Registered: Nov 18, 2002
Total Posts: 8543
Country: United States
Gochugogi wrote:
cgardner wrote:
With a 580ex master there's really no compelling reason to own an ST-E2. When you move flash off camera as key lght one is still needed from the direction of the camera for fill. The simplest and very effective configuration is to put the Master on a bracket (what the OC-E3 cord is designed for) and the Slave on a single stand. A bracket is also one of the more effective ways to use a single flash.
Chuck
The problem with the 580EX on-camera or bracket is it's really difficult to bounce off reflectors (my main shooting style). Using the the OSC defeats the wireless concept...
The approach I use isn't much different actually. I created my own reflection-diffusers which direct and bounce 100% of the light forward.
Conventional wisdom says one needs huge diffusers to get diffuse shadows but actually diffusion is a function of two variables: the direction(s) of the light relative to the object creating the shadow, and the variation in intensity of those light rays.
If one uses a single light source a rather large diffuser is needed to get soft light because all the light comes from one direction. Widening the source of the light increases the number of directions the light comes as it hits the subject, which explains why big diffusers become increasing ineffective as their distance to the subject increases.
When a second light is added for fill what its doing, in terms of light hitting the object is increasing the number of directions the light comes from. If a fill source is placed over the camera and an off camera flash is put at 45 degrees the two overlap creating a much larger source of light. Thus just adding neutral fill will soften the shadow created by the off camera light. The more fill that is added, the softer the shadow and the lighting appears to be.
Where to best to place fill is something which tends to be counter-intuitive. Without any previous knowledge of lighting about 99.9% of photographers will place it on the side opposite the shadows. Seems logical because that's were the shadows are. But what happens when two lights are placed on opposite 45 degree angles is the cancel other's modeling everywhere they overlap and also create two sets of shadows in opposite directions. The net result on the FRONT of the face is flat muddled highlights and dark voids in low areas on the face such as smile lines, corners of the mouth, base of nose, teeth and inside of mouth where no light from either source hits.
The most important criteria for fill are: 1) it needs to fill the shadows as the camera sees them, and; 2) it must not create shadows which might cross the key light shadow creating dark distracting voids. Based on those criteria the optimal position for fill is on the lens axis where the fill reaches every nook and cranny the CAMERA SEES. But since many photos are taken with single flash (i.e. fill flash outdoors in backlight) a better position in practical terms is about a foot to 18 inches directly above the lens. A flash placed there will create some visible shadows but they fall in places which are not noticed and seem natural because most natural light sources come from above the face.
That's the physics behind my approach. The common sense part of the approach was finding a good balance between results and convenience: being able to create a wide variety of lighting effects with only one off-camera light stand, diffusers which are a convenient size for location use and easy to transport, and the signaling requirements of the Canon flash (i.e. wide "footprint" for the Master; not blocking the slave sensor).
Flash brackets placing single flash over the lens came into use for weddings in the 1960s primarily to hide the distracting sideways head shadows which occur in portrait mode with hot shoe flash. The guy I assisted in the early 1970s, Monte Zucker, introduced the idea of adding an optically slaved second flash.
Most lighting books describe lighting patterns by the position of the each light to the lens axis (i.e. put the key light at 45 degrees) but since it is the face not the camera which is being photographed it is much more logical and easier to understand what the key and fill light is doing if you use the center line of the nose, and the shadow it casts, as the reference point: let the nose be your compass rose for steering your lights. Effective lighting patterns have two qualities: 1) they put light in both eyes, and 2) model the nose in a natural, non-distracting way. If you use those two criteria to guide light placement you always wind up with flattering lighting.
We used two basic lighting strategies in candid situations like wedding receptions, depending on whether or not the direction of the nose relative to the off camera light could be controlled or predicted.
The first strategy is short lighting. Short lighting is a very flattering lighting pattern because it meets both criteria: there is light in both eyes and shooting from the shadow side of the face results in natural flattering rendering of the nose. How "hard" or "soft" the lighting in a short-lit scene looks is just a matter of controlling lighting ratio via fill. The fact the front of the face is highlighted makes the face look very slim in symmetrical with viewed obliquely and contrasts it well against a dark background..
Shots like that are really simple to do with my set-up. I put my off camera light on a converted IV stand with five short legs with casters which make it easy to roll around with one hand. The light is positioned by standing behind it and sighting past the stand until a perfect oblique view of the subject is see (from the highlight side). Standing behind the light allows me to see what it will illuminate. Once the key light is set I just walk around to the other oblique view on the shadow side and wait for the subject to face the direction I planned the key lighting for. I don't need think about where to put the fill -- ever - because its always where it needs to be for ideal fill with a touch of downward modeling -- over the lens on a bracket.
In situations where I can't predict or control the direction of the nose(s) to the key light I don't use directional key lighting. It's an Occam's Razor solution. If the position if the key light off to the side is causing unflattering nose shadows and one eye and side of the face to be hidden in shadows the simplest and most effective solution is DON'T PUT THE KEY LIGHT OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE NOSE. Where's the best place to put it for flattering lighting on the face? Directly over the camera; exactly where a bracket puts it.
So for groups and action shots I rely on the downward angle of the light on the bracket to provide lighting which will not create distracting shadows on the face or body but has a natural downward modeling component. Its actually possible to get very flattering results with just a single flash on a bracket with a small diffuser, especially indoors where there will be spill of a low ceiling. These are all single flash shots:
The centered light on the bracket is also ideal for situations where sunlight is used for rim-lighting, which is one of the more effective strategies outdoors...
Indoors the second flash, just parked behind the subjects will provide that same 3D effect that outdoor rim-light adds to centered frontal flash strategies:
So if you actually try this approach you may find it as effective but more convenient as hauling around two stands and reflectors.
Worst case by simply adding a bracket and the OC-E3 cord necessary to maintain wireless control of the slaves (its still a wireless approach) you will have an additional set of tools to use which are effective for a wide range of situations where its not possible to use reflectors and multiple difficult to move stands.
What I'm really trying to do is save you from the mistake of buying the ST-E2. It simply does not have the brightness and range to handle outdoor situations or the broadcast angle to allow effective light placement in many situations indoors. If you base your two light strategy on using an ST-E2 you'll always wind up with a three-legged stool with a short leg.
If you feel you must move fill off camera and bounce it into a reflector a better equipment strategy would be to use a 580ex master set to disable main flash, with two other slave flashes (580ex or 430ex) for more reliable signaling.
The advantage of that approach vs. ST-E2 plus two flashes is that you'll wind up with a three flash lighting solution you can use wirelessly in A:B + C (for background) mode like this:.
Chuck
