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Your "walking" modifiers

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The F-Stoppers flash disc is small, It is better than nothing but struggles in anything more than a head shot to give a good diffusion. The Chinese knock offs can be found in a simple eBay search; this is a link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MK-Foldable...-speedlight-Flash-Free-Shipping-/261756203160.

The F-Stoppers disc's big advantage, IMHO, is it fits in your pocket and is small enough to work with the flash on a bracket.

The RoundFlash Dish is much better IMHO. Still packs small enough to fit in a bag big enough for the flash but is much larger. The metal support rod holds it open (the F-stoppers tends to collapse at the top. It has a wide velcro secured strap that runs through a buckle (the F-stoppers uses an elastic band, which is enough considering its smaller size and lighter weight).

roundflash_dish.jpg


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www.roundflash.com
 
Dervast said:
I found also this one

http://www.amazon.de/Lastolite-LL-L...5197209&sr=8-1&keywords=lastolite+20+umbrella

Do you know

1. why you shoot through and not reflective at this sizes?
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To allow you to get the 20" umbrella diffuser closer to the subject so that its relative size is larger. The problem with a modifier this small is that it must be used very close to the subject for soft light, which means that there is a very large fall off of light across the subject. That is fine for dramatic portraits but a problem for glamour portraits.

Lastolite says umbrellas up to 20" but I suspect you could use a larger one without any problems.

Westcott makes a similar handle. You can also get it in a kit with a 43" umbrella, which is more awkward to walk around with but will give you better quality light.

B&H - Westcott Speedlite ProGrip Umbrella Kit 5142
Dervast said:
2. What is that white modifier on flash?
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That is a flash that has been crudely painted over in Photoshop so that they aren't showing any particular brand of flash. You can see the flash in the photo in my B&H reference.

Note that with the Lastolite Brolly Grip and the Wescott Speedlite ProGrip the flash is mounted 90° to the way it is normally mounted on an umbrella bracket.This is necessary since the flash head, if mounted in the normal fashion, would be so far from the center of a small umbrella that only a small part of the umbrella would be lit.

You can mount your flash on an umbrella bracket the same way by using something like this.

Phottix Varos H-Mount Plate and Strap

Here is a photo of my hot-shoe flash with RF trigger mounted on an umbrella bracket. Notice how far the flash head is from the umbrella stem and the center of the umbrella. The second image shows how it lights my 43" umbrella. Notice that even with an umbrella this size it is not lit evenly.




Dervast said:
Regards

Alex

--
“The fact is that relatively few photographers ever master their medium. Instead they allow the medium to master them and go on an endless squirrel cage chase from new lens to new paper to new developer to new gadget, never staying with one piece of equipment long enough to learn its full capacities, becoming lost in a maze of technical information that is of little or no use since they don’t know what to do with it”
(written at 1927 by Edward Weston)
Click to expand...
--
Living and loving it in Pattaya, Thailand. Canon 7D - See the gear list for the rest.
 
Sailor Blue said:
Note that with the Lastolite Brolly Grip and the Wescott Speedlite ProGrip the flash is mounted 90° to the way it is normally mounted on an umbrella bracket.This is necessary since the flash head, if mounted in the normal fashion, would be so far from the center of a small umbrella that only a small part of the umbrella would be lit.
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That’s right if you use a normal size flash.

If you use a small i40 + either trigger or cord and mount it on a swivel with a tilted umbrella shaft hole, the flash points pretty much into the centre of a 24” umbrella (shaft length).

The LumoPro LP633 Compact is nice and lightweight. The cold shoe is permanently mounted. http://mpex.com/lumopro-lp633-compact-umbrella-swivel-w-variable-cold-shoe.html

The Manfrotto 026 has a similar geometry but is larger and heavier.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/546375-REG/Manfrotto_026_026_Swivel_Umbrella_Adapter.html

No idea, which of the countless other brand swivels have a tilted hole.

--
Seedeich in Colour
Seedeich in Black & White
 
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Dervast said:
Hi all,

I am looking for ideas for having a small setup for modifiers when you are walking but still want to be able to soften up the light.

I am thinking for cases where you have a camera with an off camera flash (triggers or 3meters cable) and you can put the flash at the 45 degrees to light a portrait at location.

I am having a 43 inch umbrella but it really looks too big for putting in to a small walking bag (where my sony a6000 camera and three lenses fit easily). As my travelling modifiers I have already a rogue flash bender and a grid but I still looking for something that can soften my light.

Do you have any ideas/tutorial where I can have a look for?

I would like to thank you in advance for your reply

Regards

Alex
Click to expand...
 
Hi all,

thanks for the answers. After your all great answers I got and the research I did these are my

summarizing points I

-All flash modifiers (that they just plug easily on your speedlight) improve a bit the results on close distances (close up portrait). If flash is out of camera and at distances about 10ft/3m or more there is no difference in using them or not

-I will not buy a new modifier, even though umbrella looked to be the most closest choice. I found most of these modifiers to be expensive. I will be using my flash bender to and my flash turning upwards. The flash bender will be then sending light in front.

- I think the best improvement would be to have the flash at side and not straight in the middle of the body

That is all for now.

Regards

Alex
 
Thanks for the advice. I think my problem is mostly that my a6000 does not allow to me use a "cable" to put my camera at small distance away. The cheapest wireless ttl triggers are more than 100 euros :(

It looks like I would have to keep my flash on camera. I will be using my flash bender or finding a white wall to bounce it

Alex
 
my shoot through umbrellas are about 22 inches in diameter.
 
Dervast said:
Thanks for the advice. I think my problem is mostly that my a6000 does not allow to me use a "cable" to put my camera at small distance away. The cheapest wireless ttl triggers are more than 100 euros :(

It looks like I would have to keep my flash on camera. I will be using my flash bender or finding a white wall to bounce it

Alex
Click to expand...
Take a look at Neil Van Niekerk's Black Foamy thing - I can't believe I didn't mention this but perhaps somebody else did. This guy (besides the strobist website that SailorBlue mentioned) is a great online resource for flash event photography.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/about/black-foamie-thing/
There are lots and lots of links to examples.

You can check Syl Arena's site, and his book "speedliter's handbook" has lots of information on using flash on and off camera, from simple to elaborate. It's a flash shooter's Bible, although he does pitch brands a bit, and doesn't get too much into triggers.

Everybody has different methods, and they're all valid.
 
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Dervast said:
what is a knock off?

--
“The fact is that relatively few photographers ever master their medium. Instead they allow the medium to master them and go on an endless squirrel cage chase from new lens to new paper to new developer to new gadget, never staying with one piece of equipment long enough to learn its full capacities, becoming lost in a maze of technical information that is of little or no use since they don’t know what to do with it”
(written at 1927 by Edward Weston)
Click to expand...
it's a cheap copy.

Gary Fong is not a favorite with me or a lot of other shooters. The reason being that it's
  1. big, like gallon milk bottle big (some are sort of collapsible)
  2. is an omni directional light, meaning you're getting direct, indirect and bounced light all at once. This usually results in flat, dull light. But, it does eliminate shadows and is rather foolproof.
  3. you can literally make your own, or instead of buying one for $80, get one on eBay for $20
It's commonly referred to as milk bottles or tupperware because it resembles these things, and IMHO you can make a modifier that acts the same from these things.

Here is a review from Syl Arena on the Gary Fong Collapsible Light Sphere .
 
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DavidNJ100 said:
Dervast said:
Hi all,

I am looking for ideas for having a small setup for modifiers when you are walking but still want to be able to soften up the light.

I am thinking for cases where you have a camera with an off camera flash (triggers or 3meters cable) and you can put the flash at the 45 degrees to light a portrait at location.

I am having a 43 inch umbrella but it really looks too big for putting in to a small walking bag (where my sony a6000 camera and three lenses fit easily). As my travelling modifiers I have already a rogue flash bender and a grid but I still looking for something that can soften my light.

Do you have any ideas/tutorial where I can have a look for?

I would like to thank you in advance for your reply

Regards

Alex
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
If you really walking and don't have help than the softener should be on the cam.



If you have white walls and ceiling than use that



Otherwise I got a setup which works quite well (a bit on the heavy side to be frank :-) )





















i also use DIY stuff like that (also works quite well and a lot lighter :-)



rockjano























Dervast said:
Hi all,

I am looking for ideas for having a small setup for modifiers when you are walking but still want to be able to soften up the light.

I am thinking for cases where you have a camera with an off camera flash (triggers or 3meters cable) and you can put the flash at the 45 degrees to light a portrait at location.

I am having a 43 inch umbrella but it really looks too big for putting in to a small walking bag (where my sony a6000 camera and three lenses fit easily). As my travelling modifiers I have already a rogue flash bender and a grid but I still looking for something that can soften my light.

Do you have any ideas/tutorial where I can have a look for?

I would like to thank you in advance for your reply

Regards

Alex

--
“The fact is that relatively few photographers ever master their medium. Instead they allow the medium to master them and go on an endless squirrel cage chase from new lens to new paper to new developer to new gadget, never staying with one piece of equipment long enough to learn its full capacities, becoming lost in a maze of technical information that is of little or no use since they don’t know what to do with it”
(written at 1927 by Edward Weston)
Click to expand...
 

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Another option is the RoundFlash Ring. Note that I am referring to the RoundFlash Ring, not the Dish.

Here is a photo of the handheld off-camera RoundFlash Ring rig that I used at a comicon on Sunday:
https://flic.kr/p/rp13tQ

I used a Nikon d5100 with an SB-700 flash attached via a YN-622N. I used the Nikon CLS commander on the on-camera SB-700 to control both flashes in iTTL mode.

My goal was to balance ambient light with the on-camera and off-camera flashes using the Strobist technique described here: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/11/on-axis-fill-run-and-gun-version.html.

When holding the off-camera flash to my right, I used Joe McNally's “Da Grip” technique (see ninth/last photo at this link http://www.graphics.com/article-old/da-grip-holding-camera-steady). When holding the off-camera flash to my left, I just held the camera steady as best I could. Here is a recreation of what my victims saw immediately before the flash fired:
https://flic.kr/p/qJPXFK

Thanks to Sailor Blue for providing the Strobist and Joe McNally links.

Some of the resultant photos are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/60303832@N02/sets/72157649062783134/

I have also used the same technique with a large Rogue FlashBender plus diffusion panel. That rig looks like this:
https://flic.kr/p/qJN3bv
. As you can see, the FlashBender setup places the flash farther from the grip and thus farther off-camera, which is an advantage; however, the large FlashBender has a smaller surface area than the Ring, so its light will be somewhat harder.

Photos using the Flashbender are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/60303832@N02/sets/72157649351919132/ and here https://www.flickr.com/photos/60303832@N02/sets/72157647017674453/ . All were taken with the FlashBender except for the large group outside shots. For some indoor shots I bounced the on-camera flash. For the other indoor shots I aimed the on-camera flash straight ahead.

Getting the exposure right using this technique was not easy. Part of the problem was the difficulty of accurately aiming the off-camera flash at subjects. Balancing ambient light with two flashes is also non-trivial. A crowded, run-and-gun comicon hallway makes all of the above even more difficult. If I took more than 15 seconds for a shot, I felt like I was inconveniencing not just my subjects, but also the comicon traffic. As a result, many shots showed poor exposure straight-out-of-camera. I would be embarrassed to show some of the SOOC shots. I had to perform major post-processing adjustments on some photos to make the exposure acceptable. Shooting raw was important for recovering highlights and shadows for some of the photos. The d5100's ability to maintain dark shadow detail without banding was probably also a plus.

Ken
 
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I recently bought the Westcott Speedlite ProGrip and paired it with a Lastolite 28" fiberglass shoot-through umbrella. I also just ordered a larger Westcott 43" collapsable shoot-through umbrella to use with the Westcott ProGrip as well. While the ProGrip is good, I still mounted it on a stand on a recent shoot since I lacked an assistant to hold it, plus it's a bit unwieldy to handhold when also shooting with a full-frame body. I used the ProGrip + Lastolite 28" shoot-through umbrella pictured below, to light the headshot below:

[IMG width="400px" alt="Westcott Speedlite ProGrip + Lastolite 28" shoot-through umbrella."]http://studio460.com/images/Westcott28-1L.png[/IMG]
Westcott Speedlite ProGrip + Lastolite 28" shoot-through umbrella.

Nikon D3s + AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G.

Nikon D3s + AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G.

I liked using the ProGrip with a small shoot-through umbrella. It's really light, and easy for an assistant to carry and hold in place. I have other boom-mounted rigs, but this one is the lightest. The larger, 43" shoot-through umbrella should produce some pretty nice light.

However, the never-ending quest for the "perfect" Speedlight modifier continues . . .

Years ago, my first on-camera flash modifiers included a LumiQuest BigBounce, then a Westcott Micro Apollo. The LumiQuest was too "floppy," the Micro Apollo, too "flippy." More recently, I acquired a Rogue FlashBender which I eventually deemed as simply too heavy. A few months ago, I got a Graslon Insight. It's a neat, fairly lightweight design, but not very effective due to its compact size. In general, I've found most of these gadgets either too heavy or too bulky, especially when used on a rotating flash bracket (I use a Newton rotating flash bracket). I also rigged a 5" x 8" PortaBrace white-balance card to my Nikon SB-800 using a simple Velcro strip as a more minimalist FlashBender/Demb-type modifier. The nice thing about it is that it's extremely lightweight, but I haven't tried it at any real-world events yet.

I did just order the Fstoppers product, mainly because of its lightweight design and slim profile (I should receive it in a few days). Heavier, bulkier modifiers either get in the way, fall off, or tend to hit people in the head. The Fstoppers product is light and its flat design won't get in the way. I plan to use the Fstopper modifier handheld for solo-event shooting when I have no other option, holding the Speedlight in my left hand (I don't plan in using it on-camera, or on a stand). While the RoundFlash products look effective, they're quite large. I think the Fstoppers product may be the best compromise between source size, bulk, and weight. I'll do some tests as soon as I receive it.

LIGHTBASICS.COM
 
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LIGHTBASICS said:
I like your style! I had a photo teacher who shot with a small umbrella attached to a flash bracket on his camera, similar to your softbox/bracket set-up.

LIGHTBASICS.COM
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Honestly I don't use it very often simply too heavy. If I am inside I try to use the walls and the ceiling. When I am outside and nothing to use as a reflector…than it is good but that does not happen very often...

And it is only soft relatively close. 30x30cm is not too big as a softbox.

rockjano
 
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