Welcome to Strobist - creative use of your flash

[viewfinder]

Came across this one, basically a collection of creative ways to use your flash, contributed by various individuals. Some really interesting approaches and others are just plain ingenious!

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/02/welcome-to-strobist.html


Check out the favourites too:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31454864@N00/favorites/



Regards,
Jonathan

[MiriamJ]

I very highly recommend this blog.

Not only does he show you how to greatly improve your photography, he also shows you how to save money when you do it. It's all about getting your flash off of the camera for professional results.

If you're interested in this, and not familiar with the subject, a good place to start is at the lighting 101 link.

Not directed at absolute beginners. You'll need to know what an f-stop is, DOF, how to use your camera in it's various modes, etc.

If I only have a few minutes I can spend on the web, this is where I invariably go.

Check it out! Really, really cool!

[Kevin]

I've browsed that site before. I'm deciding if my next purchase will be a flash or some other piece of equipment. Probably should go the flash route to use for fill when shooting outdoor portraits.

[StickShots]

I'm a long time strobist reader, it's an excellent site. I just need to find the time to start practicing the techniques.

[Rudi]

Yup. Strobist has been around for what seems like forever, and there is plenty of good information there for those who want to master flash photography...

[Rudi]

I should add that Strobist is the reason why I have FOUR hot shoe flashes (and counting :D) as well as gels, extra light stands, super clamps, radio triggers, etc, all to make a light, portable "studio". It's like I woke up one morning and went: "What happened???" :D

[davespix]

Now I thought everyone would know this site, it is my sourse, just wish I thought of some of these ideas. Hehe truly the best site for me anyways. Gets the juices going. And flash's Kevin
But two 800's per softbox makes a pricey portable if you want to defeat harsh daylight.
I am looking at battery packs the good ones hurt also. I can get 800's for 350 cad if you need those let me know unless you get them for the same.

[beaucamera]

Thanks for the post, Jonathan.
Great reference.

Virginia
aka beaucamera

[Rudi]

For off-camera manual flash, all you need are these: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/52799-REG/Sunpak_0383_383_Super_Auto_Flash.html

[davespix]

Ya you could go there Rudi I guess it's how much use you put it through. DBL up those and hope you don't get uneven burst's 4800k to 5600k variances but in Raw that is relevent I guess. The 800's can fire auto for you picking fstops and allot less foot work?
I guess it all depends on amount of use and flexabilities. Placing one up a tree would be hard to vary power if you had to. Mind you ttl or dttl would not be manual and have to be set manual anyways. I do find the 800 with -1ev set on flash can be fired in auto and give the proper steps between key and slaves, and fill. Depends if you want to run with flash meter every ap change, and what your shooting. Say you switch subject front to back from just a flat row facing you you need more dof then you running not only to pose them you reading every flash, in manual that is. It is cheaper for sure. Correct me if I am wrong.

[Rudi]

Dave,

lately I've gone off ETTL for off-camera flash. I can live with the fact that I have to compensate for white/black in the frame, but outside the IR is not always reliable. I find that having flashes set manually, set off with radio triggers, should provide me with exactly what I want. We'll have to see I guess, I just got the EL-Skyports in this morning! (Couldn't make myself spend the money on Pocket Wizards :) ). A lot of these old models are just as good (light quality wise) as the newer, fancy ETTL all-dancing models, you just pay for all the extras with the dedicated flashes. The Sunpak 383 Super and the Vivitar 285HV are workhorses, reliable and consistent, you just have to set a thing or two manually, rather than letting the camera do it for you.

BTW, the Sunpak 383 is a thyristor flash, and will do Auto - just set the aperture and fire away! :D