I just walk around Home Depot trying to find random brackets with holes already drilled into it. I use the ‘Shoe’ or ‘Foot’ that comes with my flashes or Radio Poppers and run a bolt into the thread of the shoe. To tighten things up, I tighten up the wingnut. Using random brackets, it’s pretty easy to mount a ton of flashes to one single Light Stand

Lastolite Limited, the world’s leading manufacturer of backgrounds and lighting control systems for the photo, video and cinema industry, has announced the launch of the new Hotrod Octa Softbox.
The new Hotrod Octa Softbox is for use with battery operated flashguns. The simple assembly means that the flashgun simply slides into a shoe mount attached to the adapter plate. The Octas are available in two different sizes and feature an inner diffusion panel and adapter plate with rods which supports the weight of the softbox.

Main Features and Benefits:
1. Octa box for an alternative catchlight
2. Simple assembly
3. Slide on shoe mount for flashgun

Pricing and Availability:
Available in two sizes – 70cm and 90cm, the Hotrod Octa Softbox is available now at SRP £150 and £168 inc.

For stockist information, please see: http://www.lastolite.com/distributors.php
Email:sales@lastolite.com
Telephone: 01530 832570

About Lastolite:
Lastolite are world leading manufacturers of backgrounds and lighting control equipment for the photographic and video industries.

Established in 1985, the company started out with just a handful of employees and one product, the original ‘pop up’ circular reflector. Today the company employs over 100 people, operates from a 60,000 sq.ft. manufacturing facility and offers a comprehensive range of innovative, award winning products to over 60 countries worldwide.

Photography on the move and innovation are in the company’s heart. Lastolite hold a number of worldwide patents for their products and their ongoing investment into research and development enables them to continue delivering ground breaking products to the market.

In 2009, Lastolite founded the Lastolite School of Photography. Lastolite’s strategy for the School of Photography is to provide FREE OF CHARGE video and written tutorials for photographers on a monthly basis, building an ‘industry leading’ library of tutorials for existing users and photographers looking to buying one of their products.

Speedlight Pro Kit’s latest innovation, a flash-mounted 46cm beauty dish, is being launched in Europe.

Designed for portraiture, the beauty dish consists of two key elements; a large white collar and an inverted silvered cone mounted within.  The dish is fixed to the flash so that its light is bounced back off the cone’s silvered surface onto the white material giving an even and flattering lift to the subject. The opaque central portion of the cone diverts away light from the centre, thus eliminating hotspots and harsh shadows.

The dish is effective in a stand off position yet is also light enough to be handheld very close to the subject to improve the softness of the tone and the light intensity.

Made for professionals and enthusiasts who want to get studio quality lighting effects from flash the dish is designed to be easy to stow and carry.  As with the rest of the Speedlight Pro Kit range, its components fit together with poppers and are strapped to the flash with high quality Velcro strips and rubber grips.  It’s quick to assemble and simple to break down.

Said Speedlight Pro Kit’s Dennis Kok: “We were constantly being asked to produce a beauty dish; something that would lift and flatter the face for portraiture.  We think we’ve come up with one of our best modifiers yet.  The beauty dish delivers studio quality effects while being completely portable for the photographer on the move.”

Said Speedlight Pro Kit’s Joe Chan: “There’s probably nothing the human eye is more sensitive to than the human face, so portraiture is one of the most demanding disciplines in photography. We used a silvered surface to maximise the beauty dish’s light capture, but then by bouncing the light off the white collar it’s rendered subtle and flattering on skin. We think this will become a must-have in every photographer’s kit bag.”

The beauty dish retails at £52.00 via http://www.speedlightprokit.co.uk

I got myself a universal off camera shoe cord at Calumet that should be compatible with ALL the speedlites.

It’s a handy tool for shooting off-camera, and a nice balancing effort while holding a 1ds mk II with a 24/70 in the other hand. ETTL shouldn’t be an issue.

Since I work with both 550ex and 580ex speedlites and I don’t wish to buy several overpriced cables per unit, this seemed a nice choice.I was worried about the communication between the flash and the camera not being from the native facturer but I was told that’s just electronics and ETTL should work as usual  ( I want to use this in events where there is only a small fraction of time to get the shot and no time to go all manual )

So we tested this with Laura and here are some results :

Av Mode – 1/160 sec – f/6.3 – ISO 400 – 24-70 lens @ 43 mm.Ettl + 1.

Shot in AV mode with the ambient light underexposed , using the sun as rimlight.

Flash is set on ETTL +1 and Flash Exposure Lock is performed on her face.Flash held via off shoe cord on camera left.Color filters added in post.

Flash is set to high-speed sync.

ISO 400 – 1/500th sec – F/7.1 – 24-70 lens @ 57 mm.

I’m pretty satisfied for this initial results with the off camera shoe cord.

Soon I’ll be testing an inflatable softbox I found lately :

The new flash gun from Nissin, the Di866 Professional Speedlite, is now available to UK photographers, as first announced by Kenro at Focus on Imaging earlier this year.

The Di866 is available with either a Canon or Nikon fitting. The Canon version is compatible with Canon Digital SLR and Powershot hotshoe cameras using ETTL and ETTL-2 systems, while the Nikon model fits Nikon Digital SLR and Coolpix hotshoe cameras using i-TTL. The unit carries a SRP of £369.95 including VAT.

The Di866 has been specifically designed for use with digital SLR cameras and comes with many ‘world’s first’ features. This new clip-on type flash unit is simple to use and incorporates an easy to read rotating colour display, it can also be fired wirelessly where it can be used as a master or receiver.

With a guide number of 60m (ISO 100 @ 105mm) the Di866 features Nissin’s original ‘My TTL’ user adjustable TTL light output level and is firmware upgradable thanks to an onboard USB port.

The gun also features high speed synchronisation, allowing synchronisation for shutter speeds over 1/250th second and a recycling time of 3.5s which is able to offer up to 150 full-power flashes per set of batteries. Furthermore the Di866 features a fill in sub-flash (12m100 ISO), which is activated while the main flash is bounced and also a built-in wide angle diffuser and catch-light reflector.

“Nissin has been a world-class manufacturer of high quality electronic flash units for over 40 years and this latest addition to their range is a truly impressive piece of kit. A recent reviewer described the Di866 as ‘the most powerful hotshoe flashgun available,’ and I think everyone who uses the flash will agree with that statement.” says Kenro managing director, Paul Kench. “The technological advances contained in the Di866 make it the perfect choice for professional and advanced photographers.”

Kenro is the official UK distributor for the range of Nissin flash guns. See http://www.kenro.co.uk for details of your nearest stockist, or call Kenro on 01793 615836 for more detail.

This snoot making article has one of the best effort to result ratio. You usually use a snoot when you want only a small part of a scenario lighten, while keeping the rest of the scenario light free see the picture at the end of this article.

In this article Leann Wrightsman will show you how to make a “Snoot” for your speedlight flash with easy to find items you may even have around the house!

First, get the stuff you need- Get gaffer’s tape and foam paper. Look in the craft supply area of Hobby Lobby or Michaels to find the foam paper, and if you have friends at the local theater (plays not movies) you can often get a bit of Gaffers tape at no charge.

Then make the first incision and “stitch” – Cut the foam board so the “long” side will fir around your flash; then Place the gaffer’s tape smoothly along the short end of the foam paper.

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Flash photography basics video.

For most of you that own a DSRL, you’ll have a built in flash to help you light your subject. So why, oh why would you even bother spending your hard earned cash on another flash that goes right on top of the one you’re used to using? Isn’t it overkill?

The answer to this is yes…. and no. Yes, if you just slap you new speedlight on your camera and use it like your built in flash. All you’ll get out of it is more power. And even then, if you use it in TTL (auto) mode with close subjects, you might as well sell it on Ebay (or to me ). Ok, so why get a speedlight then? Here are my top 7 reasons for owning them.

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I’ve been receiving more and more emails asking for information about the softbox I use with the speedlites.

Several brands offer this package, I opted for the Chimera set as it was complete and had a larger box than the other brand at the time of purchase.

So, here are some details about what I’m using.

As you can see it is the Chimera PRO II XS softbox that I’m using.

Nice adapter ring is within the package I bought.FIrst time you might need to get the hang of it but after a few shoots you’ll be used to it and able to set the box up in less than 5 minutes.

It has an extra reflective screen for the inside, you can attach it via velcro :

580ex Speedlite flash in softbox, triggered by master 550ex speedlite flash.

continue for set-up and additional photos / speedlite articles.

Canon 1ds mark II camera, 24-70 mm lens.

Speedlite on manual power, 1/2

Shutter speed : 1/100 sec – aperture : f/7 – iso 200

Shooting with speedlites on the beach video

Canon 1ds mark II camera – 24-70 L lens @ 57 mm

1/160 sec shutter speed – f / 5.6 aperture – ISO 200

Shooting photos on the beach with a slave 580ex flash , triggered by master 550ex flash.

ETTL + 1 1/3 – Flash Exposure Lock on face area.Ambient light is underexposed.

continue for video and outtakes.

Download video

Photos with the speedlites and the softbox :

click continue for more photos and flash set-up images.

Flash is set on ETTL , compensated between 1/3 and 2/3, ambient is underexposed by one stop on the portrait below the set-up shots :

It’s easier with a studio strobe, but the speedlites should not be underestimated, nor their mobile functions.

Using the 70-200mm 2.8 Is L lens for a nice background blur :

exif photo 1 : 1ds II camera – 1/250 sec – f/4 – AV mode – ISO 200 – 73 mm with 70-200 mm 2.8 L IS lens

exif photo 2 : 1ds II camera – 1/250 sec – f/4 – AV mode – ISO 200 – 153 mm with 70-200 mm 2.8 L IS lens

added photo :

previously : ‘speedlite with softbox’

previously : ‘speedlite with silver umbrella’

Shooting with speedlites on the beach video

On-camera single light.

Wired Off-camera single light.

Wireless Off-camera single light.

Hotshoe FILL + Wireless KEY light.

Wired FILL + Wireless KEY light.

Hotshoe FILL + Wireless KEY light + Wireless BACKGROUND light.

Wireless KEY light + Wireless FILL light.

Wireless KEY light + Wireless FILL light + Wireless BACKGROUND light.

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