Photography kit sanity check

AshD93

AshD93

AshD93

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Joined
21 Oct 2009
Posts
1,613
Hi all,

Need some advice regarding the flash set up I use. As a bit of background, I am a amateur photographer who mainly takes photos for a hobby, primarily doing photoshoots or "natural" photos at family events etc. I tend to shy away from actually being the main photographer at any event.

However this week I may be photographing for someone at a pre-wedding ceremony. I should stress the only reason I offered was because they were going to use someone with a 70d and a kit lens (and thats it, no flashes, no extra kit, nothing hence why I'm the better choice)

My current kit includes:

700d w/ Kit Lens (18-55 f/3.5 - f/5), 40mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.8
2 x Yongnuo 565 EX flashes
2 x 622c flash transceivers plus the 622c-tx controller for them
Various cheap tripods, flash umbrellas, backdrops etc

I wanted to introduce a HSS flash into my lineup so that when I walk about with the camera, I could take photos above 1/200 (i.e. outdoors to light up faces as fill flash). This is where my dilema comes in. I'm looking at the 568 and the 600rt by Yongnuo.

Both flashes are HSS however as I'm sure you'll know, one is Radio Triggered and one will require a wireless trigger base (or a light trigger).

I was thinking it would be advisable to go for the 568 flash and two more 622c bases. The idea being I could (if needs be) get another 568 flash after some time giving me a four flash wireless setup with two HSS sync flashes and two basic fill flashes.

On the other hand, I could replace my gear with a couple of 600RT's.

It would cost be £170 to add two 568's and to 622cs to my kit but £400 for 4x 600RT's and the related controller.


Essentially, convenience and all flashes being HSS for £400 vs only two flashes being HSS and needing separate bases for £170


SOOOOO... Am I right in saying the 568's and the 622's would be the better choice considering my usage and the functionality offered in comparison to the price? Or am I missing something obvious (hence why I ask you guys as I know you'll correct me!)

Many thanks in advance, apologies for the essay.

tl;dr: New flashes needed, new 568 and 622c's to add to my 2x565s and 2x622c's and 622c tx for £170 total vs 4 x 600rt and controller for £400.
 
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Raymond Lin said:
You don't need fill in flash in the day, I never do. You just pay attention to the light around you and have people stand in shades and/or over expose to compensate on the fly.
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Thanks for replying Ray. Am I right in saying I would be purposely causing the background to clip to white as a result in this sunny weather spell we are having? Or in general, I should still get usuble background data?

I'm intending to practice during this week. It's just getting a opportunity to get out in the sunny weather.

Also, would it be beneficial to get the flash gear anyway? I.em to add the HSS sync flash to the line up.

And finally on a side note any suggestions for a very strong tripod around the £150 mark. Not too fussed about travel, I generally don't do landscape photography. I looked at Red Snappers which seem to be popular. These are my last big upgrades before I start moving to full frame.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Yes you do, you blow the background but it's the lesser of the 2 evils.

Or you could fill flash...which I find unnatural but that is merely a personal preference and a shooting style.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. Tbh when I go to weddings the 'pto' photographers always use a flash outdoor but then even I question their technqiues at times.

Is it fair to say go for a over exposed background when the subject is alone and background doesn't matter but use fill flash when the subject has people behind her or the background is worth exposing?

Or is there any technique I'm missing?
 
When you are shooting just natural light and balancing the game of exposure with back lit subjects you are constantly playing with the dial at the back to move the exposure compensation needle. The advantage of this is your subject is less likely to blink for the flash, they have a more natural look to them, you are not carrying as much kit. The disadvantage of this is that you are almost manual exposing the scene as it can vary from 1 stop to 3 stop at times for the compensation so you either get really good at judging how much compensation you need by feel, just by standing there in the room and look at it with your naked eye or check your LCD every shot.

Hint – you can do a bit of both. I do check the LCD but only when I move. If you are staying in that spot and taking photos of people, do a quick shot and check, then dial it in for the next.

The advantages of using a flash is obviously you get a more consistent result for exposure in the subject. However, if the background is brightly lit, you end up with a very strong flash, and you have to be close to your subject due to the fall off. Since normally in those situation, for example I would be shooting at 1/4000th at F/1.4. If you are using a flash, you might have to slow to around 1/200th and F/8 (I think those are the right numbers…doing it off my head or could be f/11) to compensate for the exposure and then flash the subject. The main difference here now is I am shooting at f/1.4 and you are shooting at f/8. Unless you are shooting in HSS which will kill your battery very fast if you don't have some power pack. You might find an ND filter could work better without using HSS and keep that aperture up.

Of course, it depends on the time of day and time of year, if its past 2pm, the colour of the light will slowly go towards yellow and you might feel (this is a preference) you need to adjust for the colour temp change with gels on the flash.

In short, HSS could work, but be sure you have LOTS of batteries and that is the look that you like.
 
Thanks Raymond, that makes stuff really clear. I didn't realise HSS uses extra battery as well so yeah, lucky I didn't just go buy the kit.

One last question, in my situation with the flashes what would you do if you wanted another flash? Thus is unrelated to the prewedding stuff, I just want to know whether I should sell and upgrade or stick with the system I have.
 
First part - due to the way the shutter works, the faster your shutter speed is, the more times your flash need to flash to in HSS.

I think the Yongnuo 600 EX-RT is the best bang for buck due to the built in transmitter and receiver. Less kit to carry too. If you are going to add flashes, I'd get those.
 
I tend to do the same as Ray and stay away from flash outdoors. That said, on Saturday I had no choice. The only viable positioning for the group shots had them very strongly backlit with direct sunlight so I had a choice of deliberately blowing the background or filling with flash. I did a bit of both but the flash shots actually came out pretty well, just don't over-do it.

FWIW, I never used HSS.

Specific scenarios aside, if you do want to enhance your flash set up then sell everything you have and just get two YN600EX-RTs, adding more as needed. I also wouldn't bother with the transmitter as the flashes themselves are only around £100 so it's more flexible to just add another of those.
 
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Thank you very much guys. I think I'm gonna try and do it all without flash outside. My style always uses flash inside so I'm fairly happy with how I'm going to progress.

And with regards to the flashes, I'm going to order three 600RTs and stick my gear up for sale.

So thanks again, really appreciate the time taken to reply to my questions. OCUK delivers again!/
 
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