New flashes

Hi ive been given two large monolight flashes, there going to be shipped to me in two weeks, the say elinchrome and 800 AV but thats all I know they come with stands and umbrellas, I dont have any photos but can anyone disect that information?

Simon,

Welcome to the world of studio flash!

Hopefully the Elinchrom veterans can help you out. Most monolights aren't difficult to use. They have a power adjustment, various settings for the modeling light and a built-in optical slave so you only need to fire one and the others will chime in.

I expect your budget is limited, but a flash meter should be high on your list of priorities. It's hard to use studio flash units effectively without one. Most monolights come with a PC cord. If your camera doesn't have a PC socket then you'll need a hotshoe adapter or one of the radio-based triggering systems.

Post some pictures of the units when they arrive, especially the back with all the controls, and I'm sure you'll get all the help you need.