Thanks Peter ....mono is really not my thing usually, but I know I should try it more and I'm glad these ones have been liked by quite a few members here.

Thanks Roger .... I guess the '3D Effect' must be the result of the angles from the duel lighting, plus the result of the light 'shape' across the face, which creates direction and contrast going from the subjects left to right sides. I'd say also that the aperture, F11, plays a part as well .... this aperture ensures that the whole head is well in focus, so giving depth I think. And finally, the eyes have been sharpened more, and the skin tone softened slightly in post processing .... this may have the effect of making the eyes jump out in relation to the face.

Thanks for you comment, and thanks also Paul, I hope you found it interesting to see the set - up.

Lovely smiley shots, they're bright and cheerful looking!

A 50mm at F4.0 is quite challenging focus-wise I think, and I feel you'd get a sharper result with something more like F8 .... This shouldn't affect the exposure or steadiness of the shot at all, so long as you maintain the 180th sec shutter speed.

I believe the shadow lines are the result of too much direct, front-on flash .... this is caused by not having a great enough angle to your bounce position (so not acute enough), and there is light spilling from the flash head going forwards. You really need at least a full 90deg turn away to prevent light coming forward, and if light is bouncing down from a corner and ceiling behind you then still some can be hitting the face from a front-on direction. The best way to avoid this is to use the 'flag' type modifier (like the one I showed in my 'A Flag, A Flash ...' thread) to prevent any light spilling forwards, and then use a strong angle to reflect the light off a surface that brings it back from the side and a little above.

This technique will increase the contrast across the face giving that 'form' and modelling effect. If you had a longer focal length also then you could shoot some closer in head and shoulder shots with the exact same settings and lighting very easily.

Of course we all know that Vic is wrong .... (about who he takes after that is ! )

Its a great system and plenty of features .... I especially like the A B C D group buttons with the lights where you can switch each group on and off so easily from the camera position, allowing assessment of each individual flash one by one in isolation. If you have a P-TTL HSS flash for on-camera then you can straight away use Optical triggering for Manual HSS with the RF60, or of course if you have the V6II trigger then you have radio triggering for HSS. I hope you enjoy experimenting!

Hi Peter, I haven't used a silver umbrella, but from reading and seeing pictures I think it creates a stronger (more reflective) and harder sort of light. Maybe more suited to grittier styles and fashion stuff, probably not babies.

I have thought about getting an umbrella with the different materials to swap around, including white, silver and gold..... But really I mostly want the softest effect, so the white suits me fine. I don't think there is any issue with mixing silver and white in one image, it's more about the quality of the light rather than any colour clash.

The flash Manual is comprehensive and well explained. I think that if it were possible they would have covered it.

If you copy some of the sources you've seen to here or links perhaps we might get a better idea of what you're referring to.

Our youngest was in a placid mood recently, long enough for me to place her strategically balanced on a cushion where she was fascinated with all the black objects surrounding her .... namely the flashes in a softbox and umbrella and my camera, which kept her looking nicely while I grabbed a number of frames. Here's the set-up ....




I want to show how a quite rough and ready setup in any domestic sort of environment can still work out nicely. The main light is a Pentax AF-540FGZ in the square softbox, coming in from her left and front, a little above, and the umbrella provides a more direct front-on fill light, to reduce the deep shadows on the off-side of the face.

This uses the Cactus RF60 radio flash on the umbrella, fired from the V6 trigger on the camera, and the AF-540FGZ is set to S2 slave mode, so it just fires in response to the Cactus. Both flashes were set with Manual power levels, and the Camera was set to manual also. Both flashes were working at 1/4 power, but the effect of the umbrella one was much less as it was further away and is a reflected light. I cloned out the catchlight from the umbrella in order to just leave a more natural single catchlight.

Pentax K7, D FA28-105mm (at 88mm), F11, 1/180th sec, ISO 200





Thanks for taking a look, and I hope you might be prompted to try some simple two flash portraiture in your home!

Thanks all for your comments ..... yes, the old lenses and especially a telezoom do seem to suit the environment in the big city. Wide angles are tricky with all the clutter they capture I guess, so its the isolating aspect of the longer focal lengths that is handy.

Derek, yes 'sinister' was what I thought too .... in my mind when I was shooting these ones was that film 'The Invasion', where people are taken over by aliens and start to gather in mysterious groups .....

Some interesting points about the colour balances Philip, thanks ..... they were all shot on the Daylight WB which was fixed. The only one where the natural light was very different was that one of the Westminster Cathedral tower, with very warm side light taken just before sunset. Perhaps the lens was effecting things a little too ..... I know the colour renditions from the old lenses can sometimes be an issue .... I did have to remove a good amount of purple / blue colour noise from the one of the clock tower, and these were shot at ISO 800 for steadiness .... that might have affected them as well, as colour noise is often evident with the K7 at ISO 800.

Thanks again for your inputs everyone

One day maybe for me too OK, I like the 'educational' idea, and maybe the kids could be roped in to hold the softbox up Sure, I'm becoming convinced .... we really need some pictures of bugs and spiders illuminated by lovely soft off-camera directional flash ! Maybe I should set up a challenge thread .... we all get to vote on each others bug macros, but they have to be done with off-camera flash

One issue I do see is how to get a clear space from the softbox to the bug .... a lot of insect shots are presumably taken in confined places and poking in through the undergrowth .... a light source off to the side might easily be obstructed by foliage and leaves etc that would cast shadows all over the image. That's the advantage of a ringflash I guess, it lights up evenly everything that the lens sees because its wrapped right around the lens. Looking at Dereks examples again, and I remember plenty from Don in Australia, the ringflash produces a bright and colourful result, and its very clear and punchy .... but perhaps the effect is a little 'clinical', with such an even spread of light? Do we need more contrast, shape and 'emotion' to bug and insect photos, or is 'clinical' the way to go ?

Hi, a quick look at the Manuals for both the Metz 58 AF-1 and 58 AF-2 shows only reference to "P-TTL HSS" ..... I couldn't see anything about Manual HSS. This is normal for the Pentax dedicated flash system, where HSS is part of the P-TTL protocol and requires P-TTL metering mode in conjunction with HSS .

Bear in mind that Metz make versions of these flashes for other camera systems also, so perhaps the situation is different with those .....maybe the references you've seen were not for Pentax dedicated models?