Newbie Question - Off-Camera Flash Needs

[ddt0725]

You might want to check out my [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/budrowilson/]flickr photostream[/url]. It's full of strobist style shots. They aren't necessarily the best examples, but you'll certainly get a sense of what you can do with some off-camera flash equipment.
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I checked out your photos from the link provided and to say your work is awesome is such an understatement! Your work is fantastic and the portraits are exactly what I would love to capture of my daughter and grandbaby!


Denise

[ddt0725]

I have recently purchased the Yongnuo RF602 Transmitter and 2 receivers and so far they're great. It cost me roughly $60 Australian for the lot so it's nowhere near as expensive as the PW's. There may be some other advantages to the Pocketwizards that I'm not aware of but for a simple setup like mine the Yongnuo gear works perfectly.

Thanks, Ben! I will check those out! They are definitely more in my price range that's for sure!!


Denise

[Sheiky]

So, on one tripod is a body and macro. On the other is a plamp (something of an articulated arm with clamps on either end) with a grass stem and insect. You could try this in summer; it's lots of fun


brendan

Sorry Brendan but I don't really get the clamp idea. This sort of shot isn't really "wildlife" or "nature" in my opinion (unless the butterfly is more stupid than I imagined). Is the butterfly really going to sit on your single piece of grass? You must have a really big blatter and a lot of patience to wait for this moment....[:P]


To be honest I could make almost the same photo without any of those tripods. Just with a macro lens and a 430 flash, walking in pure nature and shooting at what I can get to. Maybe they are technically not so good and yes I did use a flash so there might be some shadows, but I really think it's a lot more fun. Just by walking around (works really relaxing) I shot this...something similar...





A macroflash might be handy, but a normal one would do fine as well most of the time. Well at least that's what I have discovered last summer. Don't know if I agree with that statement after this summer [:P]





I would put your money into a good tripod though, not specially for macro but for general purposes as well and yes if you really like strobism and the weather simply sucks thats a good thing to invest in.

[Brendan7]

Sorry Brendan but I don't really get the clamp idea. This sort of shot isn't really "wildlife" or "nature" in my opinion (unless the butterfly is more stupid than I imagined). Is the butterfly really going to sit on your single piece of grass? You must have a really big blatter and a lot of patience to wait for this moment....[img]/emoticons/emotion-4.gif[/img]

That's not my photo! I actually don't have a 180mm macro or two tripods. That's from juzaphoto.com.


The purpose of the plamp is to hold macro subjects (whatever they may be) in place. The butterfly was taken in very early morning. At this time their wings are still drying out and they are very tame. For Juza it must have been extremely easy. It's actually a pretty versatile contraption.


Nice shot BTW. [H]


brendan

[Chuck Lee]

After reading various online sites, the more confused I got on exactly what I need for off-camera flash.

Then go to www.strobist.com. Look to the right and follow the 101 Lighting links.


Don't go throwing alot of money at pocket wizards unless you have unlimited deep pockets.


Seans guides are priceless!!


So, emulate his passion. be studious, spend wisely, be artistic, and take critisicm.


Have Fun!!

[Sheiky]

Thanks Brendan []


Well yes I guess a lot of macro work is done like that and also with freezing the little fellows, but that's totally against my style. I guess this is still very innocent though, but man...I really couldn't be proud on such a picture. I can only imagine my relatives asking me: how did you manage to take such a beautifull picture? And then have to say: I clamped it on a tripod in the backyard while it couldn't move yet, how cool is that huh?[:P]


I've also seen a photgrapher shooting at a bird of preyshow (next to me), erase the leather bands on their claws with photoshop and claiming they shot those in the wild....really, there are some pathetic people in the world [:P] (the person in the example was a serious professional payed naturephotographer [8o|])





For Denise,


you should just keep it simple. Try out a lot of things. I started out with a 450D kit myself and kept evolving. Same with wireless triggers. I recently bought the cheapest there are, just to try out. If I was really enthusiastic, I could always buy more expensive stuff.


Point is: keep it simple untill you really know what you want and then try to get the most out of it. (maybe by buying everything there possibly is [:P])


My advice: Don't buy your first strobists or macro sets of a 1000 dollars until you know exactly what you want. Else you might look back after a while at an expensive gear-package you never used properly.


....just have fun!

[Brendan7]

Thanks Brendan [img]/emoticons/emotion-1.gif[/img]


Well yes I guess a lot of macro work is done like that and also with freezing the little fellows, but that's totally against my style. I guess this is still very innocent though, but man...I really couldn't be proud on such a picture. I can only imagine my relatives asking me: how did you manage to take such a beautifull picture? And then have to say: I clamped it on a tripod in the backyard while it couldn't move yet, how cool is that huh?[img]/emoticons/emotion-4.gif[/img]


I've also seen a photgrapher shooting at a bird of preyshow (next to me), erase the leather bands on their claws with photoshop and claiming they shot those in the wild....really, there are some pathetic people in the world [img]/emoticons/emotion-4.gif[/img] (the person in the example was a serious professional payed naturephotographer [img]/emoticons/emotion-39.gif[/img])

I have seen that happen before. Good point.

For Denise,


you should just keep it simple. Try out a lot of things. I started out with a 450D kit myself and kept evolving. Same with wireless triggers. I recently bought the cheapest there are, just to try out. If I was really enthusiastic, I could always buy more expensive stuff.


Point is: keep it simple untill you really know what you want and then try to get the most out of it. (maybe by buying everything there possibly is [img]/emoticons/emotion-4.gif[/img])


My advice: Don't buy your first strobists or macro sets of a 1000 dollars until you know exactly what you want. Else you might look back after a while at an expensive gear-package you never used properly.


....just have fun!

Agree again.





brendan