Right before we left for the Florida trip, I picked a Canon 580 EX II flash - not an inexpensive "little puppy." I had been a fan of the 580 EX, but some of the new features of the 580EX II really intrigued me - like a real sync cable connection. I particularly liked how I could set the 580EX II's custom functions with the 40D camera too - very cool!
That's the background - here how I did it. Look at the set up again - here is the link right here. That's the 580EX II attached to the stand with the umbrella. I picked up a little shoe mount which holds the flash and attaches nicely with my adapter to the light stand. Check out the close up of the assembly.
That's the background - here how I did it. Look at the set up again - here is the link right here. That's the 580EX II attached to the stand with the umbrella. I picked up a little shoe mount which holds the flash and attaches nicely with my adapter to the light stand. Check out the close up of the assembly.
Before I attached the flash to the stand, I set up some flash custom functions via the 40D. This is easily done by scrolling to "Flash Control" -> "External flash C.Fn. setting -> "3.External Metering: Manual" - see Diagrams. 
Next, disable the auto "Power Off" function C.Fn. 1 - here is the screen grab. 
Now you are almost good to go. Next I switched off the 580EX II and removed it from the 40D. I then attach it to the bracket assembly, and attach the radio receiver with Velcro to the top of the 580 flash - I prefer the Quantum FreeWire system. The next step is to drop the wide angle diffuser over the flash to spread the light path even wider for a nice broad light through the umbrella. Look at the next diagram and you can see how the light is spread out evenly across the umbrella with that little diffuser. 
I planned to shoot at ISO 400, so after testing, I settled on 1/4 power manual on the 590EX II flash. The back light was supplied by my Quantum T5d flash also triggered by the FreeWire radio. I just adjusted it to an output that just illuminated the background slightly - 1/64th power. For a higher key effect, I "goosed" the power to 1/32 or 1/16th power. That was about it.
The setup was easy lightweight, portable, fast, and reliable. This is getting a bit lengthy, so I'll get to a Part II with examples in the near future. But you have the mechanics to get you started.
I planned to shoot at ISO 400, so after testing, I settled on 1/4 power manual on the 590EX II flash. The back light was supplied by my Quantum T5d flash also triggered by the FreeWire radio. I just adjusted it to an output that just illuminated the background slightly - 1/64th power. For a higher key effect, I "goosed" the power to 1/32 or 1/16th power. That was about it.The setup was easy lightweight, portable, fast, and reliable. This is getting a bit lengthy, so I'll get to a Part II with examples in the near future. But you have the mechanics to get you started.
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3 comments:
That new Canon is very cool, but pricey, I'm still holding myself from buying one. I'm using 2 Vivitars and 1 Canon 430 I found laying around. I've tested all the units and the Vivitars put out 1 whole stop higher than the Canon 430,one cool thing though the 430 can be set to 1/64 of power in manual while the Vivitars go down to 1/16...
Just on a quick note, I really like the shoot thru effect you get with the umbrella but some reason when I try it in weddings I get some flare with my 17-40 F4.0
Any suggestions ?
Ziser Ziser Ziser, Scott Kelby led me to you, and I am so thankful. Love the demo here, Scott was right! You really are stuffing money into our pockets! Muchas Gracias for sharing.
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