SiHing
February 1st, 2009, 07:20 AM
Hi!
I finally had the time to shoot one of my typical lighting layouts:
http://www.pbase.com/image/108745889/original.jpg
It is not 100% correct though, since I replaced one of my SB-800s (with another Lumiquest softbox like the SB-800 one on the right hand side has) with a Sigma flashgun without any difusion aid (in order not to block the view completely. The Sigma flashes I use can be triggered optically as well, and I use them instead of SB-800s as I see fit.
On top of that, I had to add additional spacing (done by adding the Tokina ATX 90/2.5's macro coupler here) near the camera-end to make tripod mounting for this photo possible - the whole thing is mounted (using the camera mount) on a borrowed tripod/geared head/focussing rail combo for the above shot - normally there would be a Nikon pistol grip underneath the flash bracket to make handholding/stabilisation easier; the whole thing is normally shot handheld. This layout is just one I've been playing with the other day, as it is tailored around the 19mm f/2.8 Macro Nikkor.
Other setups (for my Sigma 180mm macro lens for example) would include a Sigma EM-140 macroflash on the lens (instead of the SB-27 that is mounted in the above shot) and typically one flash hanging from it's tripod mount via a small ballhead (like one of those the flash guns in the above photo are mounted on).
Sometimes I still use the flash bracket depicted above from the lens mount, or one straight bracket from underneath the camera body to go with a lens-coupled flashgun and the EM-140 as well. When shooting without the EM-140, I sometimes "reverse-mount" one of the front flashes on the bracket shown above, so that it sits below the lens.
As for softening light, I normally use Lumiquest softboxes, which I have found to do a pretty nice job. With the setup above, I'd typically snap a softbox on the second "front" flash as well and use the camera flash for lighting the background. That way I can have even light from corner to corner without having to worry about flash power, as well as light for the background (as wanted). Instead of the on-camera flash, I often use a SU-800 commander for the two front flashes alone as well - I use the EM-140 whenever possible though.
The whole setup isn't really lightweight and small, but it suits me pretty well, since my fine-motorics are anything but refined ;) and I need large and durable equipment to feel comfortable with - thanks to the brackets being very sturdy, the flashes are held securely in place so I don't have to worry about that either. By using one of my "beloved" Nikon Pistol grips (which didn't make it on the photo thanks to the focussing rail - a picture of one of them can be seen here though: http://www.pbase.com/magma_photography/image/103833835 ), handholding a setup like this is not much of a problem for me.
When shooting with a flash directely mounted on a lens foot I normally rotate the mount so that I can rest the lens steadily in the palm of my hand - I prefer using brackets and the pistol grip though (I trigger the shutter via the grip in the setup linked above as well).
Pretty much all of the shots I've posted here so far were done with one of the lighting setups described above (my distinct tendency towards hard-light shots is pursued by dedicated post-processing of soft-light shots in a lot of cases; that way I have more control over the look I want to go for in the end, and if I should ever come to prefer soft light, I always have the original shots to use :D.
Regards
Alex
I finally had the time to shoot one of my typical lighting layouts:
http://www.pbase.com/image/108745889/original.jpg
It is not 100% correct though, since I replaced one of my SB-800s (with another Lumiquest softbox like the SB-800 one on the right hand side has) with a Sigma flashgun without any difusion aid (in order not to block the view completely. The Sigma flashes I use can be triggered optically as well, and I use them instead of SB-800s as I see fit.
On top of that, I had to add additional spacing (done by adding the Tokina ATX 90/2.5's macro coupler here) near the camera-end to make tripod mounting for this photo possible - the whole thing is mounted (using the camera mount) on a borrowed tripod/geared head/focussing rail combo for the above shot - normally there would be a Nikon pistol grip underneath the flash bracket to make handholding/stabilisation easier; the whole thing is normally shot handheld. This layout is just one I've been playing with the other day, as it is tailored around the 19mm f/2.8 Macro Nikkor.
Other setups (for my Sigma 180mm macro lens for example) would include a Sigma EM-140 macroflash on the lens (instead of the SB-27 that is mounted in the above shot) and typically one flash hanging from it's tripod mount via a small ballhead (like one of those the flash guns in the above photo are mounted on).
Sometimes I still use the flash bracket depicted above from the lens mount, or one straight bracket from underneath the camera body to go with a lens-coupled flashgun and the EM-140 as well. When shooting without the EM-140, I sometimes "reverse-mount" one of the front flashes on the bracket shown above, so that it sits below the lens.
As for softening light, I normally use Lumiquest softboxes, which I have found to do a pretty nice job. With the setup above, I'd typically snap a softbox on the second "front" flash as well and use the camera flash for lighting the background. That way I can have even light from corner to corner without having to worry about flash power, as well as light for the background (as wanted). Instead of the on-camera flash, I often use a SU-800 commander for the two front flashes alone as well - I use the EM-140 whenever possible though.
The whole setup isn't really lightweight and small, but it suits me pretty well, since my fine-motorics are anything but refined ;) and I need large and durable equipment to feel comfortable with - thanks to the brackets being very sturdy, the flashes are held securely in place so I don't have to worry about that either. By using one of my "beloved" Nikon Pistol grips (which didn't make it on the photo thanks to the focussing rail - a picture of one of them can be seen here though: http://www.pbase.com/magma_photography/image/103833835 ), handholding a setup like this is not much of a problem for me.
When shooting with a flash directely mounted on a lens foot I normally rotate the mount so that I can rest the lens steadily in the palm of my hand - I prefer using brackets and the pistol grip though (I trigger the shutter via the grip in the setup linked above as well).
Pretty much all of the shots I've posted here so far were done with one of the lighting setups described above (my distinct tendency towards hard-light shots is pursued by dedicated post-processing of soft-light shots in a lot of cases; that way I have more control over the look I want to go for in the end, and if I should ever come to prefer soft light, I always have the original shots to use :D.
Regards
Alex