Mark

Willie, we all get shadows. Shadows are good, really they are. If you look under the chin on the angry shot you will see a dark shadow.

If it is shadows on backgrounds that you are trying to eliminate then I suggest you try a ring flash adapter in the first instance. It might just give you the look you are after.

Regards, Damien.

I have been trying this sort of stuff too, but find it difficult to eliminate shadows, no matter what.

Any tips??

Thanks for your comments. Zooming the flash in concentrates the light into a spot. It looks far better than burning in the edges of a picture using the vignetting facility in Lightroom or darkening the edges of the shot in Photoshop. These post production techniques never reduce the contrast in the shadow areas they only make the area darker and that is why good lighting always wins.

Damien.

I buy 4 sets of 2800mAh NiMh batteries in January each year from 7DayShop.com to replace the previous years batteries. I have 2 sets for my Canon kit and 2 sets for my Nikon kit. They cost me less than £20 and they are fantastic. They last me all day and I never have to change them during a shoot (if it’s just Julie or I shooting). Even at a winter wedding where we are using a lot of flash I never need to change them on the day.

During an Urban Portraits workshop day however we often have two or three Canon or Nikon shooters working with flash at the same time in bright daylight. This is why I needed to change the batteries at some point. I suggest that if your battery solution costs you more than £10 a year / flash gun then it’s time to change.

Panasonic, Sony, Fuji, Hahnel and 7dayshop all seem to perform well. Take your pick.

Oh and remember to use a recycling facility for your old cells. Don’t just put them in the bin.

Damien.

It does add to the kit you have to carry, but they do add a little weight to the light stand as the ones I have are lead-acid powered. They also have a handy power gauge on the side which is always useful.

When not using the Quantum packs I use Fujicell 2800mAh batteries, another eBay purchase I think, and have found them to be reliable and very very powerful.

Keep up the fantastic work Damien, a constant source of inspiration and ideas.

Cheers

Cris.

Just a technical question, you mention zooming your speedlight in. What is the rationale behind doing this?
Thanks for sharing your great work.

Even in the face of adversity you demonstrate what still can be achieved. Great stuff.

May I just pick up on your comment regarding rechargeable batteries in speedlights?

Rechargeable batteries are a necessity when it comes to small portable strobes like our speedlights. You cannot see how much charge is left in a battery; it’s not like the petrol gauge in your car where you have any idea how far you can go before you have to top up! Yes we can test them but on the whole we say “damn it I’ll charge them all to be on the safe side”

Five pounds for a pack of AA rechargeable is good value, but are they?

Hot rechargeable batteries are a sign that they are really not up for the job. Some brands may also state 2600 or 2800 mAh on the pack, maybe for 30 or 40 cycles then it’s down hill from there on perhaps struggling to achieve 1800 to 2000 mAh.
We currently use Panasonic Infinium NiMh, the stability and reliability is simply next to none rated at a true 2100 mAh. (This is the optimum mAh). 2100mAh is a recognised benchmark that quality AA size rechargeable battery manufacturers agree upon.

Infinium have two main convenient benefits. They stay on standby for 365 days, and after six months of storage, up to 80% of the battery power is still present and ready to be used. They are also ready to use immediately when you buy them.
This is a huge economical and reliability advantage. And they will save you money. Instead of making sure all your batteries are charged for a shoot, you only have to charge the batteries that you last used. Use a battery tester if it will give you peace of mind. You will see what I mean.
The icing on the cake, Panasonic, who are the manufacturer’s and not just the brand, state that the Infinium NiMh 2100 mAh will give you in excess of 1200 cycles. Even after being charged for hundreds of times the batteries retain their ability to store maximum power.

Proof is in the eating. And I will now get off my soap box, Sorry.

These batteries are easily available on Amazon, £9.99 for a pack of 4 x AA
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B0024QTDHY/ref=sr_1_olp_3?ie=UTF8&s=gateway&qid=1241191373&sr=8-3

Cany wait for the Big Flash Workshop on Tuesday.

Mark