New to lighting

Hi all, first of all please ignore my ignorance

I have the equipment that are listed in my signature(way more than I need). I want to experiment with some studio type lighting and was wondering what all I will be needing.

I currently have 2 flashes (580 EX II and 430 EX II). I may buy one more of these in the near future. Portability is a major concern to me so strobes are out of the equation and I understand the limitations of using speedlites outside in strong direct sunlight. But shooting indoors and outdoors without harsh direct sunlight, what all do I need for portraits? I will probably need stands, umbrellas/softboxes. Money is a little bit of an issue at this point. I cannot spend more than $100-$150 on this equipment(2 sets) at this point.

How about 2 of the following:

http://www.ebay.com …35b487f379#ht_2​291wt_1346

or this

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …K2_Umbrella_Kit​_with.html

I know they are not Manfrotto and something similar but I guess they get the job done. May upgrade in the future if need arises. And I have a 7D. Do I need to buy triggers and pocket wizards to fire them? I know people use them on 5D II for obvious reasons and outside with 7D because the inbuilt trigger's reach. But do you think I need them for my needs?

And one more question. I can probably find answer to this if I spend some time but since I started I may as well ask. If I direct the umbrellas on each sides towards the subject(and one probably one the background for white backgrounds) Do I need another flash on the camera? Or will the inbuilt flash suffice? I know these are really basic questions but I started working on it and will not be shooting any pro for at least a year. This is all just for my understanding and experience. I have a few people who are interested to act as my subject. They may just use this for their FB. So I can experiment. Sorry..:o:o

Thanks in advance

Here's what I would do..

Two of these @ ~$15 /ea. - http://www.adorama.com​/LTUSH.html
Two of these @ ~$25 /ea - http://www.adorama.com​/LTSP85.html

I prefer brolly boxes to umbrellas, but I have both.

You can get a 2-pack of brolly boxes for ~$25 on eBay.. (or search for Umbrella Softbox and look for the 2-packs)
http://www.ebay.com …1c1f3370e8#ht_3​050wt_1150

If you do want an umbrella, get a decent reversible one. Westcott is good quality.
http://www.adorama.com​/WEUMB43WSC.html

I believe the 7D communicates with the external Canon flashes via pre-flash from the on-board pop-up. This is convenient, but requires you to be in line of sight, and can be flaky.. I'd look into a decent trigger set, like the Cactus V5.

Since you mentioned having a limited budget, I would seriously consider selling the 480EX II, and taking the money and putting that towards your equipment. You can use some of that money to pick up a cheaper manual flash, like a YN-560, which is ~$60.

If you're going to take the time to develop your skills with studio lighting, you might as well get used to using the flashes in manual mode. I'd always keep one ETTL flash (your 580 EX II is perfect) for events, etc.. but IMO, ETTL in a controlled studio setting is a waste of money.

I would go witha softbox over an umbrella. You gain a lot more control over you light, especially with the use of a grid. Here's a VERY popular softbox, and its somewhat of an all in 1 solution for your speedlites - just need a light stand:

http://www.cheetahstan​d.com …38/Cheetah-Qbox-24/Detail

the 7D's pop-up can trigger your flashes wirelessly, as long as the slave flashes sensor can see the flash from the pop-up. Indoors, it works great cause the slaves normally don't have a problem doing this. But outdoors, your slave-from-camera distance is severely limited (maybe 10-15' if you're lucky) as the bright outdoor light often overpowers the pop-up flash, so the slaves won't see it.

To set the 430 into slave mode so it can be triggered by the pop-up, press & hold the zoom button til the display changes. I don't know how the 580 goes into slave mode though..it may be the same thing. Once in slave mode, you'll have to make sure that the flashes & camera are all on the same group & channel settings (consult the flash & camera manual for verifying/setting that).

There's flash control settings on the 7D so that you can tell the camera to fire the pop-up before the shutter which will trigger the OCF once the shutter opens. This way, the light from the pop-up won't add any unwanted light. But you can also tell the camera to use the pop-up as a front fill flash & trigger the off-camera slaves either as a ratio (ie. like 1:3 power setting of pop-up vs. OCF), or trigger all 3 flashes (pop-up & OCF) with the same power outage. Check the 7D manual for the wireless flash control.

& by using the pop-up flash to wirelessly control the OCF, you retain E-TTL too. But no HSS tho....you'll have to use ND filters if you want to do outdoor work & use a large aperture while shooting at a max SS of 1/250 (or 1/200...whatever the 7D sync speed is)

I have seen a lot of negative talk of the 7d/60d built in wireless capability and just wanted to say it is working fantastic for me. Indoors I rarely have issues with were the flashes are placed or pointed unless I am shooting from one room to another. Line of site is not even close to needed. Outdoors line of site is important but I have never had issues with range on a portrait. This is up to 25' or so and I really don't see any need to be further than that from my subject. I would HIGHLY suggest the users of these cameras trying what they have before buying more equipment.

Not much. It doesn't get any easier than this.
Angeline outdoors

This should give you some ideas: Simple 2 Light Portrait Set-up

Thanks a lot for the replies guys! You guys are fantastic

One last favor. What do you guys this about this setup? Especially quality wise. Last thing I want is mess up my flashes. I have the flashes listed in my signature. I'm planning to have 580 on my camera and 430 and 565 on light stands. 2 stands, 2 adapters, 2 brollas and 1 umbrella

http://cgi.ebay.com …iewItem&item=18​0694754317
http://cgi.ebay.com …iewItem&item=22​0889057325
http://cgi.ebay.com …iewItem&item=25​0858493480
http://cgi.ebay.com …iewItem&item=12​0782549224

Might not be the best you can buy, but should work okay…

René Damkot wrote in post #13393839
Might not be the best you can buy, but should work okay…

Thanks for the reply! Obviously they are not the best but what do you think worst can happen? Do you think the flash/hot shoe adapter will break? Actually that's my main concern.

Nah. Actually, you got me thinking about getting such an umbrella adapter with a coldshoe.
I now use something like this screwed into this, but if I'm using ETTL, the one you linked would work as well and be more compact

Just don't over tighten it if your flash has a plastic foot.