which would be best for my use? external flashes or Studio?

[Mr_Alpha_2011]

i currently own 2 flashes that work wireless a minolta and a sony, and since what i like to take pictures isnt a pro-like way, i always take short cuts of easy way more like simple portraits, sometimes i use a white foam board to reflect light or both flashes at a certain power and such, not to mention that i saw some DIY umbrella for flashes and some softboxes, also the use of natural light.

so my question is, will that be fine for me?

i would like to know the pros and cons as well if there is any that would be most helpful!

[David Kilpatrick]

In Britain, interior decoration can be very dark and unpredictable - studio flash with its modelling lights helps overcome problems with judging and controlling light. I would guess that many Saudi interiors are fairly light and that shutters allow control of window light, but that in some situations you would hardly see the effct of the modelling light even at full power. Even here, to do perfect work with my studio flash I must close the solid wooden shutters of the studio room; only with real darkness can I preview the result. Test shots are the answer when I can not get rid of ambient light.

It's a bit easier to work with wireless off-camera flash in very light interiors because you have many natural bounce relfectors and also plenty of general bounce to reduce unwanted contrast. The main benefit of the studio flash would be more power, for groups or large subjects, and more control - along with far greater 'stamina', work all day and no worry about batteries. Also, camera flash tends to be at maximum power with umbrellas etc, so you end up waiting 10 seconds for recycling. Studio flash takes less than 1 second normally which allows expressions to be captured and not lost.

David

[Mr_Alpha_2011]

Thanks David for your reply!

and yes most of the houses here including ours is light interior, plus shiny (works well to soft & reflect light)
some houses use beige. so basically i can get in a room that have all 4 walls bright white floor is made of beige marble, ceiling is normal tiles which they don't bounce good.

i did before some tests in my apartment which have dark porcelain (brown) colored walls and the results were not interesting most of the pictures looks dim or somewhat dark background, but in my parents house its a different story the flash bounce very good, i guess i will give it a shot and do more tests to see the results this week!


something else came into my mind just now...what about continues light source? like fluorescent light, or even strong LED light, i can get a strong one here too bright that it can reach over 2 kilo meters (i think im trying to blind people by hitting them with too strong lights )

[David Kilpatrick]

Video lights - 126 LED or similar - are very useful. Also, if you get two video lights, you can get a twin bracket to mount a video light next to your flash. This makes the combination a bit like studio flash, with a modelling light to help judge the effect. Jessop and Lastolite (UK) make twin brackets. Lastolite has a triple bracket, you can hold two flash guns and one modelling light, with an umbrella socket.

David

[Mr_Alpha_2011]

Thanks alot for the great info! i will try to do some stuff later and see how it goes!

Regards,

[Dr. Harout]

Do post from your tests.

[David Kilpatrick]

I would like to show you two pictures by our son, Richard. He has been VERY unsure of his abilities because he interviews top professionals all the time, and sees nothing but pro work. This year I made sure he was went on Photo Training Overseas, to Egypt, for a full week, because I know he just needs to be exposed to working methods. After returning, here are two of his latest shots (himself and his girlfriend, with iPad software for music, and with instruments).

This is what you can do with studio flash - total control. Time exposure for the iPad screen in a blacked out studio, flash exposure with huge depth of field and loads of power to wipe the background out to pure white. Lots of pp. Not Sony, probably Nikon, he uses D3S and also Phase One medium format but he has no wide angle for that yet:

[Mr_Alpha_2011]

really nice samples, nothing less expected from studio power~
thanks for the info that gave me more understanding!

[Birma]

Cool pictures Davd (... and the iPad is an amazing piece of kit!) .