My Automotive Strobist setup kit and review

Wanted to share some automotive strobist info that I have learned over the past couple of weeks. Lots to read but should have some good info for you.

What I needed my strobist gear for – Automotive

What I considered before I bought my kit

AlienBee setup - didn’t go this route because I didn’t think I could transport these easily and didn’t want to tug around a big battery and have wires going every where. A lot more costly to.

Sunpak flash –only has 2 manual power settings. Full & 1/16th. The Sunpak says 8 second recycle time on full power

Vivatar flash – I heard that they have proprietary plugs. Not only are they proprietary which is bad but I also heard that the plugs aren’t very secure.

Lumipro LP 160 flash – at $150 it’s kinda costly but a great buy for what you are getting

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What kit did I build –

3 Manfrotta Quick Stack Stackable Stands $190 from BH Photo -Liked these because you could stack them and easily carry all 3 with one hand. The unsnap by pushing the small red button.

Hot shoe foot adapter screwed onto the stand. $16 for alienbees.com

What the stands and flashes looks like setup

Nice setup , a question if I may ( as I am still learning ) , why 1/4 Shutterspeed when using strobes ? Were you wanting to let in that much ambient light on the back ground ?

I love the YN460 II , just picked up a pair of those to go with my 430 EXII.

I was in AV mode and wanted to an aperture of 4.0 or so and the camera chose that shutter speed.

great writeup! a lot of good information here. you should definitely get some nice results with this kit. i would like to be able to control all the flashes from a main source so that i don't have to run around and manually change all the settings on each slave flash, but for a budget setup this is really great. thanks for posting it all up in a nicely organized list!

Thxs.

Yea having a main source to control the power would be nice. I just take friends with me. They help adjust power, the stands and give me company.

Johnnyk_1 wrote in post #11917903
I was in AV mode and wanted to an aperture of 4.0 or so and the camera chose that shutter speed.

f4 isn't giving you the depth of field you need to get the entire car in focus for the shot you posted.

You shouldn't be using an automatic metering mode when not using ETTL flash because the camera doesn't know to expose for it. Also, if you're shooting in brighter conditions the camera may choose a shutter speed faster than your sync speed.

not to shabby. personally i love rim lighting maybe try that next time.

Nice write up...thanks

Yup, like GVal already mentioned, use manual as the camera doesnt know there will be flash so it will meter as if there is no flash. Choose any shutterspeed up to your camera's max sync ability according to how much ambient you want to blend in and the effect you are after. Also, the front wheel is already out of focus so maybe stop it down a bit more?

And the white balance is really blue. Warm up the WB a bit.

At first I though $190 was a lot for 3 light stands, but I'm intrigued by those snapping together. How high do they go?

GVal wrote in post #11918887
f4 isn't giving you the depth of field you need to get the entire car in focus for the shot you posted.

You shouldn't be using an automatic metering mode when not using ETTL flash because the camera doesn't know to expose for it. Also, if you're shooting in brighter conditions the camera may choose a shutter speed faster than your sync speed.

What metering mode should i be using?

Twisted Image wrote in post #11923139
Nice write up...thanks

Thxs, hope others find it useful. I spent 2 months researching on what to buy.

dougboy wrote in post #11923340
Yup, like GVal already mentioned, use manual as the camera doesnt know there will be flash so it will meter as if there is no flash. Choose any shutterspeed up to your camera's max sync ability according to how much ambient you want to blend in and the effect you are after. Also, the front wheel is already out of focus so maybe stop it down a bit more?

And the white balance is really blue. Warm up the WB a bit.

So my max sync speed is 200. I should be in M, choose that SS? What range of F stop should i be in? And what about ISO, choose the lowest which is 100 on my camera or set it to auto.

And as for WB, i always struggle with it. So ppl have giving me some tips on another thread so i will see if i can apply what they should me.

JustinL wrote in post #11923493
At first I though $190 was a lot for 3 light stands, but I'm intrigued by those snapping together. How high do they go?

They r awesome, they extend to 7.7 ft which is plenty for what im doing. I barely raised them up for that shoot. They have a nice foot print to, which is 1 meters which means its stable if i ever wanted to put a softbox on it for potraits. Build quality is very nice to. And i think the fact that i can easily carry 3 with one hand is a huge WIN.

Johnnyk_1 wrote in post #11929887
What metering mode should i be using?

So my max sync speed is 200. I should be in M, choose that SS? What range of F stop should i be in? And what about ISO, choose the lowest which is 100 on my camera or set it to auto.

And as for WB, i always struggle with it. So ppl have giving me some tips on another thread so i will see if i can apply what they should me.

WB get a grey card it will help or the passport color checker.

You should shoot M and meter with a flash meter. If you dont want the orange in the top right shoot at 200 if you want it more shoot slower. ISO ideal is the lowest it will go. aperture depends on the focal length and distance to get the proper DOF. Adjust your flash out put to match that f stop.

Are you firing the flash directly towards the car?

^ I try and point it to the lower half of the car.