OK finally did it

[LensBaby]

I finally broke down, and bought the pocket wizard plus II's. My flash meter works with those (wireless) BUT the best part is because I am in school, I got a student discount !!!!! I had to fax over some info, but hey it was worth the discount to me. I am loving my flash meter...it works great!

[dkippen]

So - are you going to post some shots taken with this?

[LensBaby]

yes I will once I get everything the way that I want it. I added a new Alien Bee light as well, so now I have to redo my setup to get it where I want it. I am still learning, and have not got to the lighting class yet.

[jerryph]

PWs are very nice and rock solid... I just find them overpriced for what they do. David Hobby from the Strobist group often says "you may start out with other triggers, but eventually, you WILL end up with PWs..." For many people he may be right, I am just pretty sure (after 3-4 months of studying all the options out there), that they are not right for me.

I *do* know you will love them, Sue. :)

As far as getting your setup where you want it, with 1 light, you have about 10 nice variations. With 2 lights that goes to about 25 variations. Add a 3rd light and that goes up to about 50 variations in lighting scenarios! :D

I'm slowly documenting my setups and variations so that in the future, I can go from one scenario to the other and have a good idea of what the settings will be to get me close, and what the results will be. So far, I am only comfortable enough to be able to do this with 5 variations. Still its nice to know that I can take 3 stands, 3 umbrellas and 3 strobes to anyone's home and be able to give them consistantly repeatable known good results in minutes.

Sue, try this for a VERY basic 2-light setup thats easy setup and perfect for head/shoulder portraits. It's called the Clamshell:

This is where both umbrellas are used SHOOT-THROUGH, not bounce.
One umbrella as low as your stand permits, angle it about 30 degrees up.
The 2nd one is right above it about 5-6 feet high, pointed 35-45 degrees down and placed IN BACK of the lower umbrella, the stands so close that they are almost touching (the feet of the stands will touch).
The light ratio is 2:1, meaning the top umbrella (keylight), is 1 stop brighter than the bottom one (fill light).

You stand with the left arm wrapped around the lightstands and shoot BETWEEN the top and bottom umbrellas (the clamshell... lol). The subject is usually at the perfect height sitting in a standard chair thats angled about 10-30 degrees to one side or the other, and looks straight on at you.

On my strobes, I have the top one set to 1/4th, and the bottom one set to 1/8th power levels. With the subject's foot aout 3 feet away from the umbrellas, I can use ISO 200, F/8, 1/250th and get PERFECT exposures all day long. Becuase my strobes are set so low, I can average out 700-800 shots per strobe battery set before they need changing.

As far as "creative" looks, this setup is a little bland, but its a 100% sure way to get that "beauty dish" look without needing to invest in a $300 piece of equipment (current cost of a ring light or beauty dish). When done right, there are ZERO shadows. This is excellent for either people that have "perfect skin" or more so, for people that are "well aged" as the 2 lights so fill the wrinkled areas that the wrinkles disappear a lot and they look 20 years younger... lol.

[LensBaby]

Thanks for the info. The pocket wizards have to be better than the piece of crap that I have was using ( RFT1TX) They were junk! They misfired constantly, and the battery life is almost NOTHING. I didn't care about the battery life, but the misfire was constant. Those were discontinued by Paul C. Buff, and he came out with something in place of them. The RFT1TX were made in China, and they did something when they manufactured them. He designed his own, but I really didn't want to buy them, plus I wanted something that worked with my flash meter. I really cannot stand using the sync cord. It really makes me furious! lol Not to mention so many people have tripped out on, and I only used it a couple of times. This is what I have for lighting - the Alien Bee 400's were a gift, so I did not choose those or pick those out. Alien Bee has a forum, and they have all of the setups on there, BUT I have never used his. I have to take a lighting class at school, further on down the road. You should see the equipment that I have to purchase for that class. (or rent) I found renting is almost as much as buying them!!!

1 Alien Bee 800

2 Alien Bee 400

1 large soft box (32" x 40")

48-inch Translucent White "Shoot-Thru" Umbrella

1 48-inch Silver/White Umbrella

I will try what you posted ! I was looking at a beauty dish and wondered why it was so expensive. ????

[jerryph]

Excessories are always WAY overpriced in my humble opinion. Not only that, but the manufacturers build their setups in such a proprietary way that near forces the people to buy only from them. They then can basically charge what they want, and give you things like a 3 digit beauty dish that can easil be recreated with 2 umbrellas and a little imagination.

I hate that mentality, and very much enjoy the strobist mentality of "more brains, less money for better light" and sometimes that means not being afraid to look into the DIY area.

My next project is going to likely be a softbox that should in the end cost me less than $50 to build, and light as well as the $300 ones. If I want to make it look as good as a commercial unit, add another $20 for fluff. :)

[LensBaby]

I figure it this way...if I paid as much as I have for equipment already, I might as well spend a little more and get something that I really want. My husband make me a soft box, and a backdrop stand. I hated them. Not to be mean, but I hated using them every second. The only thing that was nice is that he made them for me. The ONLY reason why I went with the PW's are because my flash meter works with them, and I must say I am enjoying them! They work great.