What lighting setup to get in UK for my gear, please?

[TheDrift-]

So, did some testing and its all nice and cool, except one thing.

I get the bottom black stripes. I had shutter speed at 1/250 which I later found out that D750 can only do 1/200 so I lowered my shutter speed and was shooting some more but later I got another stripe (not sure if i changed anything)

The picture in question has these values:

1/200 F9 ISO100 85mm

I think flash was set to 1/16 or 1/8 (not sure) and the lens on flash was set to 85mm too

What am I missing, please?

Try slowing the shutter speed down more...sometime it seems there can be a delay when using some 3rd party triggers going to 140/160 usually makes it go away

 

[Freida]

Try slowing the shutter speed down more...sometime it seems there can be a delay when using some 3rd party triggers going to 140/160 usually makes it go away

Oh ok, thank you.

I just wasn't sure if I'm missing something or doing something totally wrong ))

 

[Foogoofish]

Oh ok, thank you.

I just wasn't sure if I'm missing something or doing something totally wrong ))

Yeah that sounds about right. I usually shoot around 1/125 hand held, or down to 1/80 on the tripod for headshots. Also, going up to ISO 400 will probably still be un-noticable in terms of noise with your camera!

 

[Freida]

Yeah that sounds about right. I usually shoot around 1/125 hand held, or down to 1/80 on the tripod for headshots. Also, going up to ISO 400 will probably still be un-noticable in terms of noise with your camera!

I'm affraid to go up with the ISO as it gives me more light (although I could technically go less on the flash )
Also, I think 1/160 would be good spot as I prefer fast shutter (incase my hands are not stable enough) as had bad experience with my 50mm lens so now im over paranoid. (even though the new lens is just amazing and I'm able to have nice and sharp images all the time. Still impressed with the details I get - best purchase ever)

Now I'm also thinking about the ring light. )))

 

[Foogoofish]

Now I'm also thinking about the ring light. )))

Personally, I'm not a fan of ring lights, but I know some people love them. I feel like the catchlights in the eyes for headshots are just a bit strange! Black and white is absolutely not my photograph... The colour one is.

What do you think of the catchlights?

 

[Freida]

Personally, I'm not a fan of ring lights, but I know some people love them. I feel like the catchlights in the eyes for headshots are just a bit strange! Black and white is absolutely not my photograph... The colour one is.

What do you think of the catchlights?

I prefer the colour one also. The black & white is too much for me.

 

[Padaung]

Okay, I've tried so many pieces of kit to solve this exact same problem over the years. This is what I work with now.

Godox AD200 (I actually have two of them). Note:in the UK the Godox equipment is officially sold and rebranded as PixaPro and sold with full support and warranty by a company called EssentialPhoto in Birmingham. You can also buy the same equipment with Godox branding from Amazon UK. The equipment is all the same, just the paintwork on the plastic varies
Godox trigger and receiver to control my Nikon SB-800 speedlight and the AD200 (I actually have 3 SB-800s and with the Godox trigger/receiver combo you have full wireless control of the power output of the AD200 and the SB-800s from the camera, which is awesome and really useful and a massive time saver)
Manfrotto nano light stands
Magmod gels, grids and modifiers

I'm still searching for the 'perfect' portable light modifier for soft portrait lighting. I've used all sorts of portable softboxes (Phot-R) and umbrellas, and none has been ideal but this Kickstarter project looks promising.


For reference, I've tried FlashBenders (I still use this sometimes), theGary Fong lightsphere (utter junk), PocketWizard triggers/receivers, Cactus triggers/receivers, and all sorts of ways to attach gels. The above is the best solution I've yet to find. But once you add it all up, it's not cheap. I've added the bits over time and photography is my full time job so I can justify it.

Anyway, I hope some of the above helps

Good luck!

 

[Freida]

Okay, I've tried so many pieces of kit to solve this exact same problem over the years. This is what I work with now.

Godox AD200 (I actually have two of them). Note:in the UK the Godox equipment is officially sold and rebranded as PixaPro and sold with full support and warranty by a company called EssentialPhoto in Birmingham. You can also buy the same equipment with Godox branding from Amazon UK. The equipment is all the same, just the paintwork on the plastic varies
Godox trigger and receiver to control my Nikon SB-800 speedlight and the AD200 (I actually have 3 SB-800s and with the Godox trigger/receiver combo you have full wireless control of the power output of the AD200 and the SB-800s from the camera, which is awesome and really useful and a massive time saver)
Manfrotto nano light stands
Magmod gels, grids and modifiers

I'm still searching for the 'perfect' portable light modifier for soft portrait lighting. I've used all sorts of portable softboxes (Phot-R) and umbrellas, and none has been ideal but this Kickstarter project looks promising.


For reference, I've tried FlashBenders (I still use this sometimes), theGary Fong lightsphere (utter junk), PocketWizard triggers/receivers, Cactus triggers/receivers, and all sorts of ways to attach gels. The above is the best solution I've yet to find. But once you add it all up, it's not cheap. I've added the bits over time and photography is my full time job so I can justify it.

Anyway, I hope some of the above helps

Good luck!

Thank you, I think for now I will stick to the setup I have and maybe eventually will improve it once I know what works and what doesn't work for me. I'm actually pleased that I got all that for £50 I think its perfect deal
Now I need to make some pictures before I purchase more

 

[Stefan johansson]

A good Nikon remote flash or two,and umbrella style reflectors is a good start. Of course you will need more than one tripod (needs one or two lightweight tripods for the flash setup).

 

[Freida]

A good Nikon remote flash or two,and umbrella style reflectors is a good start. Of course you will need more than one tripod (needs one or two lightweight tripods for the flash setup).

Yeah, I got 2 stands and i have proper tripod for the camera
So that part is covered I think

 

[Apple fanboy]

Yeah, I got 2 stands and i have proper tripod for the camera
So that part is covered I think

Looking forward to seeing the results.

 

[Freida]

Looking forward to seeing the results.

Thank you! I think for now I will try to do the Rembrandt style portraits as I believe it will be the best start and once I'm happy I'll experiment with more styles. For now, that will do

 

[TheDrift-]

I'm still searching for the 'perfect' portable light modifier for soft portrait lighting. I've used all sorts of portable softboxes (Phot-R) and umbrellas, and none has been ideal but this Kickstarter project looks promising.

That kick starter project looks an awful lot like an fstoppers flash disc

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_...true&tag=fstoppers-20&linkId=6BKNSE2FPP5ZKDQ6

 

[Freida]

Super first and super rough test. I guess one has to start somewhere

Not really retouched as it wasn't a proper shot but more like a test the flash shot. Anyway, I can see that this light photography will be tons of fun

 

[Padaung]

That kick starter project looks an awful lot like an fstoppers flash disc

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_...true&tag=fstoppers-20&linkId=6BKNSE2FPP5ZKDQ6

Yup, they are really similar ideas. AFAIK the Kickstarter disc is about twice the radius of the fstoppers disc.

And as it happens, I first heard about the Kickstarter project via fstoppers
https://fstoppers.com/lighting/sund...ket-sized-light-modifier-photographers-180601