the right time) is a cheap radio trigger such as the Yongnuo RF-602. This link may or may not be the cheapest source, other people will probably know more about that than me.

You may find, with light streaming in through the wall and roof, that you sometimes need a second receiver for the second flash head, this radio trigger set includes 2 receivers so will take care of that problem.

Once you have the flash working properly you can experiment and learn the basics. Other people may be able to give you links to basic guides, here is one that I wrote a long time ago.
 
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Thank you so much for your help, so you think it's better for me to use the studio flash rather than buy an external flash? Cheryl
 
chez1980 said:
Thank you so much for your help, so you think it's better for me to use the studio flash rather than buy an external flash? Cheryl
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Yes, definitely. The best piece of advice is this from Garry above "My advice is to move out of the conservatory, find a way of triggering your lights that actually works and experiment with just one light and see what it can do for you." You need to do this, working in a darkened room, so you can see exactly what the flash us doing and learn from it.

Shoot in the conversatory if you must, and use the daylight to your advantage when you can (maybe as a bit of fill-in, lightening the shadows from the flash, will probably look quite good) but be aware when it's working against you.

Basically, you will have two light sources - daylight and flash. When in shade, shooting at say f/8 with a shutter speed of 1/200sec (max x-sync on your camera) and lowest ISO100, the flash will mostly overpower the daylight so it will not have so much impact, but as the daylight brightens it will have an increasing influence.

To get an idea of what's happening, set your exposure for the flash, then turn it off and take a shot so all you're getting is the daylight. If that comes out very dark, then most of the exposure is coming from the flash, but as the daylight brightens, so that will contribute more. You need to be aware of that, learn how to balance it with the flash as best you can.

Edit: Suggest Yongnuo RF-602 triggers, for Canon obviously, and with receivers for each head so you're 100% certain they'll both fire redardless of the brightness of the daylight. Make sure you get a set with connecting cables, as this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wireless-co...2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1347013619&sr=1-2 TBH, suggest you only use one studio head until you've got the hang of it all, perhaps with a shoot-through umbrella.

Double edit: Radio triggers like these will probaly reduce your x-sync speed a bit. If you get a dark band at the bottom of the picture at 1/200sec, drop the shutter speed to 1/160sec or even 1/125sec.
 
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HoppyUK said:
Yes, definitely. The best piece of advice is this from Garry above "My advice is to move out of the conservatory, find a way of triggering your lights that actually works and experiment with just one light and see what it can do for you." You need to do this, working in a darkened room, so you can see exactly what the flash us doing and learn from it.

Shoot in the conversatory if you must, and use the daylight to your advantage when you can (maybe as a bit of fill-in, lightening the shadows from the flash, will probably look quite good) but be aware when it's working against you.

Basically, you will have two light sources - daylight and flash. When in shade, shooting at say f/8 with a shutter speed of 1/200sec (max x-sync on your camera) and lowest ISO100, the flash will mostly overpower the daylight so it will not have so much impact, but as the daylight brightens it will have an increasing influence.

To get an idea of what's happening, set your exposure for the flash, then turn it off and take a shot so all you're getting is the daylight. If that comes out very dark, then most of the exposure is coming from the flash, but as the daylight brightens, so that will contribute more. You need to be aware of that, learn how to balance it with the flash as best you can.

Edit: Suggest Yongnuo RF-602 triggers, for Canon obviously, and with receivers for each head so you're 100% certain they'll both fire redardless of the brightness of the daylight. Make sure you get a set with connecting cables, as this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wireless-control-Trigger-RS-60E3-Receivers/dp/B002RDI0FK/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1347013619&sr=1-2 TBH, suggest you only use one studio head until you've got the hang of it all, perhaps with a shoot-through umbrella.

Double edit: Radio triggers like these will probaly reduce your x-sync speed a bit. If you get a dark band at the bottom of the picture at 1/200sec, drop the shutter speed to 1/160sec or even 1/125sec.
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Thank you, as I work from home the conservatory is my only option for now!

Thanks for your help & I will try things out as you said x
 
I have the same kit but mkII version. I use a bedroom with mine usually and if I forget and end up with the flash in front of a window with curtains open it won't trigger.

I use the interfit IR trigger which sits on the hot shoe. If I shut the curtains then it's fine again. Had me baffled the first time it happened.

I don't know about your camera but I couldn't use radio triggers as I have a Nikon D3100 and it doesn't have a PC port to plug the trigger into. So make sure what ever you buy it's compatible with you camera.

Dan
 
Dan_H said:
I have the same kit but mkII version. I use a bedroom with mine usually and if I forget and end up with the flash in front of a window with curtains open it won't trigger.

I use the interfit IR trigger which sits on the hot shoe. If I shut the curtains then it's fine again. Had me baffled the first time it happened.

I don't know about your camera but I couldn't use radio triggers as I have a Nikon D3100 and it doesn't have a PC port to plug the trigger into. So make sure what ever you buy it's compatible with you camera.

Dan
Click to expand...

Radio triggers plug into the hotshoe. Cameras that have a hotshoe don't need a PC socket.
 
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