Comments on: video: episode 9 , studio lighting equipment guide, part 1 of 2

By: Gareth Preston

Gareth Preston — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:53:54 +0000

I have been watching your videos for about one week now and quess what?? You have convinced me to buy the Calumet Genesis 200 2-Light Kit!!

So in the no so distant future I will be visiting Calumet Photographic here in Manchester to get this entry level studio kit!! Again this is all because of your work with your videos. To finish with I put you right up there with my Top Role Models Of Togs and I have not even seen any of your portfolio images yet :p

Regard

Gareth
Ulstertower Photographic
http://www.ulstower.co.uk

By: Jim Talkington

Jim Talkington — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 11:51:16 +0000

Hey Ryan, there should be a “shoe” on top of the umbrella adapter for your Canon flash to slide right into. The shoe is usually removable, though, so the swivel adapter may be used for other purposes. Make sure it comes with the little “shoe” part…some do, some might not.

B., there are a couple ways to trigger the monolights:

1. PC cord. The monolight should come with a PC cord to connect directly to the camera for firing. Your camera might not have a PC connection on it, though, usually only the higher end camera bodies have one. You may need to use an adapter on your hot shoe that has a PC connection called a Hot Shoe to PC Adapter (Calumet has one for $13).

2. Wireless radio triggers. This is a more sophisticated solution and costs more. With these you’re not limited to the length of the PC cord as far as working distance from the light, you can work up to 150′ away. You put a sending unit on your hot shoe and a receiving unit on your light. Prices range all over the board from $99.99 for a Calumet Four-Channel Radio Flash Trigger Set to several hundred dollars.

3. Built-in light slave. If you use more than one monolight, you’ll use one of the above methods to trigger the first of the lights. Additional units may be triggered with an optical slave unit that sees the flash from the first unit. This is usually built in to most modern monolight units.

Working with any kind of new equipment like this seems like a mystery until you actually have it in hand. Once you have it in front of you it all starts to make much more sense!

By: B.Lopez

B.Lopez — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:19:44 +0000

Jim, I’m a beginner at studio lighting, and am starting to work with a monolight set, and have a few questions. Can you simply connect monolights to a wall outlet as long as you have a surge protector? Also, how do you trigger the light to fire? Do you have to purchase a radio triggers system? is there a built in trigger? can you help?

Thanks!

By: Ryan Taylor

Ryan Taylor — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 01:49:45 +0000

Great video, as always. I look forward to getting through the rest of them.

I have a question about the umbrella adapter that I can’t seem to find an answer to. In your video you show a flash attached to it. Looking at the Calumet Swivel Umbrella Adapter and my 580EX II I don’t see a place that it could be attached. I feel like I’m missing something. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:40:29 +0000

Nice video. Thanks for sharing with us. we a new recommend the new stuten to watch this move bofer stan so tank you for sharn et wet os

By: Nima Valamanesh

Nima Valamanesh — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:01:53 +0000

Hh my goodness! Thank you so much for your video’s, i was looking around for something just like these to show my Year 11 and 12 students as they are going to be doing still-life’s and modeling.
Thanks again for such an in-depth DIY video. Nima Valamanesh, Adelaide, Australia.

By: PhotoNetCast #4 - Keeping your photos safe with regular backups and Embarrassing Moments | PhotoNetCast

Mon, 26 May 2008 12:16:21 +0000

[...] Brian: Studio Equipment Guide [...]

By: Jim Talkington

Jim Talkington — Sat, 17 May 2008 02:34:40 +0000

All of your positive comments are a great motivator and it means a lot to hear that I’m helping. Brian, I’m glad it’s made a sometimes difficult subject seem that much more accessible. And Tom, it means a lot to have my efforts recognized as professional.

When I was shooting a lot of motorcycle racing I had success because my outdoor action shots looked like they were lit in the studio, I was told, even though it was natural light. Understanding different types of lighting really helped me out.

By: Brian Auer

Brian Auer — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:37:30 +0000

Wow Jim, what an amazing job you’ve done with this video. I’m a totally dummy when it comes to lighting equipment, but I think I understood 95% of what you said in there!

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 13 May 2008 09:31:17 +0000

You do a wonderful job, these videos are amazing, and they are helping me a lot, thanks!This site is the one of the best resources around the internent about photography.This is what I call professionalism in the true sense of the word, thanks for sharing your knowladge.Keep up the good work, I will always read all your articles.