First time with an umbrella!

Hey guys, I just got my impact umbrella kit from b&h plus two 45" umbrellas. I only have one speedlight for now, another one is coming. Just fooling around today using the 45" as a shoot through and placing it beside the model (sister) for that "side lighting" effect.

Here is what we quickly came up with.. literally 20min of shooting.

First, she took one of me!

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/53298814@N07/6​738425427/

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Looks good. The BW one of your sister would great if it was centered

I too want to get into proper portraits.. Only have a 430ex and a lumiquest soft box at the moment haha.. Ideally I would like a 580 and another 430 so I can have a key/fill and back lighting but we'll see

Is this using ettl? And how r u triggering with your 550d?

nice, i like the b&w shots a lot, good light.

I believe that you kept the umbrella 90 degrees to the models. That works great for you in the first photo. That may not be suitable for women. If you had moved the light to a 45 degree angle the light would be a lot. more flattering .

Love the picture of your sister flipping her hair..

What is dangling from her fingers on that last shot?

LucasCK wrote in post #13744640
Looks good. The BW one of your sister would great if it was centered

I too want to get into proper portraits.. Only have a 430ex and a lumiquest soft box at the moment haha.. Ideally I would like a 580 and another 430 so I can have a key/fill and back lighting but we'll see

Is this using ettl? And how r u triggering with your 550d?

You might consider the YN5650 or YN565 flashes. They are lot less expensive and work great. Also, you might want to consider Cactus or YN602 triggers.

Thanks shank.. I just recently looked up the yn-565 and it is very tempting..

As for triggers I'm leaning towards the pixel kings.. They just seem a bit simpler and less expensive.. I'm just trying to get my head around HSS as I plan on doubt outdoor portraits... I've been reading about it for some time now and I am still unsure about how it works with wireless ttl.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but those yongnuos and cactus triggers don't support ttl right?

Not that theres anything wrong with that, but just can't imagine myself manually setting three external flashes, I think my head would explode!!

it really doesn't get much simpler than the cactus receivers. Ive had them for a while now and the yongnuo flashes. they all work great!

LucasCK wrote in post #13746043
And correct me if I'm wrong, but those yongnuos and cactus triggers don't support ttl right?

Not that theres anything wrong with that, but just can't imagine myself manually setting three external flashes, I think my head would explode!!

Yes.. No ETTL all manual control... Once you go off camera, retaining TTL means that you get an expensive Canon Flash that can be controlled by the camera or another Canon flash, or get an expensive rigger that retains ETTL, or a sync cable.

Pixel kings are around $200 and are apparently ettl and got good reviews

Non ettl ones are around 30-40 right?

LucasCK wrote in post #13747293
Pixel kings are around $200 and are apparently ettl and got good reviews

Non ettl ones are around 30-40 right?

Depends on the brand and qty.

YN-602 - you can get 1 receiver & transmitter for $43

http://www.amazon.com …l-RF-602-N1/dp/B0042U27Y6

Cactus V5 - around $35

http://www.gadgetinfin​ity.com …ransceiver-v5-single.html

Sooner or later, you'll have to learn to have your flash in manual mode and adjust the output for proper exposure using a light meter and/or a digital vision photo target

I spent two thousand on all canon speedlites when I was starting out to retain ETTL. It works, no doubt. I will not say I am even qualified to say that you can do everything with a proper setup of ETTL as with manual (although true pro's say you can). What I will say is my lighting got a lot better when I decided to go fully manual. It was scary as hell but the worries went away quickly with some practice. I have since gotten rid of two of the Canon Speedlites and swapped them out for several YN Flashes. (I did keep two 580exII and 550ex to have some ETTL when needed). I have a camera bag full of speedlites and YN Triggers. I am confident when I go on location I will have enough lights to light what we come up with, but not always confident in my ability. That will also come in time and studies. I do not lack knowledge, I lack confidence and creativity. Of course if you don't have either of those, you on a sinking ship.

My point is, go manual. Shoot a lot. Grow leaps and bounds rather than be limited to line-of-sight TTL. Plus, it is considerably cheaper.

shankarhokie wrote in post #13747336
Depends on the brand and qty.

YN-602 - you can get 1 receiver & transmitter for $43

http://www.amazon.com …l-RF-602-N1/dp/B0042U27Y6

Cactus V5 - around $35

http://www.gadgetinfin​ity.com …ransceiver-v5-single.html

Sooner or later, you'll have to learn to have your flash in manual mode and adjust the output for proper exposure using a light meter and/or a digital vision photo target

FYI you linked to nikon 602s. Not sure if it matters.

I'd say look at the 603's as well.
http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1327258​052&sr=1-2

It's nice because they are transceivers like the V5s but much cheaper.

Okay... So if I splash out and buy a yn-565ex and a yn-603 with 2 receivers I should be able to have 2 wireless flashes (my 430) used in manual mode? Or do I need a 580exii to use as a master as I'm using a 550d?

LucasCK wrote in post #13744640
Looks good. The BW one of your sister would great if it was centered

I too want to get into proper portraits.. Only have a 430ex and a lumiquest soft box at the moment haha.. Ideally I would like a 580 and another 430 so I can have a key/fill and back lighting but we'll see

Is this using ettl? And how r u triggering with your 550d?

I'm using a yn 560, so no ettl, i have a few rf-602 triggers which work great. I have a yn 565 coming which has ettl but I would use it on manual with the umbrellas.

I guess for portraits the off-centered shots don't really work sometimes.. just messing around and excited about my new setup haha.

thanks shankarhokie, i just noticed that dangling thing now, didn't really scrutinize the shots that much. I will definitely keep a closer eye in the future especially if i get into paid work!

I definitely agree with the angle of the light, i'll fool around with that a bit more.