Post Your Favorite "Off Camera Hot Shoe Flash" Shots

How would you compare it to a 43" white shoot through umbrella (with cover) when outdoors? (minus the fact that the umbrella is easier to blow away)

So there are many wescott soft boxes out there.

The one I have is the 2202, from B and H, for $119.99

You have to have a light stand already, and a umbrella bracket.

Mark ^^^^ has it correctly mounted.. but if it is your only dedicated softbox and flash, you can do about anything you want with it.. zip ties.. black tape, etc to get your flash mounted.

Some people in the flash and lighting forum have complained about this Apollo design. They say it doesn’t tilt down enough, I have a bracket much like Mark’s and I can get it to tilt down to my likings..

When I got it I thought, wow.. so small of a package, then I opened it up and it was huge.. (I was used to working with my 15 inch also boxes.) so 28 inches was almost twice the size.

As zack arias states, the bigger the light source the softer the light is.. don’t know if it is true, but putting this box into use, the photos I get out using this set up has not disappointed me.

The size of the box will make you want to get sand bags.. I will tip over , especially when using in grassy areas.

As Tony does during the day, the bare flash is good, but at night I have tried bare flash and it is harsh, so I have to do modifiers.. and this apollo does well.

@ mark welcome to the boards, and thanks for posting the pictures of the setup.. mine flash sits just a hair higher than yours, but as we both know, the light that comes out of the box really doesn’t care..

phamster

Very nice indeed!

Thanks for the welcome Phamster and I agree with everything you said! I have also heard the complaints about the tilt of the softbox. I use my softbox with a boom stand. It's actually the Impact reflector holder/lightstand. It runs about $79.00 and when you use it as a boom you can tilt it at any angle you want. It definitely has to be weighted down because it is easy to blow over.

I have found the Apollo is great for a softer, focused beam of light because it is recessed. A 43" inch shoot through will also get you similar results but the spill tends to be a lot wider. Sometime you may want this and sometime you may not. Many times I toss up between the Apollo and a Photek Softliter II. Lately when I'm outside I've been using the 46" Photek more than the apollo and saving. I'll find a pic I've taken with it and post it with a pic of the Photek setup.

Arias is right the bigger the light source and the closer it is, the softer the light will be. For instance the sun is huge but yet very small in the sky and far away. On a bright day with no clouds it's a point light source. Shadows will be very hard edged and well defined. If you don't believe me go outside and check next time it's sunny with no clouds. This is like using the small built in flash on your camera. Now if you throw some clouds in the mix to make it overcast our small light source has become a large light source and it's diffused by the clouds. Shadows are very soft or almost not existant. Again go outside to confirm this if you want on a cloudy day. This is like using a softbox or shoot through umbrella.

Ok I'm off to find my photek setup pics and examples!

Ok I found a setup pic of the Photek Softliter II. It can be used three ways: as a shoot through umbrella, as a bounce umbrella with the black back cover or as an umbrella softbox with the diffuser installed.

With the diffuser on

incrediable photos.. mark..it is apparent that you and tony know what you are doing with off camera flash.. tony has a style, show us your style..

i am still working on mine.. he he he..

i can see where the shot thru will be hard to control the over spray of the light..

nice post..

phamster

phamster wrote in post #7659545
incrediable photos.. mark..it is apparent that you and tony know what you are doing with off camera flash.. tony has a style, show us your style..

i am still working on mine.. he he he..

i can see where the shot thru will be hard to control the over spray of the light..

nice post..

phamster

If you have an umbrella with the black cover, can't you just leave the cover on the bottom portion of the umbrella to not spill?

well thanks for the info guys! that helps out a lot in my selection. i do have one other question though what do you guys think about something like this as opposed to a softbox?
http://cgi.ebay.com …EWAX:IT&item=19​0289576143

bminear wrote in post #7660920
well thanks for the info guys! that helps out a lot in my selection. i do have one other question though what do you guys think about something like this as opposed to a softbox?
http://cgi.ebay.com …EWAX:IT&item=19​0289576143

That's essentially the same thing as the Photek Softliter II. The softliter is not as deep (according to the picture) and the shaft is removable so you can get it really close to your subject without poking their eye out. I really like using my softliter for outside shoots. It's still a softbox (some call them brolly boxes) it just round and not square or rectangle. You can't really go wrong either way it just depends on what look your going for. One key difference is round catchlights vs square ones. The quality of light (or softness) is about the same IMO.

markhyo wrote in post #7661091
That's essentially the same thing as the Photek Softliter II. The softliter is not as deep (according to the picture) and the shaft is removable so you can get it really close to your subject without poking their eye out. I really like using my softliter for outside shoots. It's still a softbox (some call them brolly boxes) it just round and not square or rectangle. You can't really go wrong either way it just depends on what look your going for. One key difference is round catchlights vs square ones. The quality of light (or softness) is about the same IMO.

thanks man! i really appreciate the info. im low on cash at the moment, and looking for the best bang for my buck for the time being, until i can upgrade to some better equipment!

markhyo wrote in post #7658636
I got your answer right here! I use the same softbox for some setups. It's a 28" Westcott Apollo. It's basically an umbrella style softbox that works with any standard umbrella bracket. Here's a pic of how a flash mounts inside it....

Mark;
Am I correct that with this setup must use the flash with radio slaves or radio-poppers?

Hinson wrote in post #7668544
Mark;
Am I correct that with this setup must use the flash with radio slaves or radio-poppers?

Hinson ,

i have the exact same set up.. i can use wired set up too.. the 4 way zipper down low can be used to access for the wired corded solution if you want..

most use the radio frequency triggers.

phamster

Thanks phamster but I'm wondering if there is anyway to use the ST-E2 with this setup? Can the flash be mounted in some fashion so that the sensor is visible to the ST-E2?

Hinson,

the line of sight ST-E2 will not work since the flash is inside of the soft box (wescott)

my alzodigital 15 incher will work though.. the flash sits outside of the box so the line of sight is there and available.

phamster