Recommendations for stands with boom arms for softbox & portable strobe

Well done..
Way to put the tools together and show the finished product.

110yd

MalVeauX wrote in post #17584320
Heya,

Playing around with the cheetahstand and a speedlite and a 43" umbrella, while I wait for my other stuff to eventually come in and actually work (the strobe and 48" octa).

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/tRj7​3y IMG_7868 by Martin Wise, on Flickr

Above is the cheestastand with 2 coke cans in the counter weight bag, holding the boom up high with a yongnuo 560III with generic battery pack attached, 1/4th CTO Gel on the flash, with 43" westscott umbrella. Decent breeze going and it felt rock solid. I know I'll need more counter weight when I move to my strobe and octa. I have bungees & stakes for that too to ensure stability when that time comes.

Camera is a 5D with an EF 85 F1.8, with a 3 stop ND filter on (Marumi 3 stop) and rubber lens hood. Yongnuo RF603C transceiver, and I'm using a remote trigger to trip the camera so I can "selfie" test.

It's about 4pm, very bright out (Florida) with sun behind where I'll be sitting, so back lit very strongly.

Here's the image with no filters, no flash, and shutter to normal exposure of what the subject would be (me). Sky is blown out of course at wide aperture (F2.8 here).

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/tRss​6z IMG_4095 by Martin Wise, on Flickr

Here's the image with the 3 stop ND filter onboard, and I opened the aperture to F2 to get a little more light back. I now have the sky thanks to the ND filter preserved better and ambient light is dropped below sunny 16 standards. You can see the backlighting from the sun. It's my free rim light. The rest is full flash exposure from the speedlite through the umbrella suspended above me to camera right, acting as fill. I think it's obvious to see the difference between the bleaching sun on my shirt and the fill light from the flash doing the rest of the work.

I think I was able to match the flash & gel to ambient light enough for it to not look like obvious "flash" but rather just filled in. Could use critique on that from anyone!

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/u8UB​ni IMG_4105 by Martin Wise, on Flickr

Can't wait to get the strobe back in working condition. The flash was barely able to muscle through at 1/1 power, with the gel & umbrella at decently close distance.

Very best,

Great looking stand Great job on the pics

abbadon31 wrote in post #17584481
Great looking stand Great job on the pics

Thanks for recommending the Cheetahstand, it is exactly what I was after minus a huge price tag. Sturdy and heavy enough. I won't hold the RoveLight & 48" octa at full extension on that boom arm, but not very much out there can anyways, and I'll be bungee/staking it down for those times. Overall great build. Heavy duty enough for this kind of use. Holds the speedlite & umbrella in breeze no problem with just a little bit of counter weight and it was off balance even then. So it's a great little stand. I can't wait to get the monolight in and use it up high and down out of frame.

New question: is gelling possible for these kinds of strobes? I looked around and saw a few things, but nothing really stood out. Do you use CTO's when shooting with your strobes for your outdoor portrait (like that desert stuff)?

Very best,

MalVeauX wrote in post #17584508
New question: is gelling possible for these kinds of strobes? I looked around and saw a few things, but nothing really stood out. Do you use CTO's when shooting with your strobes for your outdoor portrait (like that desert stuff)?

Very best,

You can add some alligator clips and some elastic on the rod of the softbox to hold the gels. I shoot between 11am to 1pm at high noon so the flash and the ambient light is the same kelvin. If I shoot at sunset I just change my Kelvin on the camera, but would be better if I used gels.

abbadon31 wrote in post #17584520
You can add some alligator clips and some elastic on the rod of the softbox to hold the gels. I shoot between 11am to 1pm at high noon so the flash and the ambient light is the same kelvin. If I shoot at sunset I just change my Kelvin on the camera, but would be better if I used gels.

Thanks,

I was just thinking about it and it being rated at 5500k made sense, since daylight white balance is about 5600k or so if I remember. Close enough to not bother with gels a lot, compared to the 5200k of flash, being quite cooler. Probably not a big enough difference for me to care too much. Though it may be interesting to grab some large sheet gels that are on the order of 1/2 CTO and maybe a full CTO, for those really warm sunset afternoons.

So basically nothing really specific, just a sheet of the gel and clip it in there some where.

Very best,

110yd wrote in post #17583276
Don't want to change the drift of the thread, but what kind of "SHIP DATE" have you received on the 48' Ez-Pro Octa? I ordered one on Monday, and yesterday I received an out of stock notice....
But they did promptly charge my CC.

Regards,

110yd

Heya,

Just an update, I just got an email today from Fotodiox with a shipping notice and tracking value via UPS ground. This is for a 48" Ez Pro Octa with Bowens mount.

Apparently they're in stock! So that's good news. They were off by 3 days, but at least it's not deep in July.

Now if only my monolight would get to Adorama, and a new one get back to me faster... sigh.

Very best,

Whooop Whooop

I also received a shipping notice and the tracking number on a Ez-Pro 48 Octa. Looking forward to putting it to work soon.

Regards,

110yd

Heya,

So, went at it again today after the rain stopped. It was more over-cast which was in my favor, less direct beating sunlight, since I can't over power it anyways with a speedlite.

So I put the Cheetahstand in full extension on the boom (well, near full) and it actually held on it's own. I increased the counter-weight to 4 coke cans. I still bungee-staked it to the ground, just in case, which was also in the counter weight bag for easy portability. It was completely stable and I could lean on it a little with the stakes. It was windy still from the storm, so it was a good test. Held solid. The arm bent a little in an arc with the weight which I expect from anything, but it was solid enough to not bounce around in the wind and held nicely at the different angles I configured it to.

This time, no gel on the flash, as it was overcast and didn't need to match temperatures as they were close anyways. Gave me more flash power too.

I put the umbrella a bit closer to the flash, but kept the 24mm spread on the flash.

I got the umbrella closer to the subject to increase it's output and soften it a bit. I think it worked out better. I simply used creative angles with a telephoto (85mm) to avoid getting it too much in the frame (it was in a few of these frames a little, so an easy crop-out). I definitely look forward to my 600ws monolight where I can comfortably have it 4~5 feet away and completely out of frame with a 48" octa. I'm always feeling the limitations of the output of a single speedlite in a modifier, having to get super close for it to do what I want (and not just be minor fill on a sunny/bright day).

This time, I shot at F2 and 1/100s at ISO 100 based on ambient light in combination with 4 stops of ND (a 3 stop marumi ND filter, and a marumi CPL which is effectively a 1 stop ND filter too, helped with sky and saturation there as well as provide that 1 stop of ND). So considerably less bright out today for me to get to that exposure value. Flash was kept on full power 1/1 and again, no gel this time as it wasn't needed to blend ambient. I didn't have to alter exposure values at all in post. I merely changed temperature in RAW and added a wee saturation & contrast to taste. Otherwise, the exposures are directly as the camera captured.

I'm fairly happy with the setup right now, as I can get the results I'm looking for (although still not quite there, I want it a little more dramatic, but I need the monolight to get there).

Critique away, I'm happy for advise to improve this.

Setup:

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Digging the pipe great info

Heya,

** So, still awaiting my rovelight & 48" octa. In the mean time:

Experimenting some more with current "portable" outdoor setup. Added a 2nd light for a rim, just to see if it's worth taking it out.

Feedback welcome on lighting! Including ambient to light exposure, too dark, etc, and color (I'm half colorblind, so never know when I've gone too warm!)

Cheestahstand + coke cans in the counterweight bag. Yongnuo 560 III + JJC generic battery pack on a Godox S-bracket mount. 43" Westscott umbrella. Full flash power (1/1).
Cheap impact light stand for 2nd light. Yongnuo 565EX on a Yongnuo RF603 transceiver. 1/4th power. Bare light, no modifier. 50mm spread on flash.
Cameras were 5D classic & an old XSi. Both using Yongnuo RF603 to transmit.
Marumi 3 stop ND filter used in all shots to drop ambient light.
Shot in the shade to utilize the lower light to be able to get more out of the flashes.
No gels on flashes this time, shade was cool enough temperature to not worry about it.
Warmed to 5900k approximately in post for taste (hopefully not too orange?).
Remote shutter is a generic Oppilas set (super inexpensive, works perfectly).
Shots were either focused via the remote shutter, or manually focused on an object (a light) in place of subject, and let DOF do the rest.

Junk lawn chair & cat optional. Pipe not optional ().

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I'd prwfer a bit more ambient, the dark trees behind are just not adding anything. Youve done rwasobly well separating yourself, but if its that dark it might as well be all black.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17587768
I'd prwfer a bit more ambient, the dark trees behind are just not adding anything. Youve done rwasobly well separating yourself, but if its that dark it might as well be all black.

Agreed, looking back when I got inside, I realized just how dark ambient got, will probably redo just to see the difference with added 2~3 stops of ambient to see the balance.

Very best,

notice the bare flash just catching the tip of your nose in the last two, this is something i don't like to see.

you also have a significant color balance difference between the two light sources. Might be due to the lack of an umbrella on that flash. If there is going to be a difference, I would want the rear to be warmer to approximate a setting sun.

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #17587823
notice the bare flash just catching the tip of your nose in the last two, this is something i don't like to see.

you also have a significant color balance difference between the two light sources. Might be due to the lack of an umbrella on that flash. If there is going to be a difference, I would want the rear to be warmer to approximate a setting sun.

Thanks!

You're right, I don't like that catch light there either. Bleh!

Yea I noticed the color difference, I think it's just the umbrella, as I didn't have any gels on this time. I may have to actually just gel the rim flash and tone it down and needs to arc behind subject more to avoid nose light.

Thanks!

Very best,