SunnyOctopus wrote in post #12025315
Could someone give me the basic rundown of how one might use a setup like this to shoot people portraits?
Actual use of shoe-mount flashes and umbrellas to take pictures:
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Focal Length: 37.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure Time: 0.013 s (1/80)
ISO equiv: 400
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Manual
Color Space: sRGB
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Focal Length: 24.0mm
Aperture: f/4.0
Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)
ISO equiv: 100
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Average
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Manual
Color Space: sRGB
Two 30-inch umbrellas set around ten feet apart, about 10-12 feet from the subjects and seven feet off the floor. Cross-fire the umbrellas, aiming the umbrella on the photographer's left to the right, and the one on the right to the left. Lights in these examples were Sunpak 383's, now out of production, but nearly any shoe-mount flash will do. Use identical power settings on each flash, and adjust camera exposure settings until the pictures look right.
The Sunpak 383 flashes were not Canon E-TTL flashes, and worked best with manual power settings. Typically, half-power was a good starting spot.
Canon DSLR's have a "flash" white balance setting, but a manual white balance was used for these images, because of the varying background colors.
There are several kinds of umbrella adapters for shoe-mount flashes. None are really better than others, and this purchase can safely be made on price alone.
For a basic setup such as the one shown here, the location of the umbrellas is not critical. One of the big advantages of working with a pair of umbrellas is that they're very easy to work with if you want a smooth and diffused wash of light with few shadows.
