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Anonymous Thu 14 Dec 2023 18:07:51 No.4264954 View View Reply Original Report

I'm a flash/lighting noob in that I've never used it - and now I want a fill light to brighten up one's face when doing portrait photography backlit. The context is travel, so I'm hoping for a small setup that could be done without tripods

- Can I front light a model with just a hand held remote flash? Or do I need 2+ lights to pull it off well?
- Gear recommendations? For fuji x-t2
- Are pic related worth anything? I tend to shoot indoors so it would be good to be able to match sunlight and incandescent

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 14 Dec 2023 18:37:38 No.4264957 Report

Quoted By:

>>4264954
I use pic related as a macro light.
I think they are great value if you work with close subjects.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 15 Dec 2023 16:38:09 No.4265119 Report

Quoted By:

Make sure you have a plan to power whatever unit you get, some of them look like they have USB C, but actually aren't PD compliant and can't charge from common sources.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 Dec 2023 12:38:31 No.4265655 Report

Quoted By: >>4265657

Get a cheap Godox, a remote trigger and some gels if you want to match colour temps. TT600 if you dont need ETTL (only really useful for shooting events with the flash on the camera or if you dont have time to fiddle with the flash power) or get the TT685II if you think you might need it.
Those small LED panels might work ok if the ambient light is relatively dim, but they aren't powerful enough if its bright. Nice for colourful accents and just playing around a bit I guess, but with an actual flash you're guaranteed to not be limited by your equipment. If you're lugging around a backpack with the rest of your gear anyway I dont think the flash would be much of an additional hassle traveling.
Also read through strobist 101 to learn flash basics, if you decide to get one

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 Dec 2023 12:40:36 No.4265657 Report

Quoted By: >>4265660

>>4265655
They're supposed to be fill lights, not the main source

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 Dec 2023 13:20:32 No.4265660 Report

Quoted By:

>>4265657
They're not gonna be powerfull enough to cover every situation you might want to use them in, especially outside

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 Dec 2023 22:31:54 No.4265795 Report

Quoted By: >>4265796

>>4264954

I have 3 of the smaller led lights in your pic op and one bigger one.

They won’t work outdoors or beside a window on a sunny day as they don’t put out enough light.

A speed light on your camera puts out so much more light and will work in any situation.

In my experience a reflector or flash gets a nicer result. Those tiny lights don’t put out much light, they will only hit a small area unless you are working in a really dark space.

Look up the pixel k80. It’s prob the smallest size light you should go, even then it’s prob too small.

You want to mimic at least how much light a white wall would naturally reflect back on a scene. The tiny led lights can’t do that. You need to at least go to a bigger size.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 Dec 2023 22:34:56 No.4265796 Report

Quoted By: >>4271007

>>4265795

And for travel you should go with a speed light. Anything else will need a stand.
Also read up how to do bounce flash with your speed light.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 07 Jan 2024 09:54:51 No.4271007 Report

Quoted By: >>4271018

>>4265796
(Not the same guy you were talking to, just similarly interested)

Is there a recommended resource for how to bounce flash? I'm trying to nail down a lighting setup for doing portraits in my basement. I've got a 400W umbrella flash and two LED fill lights - not sure how to arrange those to get started.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 07 Jan 2024 10:58:31 No.4271018 Report

Quoted By: >>4271022

>>4271007

You would typically bounce off a white wall if you don’t have the umbrella available.

I’m not sure if there’s a recommended resource, but there are heaps of YouTube videos about speedlight/flashgun basics. Remember that because the light is travelling further you need to boost the flash power. Also make sure the bounce surface is actually white, because the colour of the paint can affect the white balance of the shot.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 07 Jan 2024 11:39:38 No.4271022 Report

Quoted By: >>4271023 >>4271242

>>4271018
Would a bedsheet work in a pinch? It's an unfinished room so I could easily staple it to the ceiling and bounce off there, or hang it off frame so I could bounce off it - or does it need to be harder like paper?

My strobe has picrel on it. It seems my lighting is still a bit hard, so not sure if the diffuser sheet is just bad, or if I'm too strong on the flash.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Screenshot_20240107-044235.png, 659KiB, 1079x988

Anonymous Sun 07 Jan 2024 11:43:55 No.4271023 Report

Quoted By: >>4271031 >>4271243

>>4271022
Forgot pic. Not sure if this is equivalent to using the white umbrellas like you'd see in the strobist lighting 101, but it's what I got

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 07 Jan 2024 12:09:53 No.4271031 Report

Quoted By: >>4271058

>>4271023
A softbox like yours should produce comparable light quality to an umbrella, with the added benefit of having more control over where light spills.
If the light is too hard for your taste get it closer to your subject (while reducing power accordingly of course).
The bigger the light source appears to your subject the softer the light on the subject is going to be in the photo

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 07 Jan 2024 13:44:21 No.4271058 Report

Quoted By: >>4271083

>>4271031
>The bigger the light source appears to your subject the softer the light on the subject is going to be in the photo

Thanks for being one of the few people on this website that aren't total shitheads and teaching me something. Intuitively it seems backwards, so I never woulda figured that out.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 2.3nd-diagram.png, 125KiB, 1500x1167

Anonymous Sun 07 Jan 2024 15:25:54 No.4271083 Report

Quoted By:

>>4271058
Yeah this was quite unintuitive to me as well in the beginning but it becomes super obvious if you consider what is actually happening with the light, pic related

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 08 Jan 2024 06:36:14 No.4271242 Report

Quoted By:

>>4271022

Bedsheet works, as long as it’s neutral white and opaque. It will give you a big area to bounce off, providing an even softer light source than the octobox/umbrella

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 08 Jan 2024 06:37:57 No.4271243 Report

Quoted By:

>>4271023
I consider these superior to umbrellas because there is less light spill. Downside is they can be hard to transport.

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