If this is a dumb question, just shoot me quickly.

I am ready to jump into portraits (amateur, not professionally) and have some questions regarding setup. I have read a lot of the studio and lighting static content and know what I want to experiment with but Im not sure of all of the dumb little stuff.

I have two Nikon flashes (sb28 & sb25), an SC17 cord, and a remote TTL unit (SU4). I plan to put the main flash on a tripod (stand?) just off to my right (with softbox on flash) hooked up to the camera via sc17. Then I plan to use a reflector on a stand to the left with the second flash and the su4 ttl remote.

The su4 has a tripod attachment but how do I attach the sc17 to the stand? Also, the reflectors I have seen dont seem to have an attachment point. Is there a special clamp to attach the reflector to a stand? Do you use cheap tripods for the stands or am I better off with a special stand made for lighting?

Backgrounds? I know I can buy a roll of background material  For initial efforts, is cutting off a section and taping/tacking to a wall OK or am I better off trying to get a stand to hold the material?

I am (I am sure you cant tell) totally new to this but am really excited to start experimenting. I would like to be a least a little prepared before I place any orders or talk to a camera lighting salesperson. Any assistance would be appreciated.

-- John Pizzicaroli (pizzicar@mindspring.com), February 20, 2000

Answers

"...how do I attach the sc17 to the stand?" - I use Canon stuff, So I'm not real familliar with the Nikon flash parts, but if the SC17 doesn't have a screw base to it, does it have a accessory shoe base? If it does, then use a cheap adapter that goes from 1/4X20 screw to cold shoe (similar the the camera's hot shoe).

"...the reflectors I have seen dont seem to have an attachment point." - Mine don't either, but I make do with some spring clamps from a hardware store. I've drilled holes in some and attached 1/4X20 coupling nuts to get them to mount to things, but there are easier ways to do it (think "duct tape"). You can use an old tripod, but they are often not high enough, so a light stand is better. The easiest way to work with rolled background paper is to leave the roll on the floor and unwind as much as you need to go up the wall. This way, if you don't tear a big hole in the middle, you can roll it back up to use it again.

-- Jim Strutz (jimstrutz@juno.com), February 20, 2000.

Really great pics can be create with one flash as main light and the other as a background light. Use your reflector on the other side of your main light for fill. So much of it has to do with positioning of the light sources as to the look your going to get. check out monte zucker's site for tons of great info and lighting diagrams. www.montezucker.com. get a bunch of rolls of slide film ( use slide for all tests cause theres no way to cover up screw ups- what you see is what you get- I use fuji sensia for all my test for consistancy and low cost), take exacting notes of what you did and shoot away. If your good at improvising you can make lots of cool backdrops, lighting stands and light modifiers with stuff from surplus or hardware stores. One that I still use is taping a giant piece of translucent plastic (buy at a gardening store - less than $10) over a door frame to create a large softbox/window light. While I now have a full studio full of softboxes, mono lights and tons of stands and grip gear, I still find myself manufacturing weird stuff in my

-- winston endall (winstonchaos@hotmail.com), February 21, 2000.

Go to a library and read! All of the questions you ask are answered in dozens of books and I don't have the time to rewrite them (which is what you are asking us to do). I think you need to get out more, may I suggest trying a good bookstore? NOT on line!... t (bang!... quick enough?)

-- tom meyer (twm@mindspring.com), February 21, 2000.

Some really great tips. I appreciate the input and suggestions. Tom, I also appreciate your input and agree that I need to do a lot of learning regarding lighting setups, posing, and backgrounds and have bought or borrowed books relating to those aspects of portraiture but what is often assumed in those books is that you know how to attach a reflector to a tripod (just as an example). Jims tip on how to better utilize a paper roll for reuse is another great example. I suppose that after ripping several sheets of background paper I would learn as Jim has that there is a better way  Those kinds of tips are what I am after. Because I dont yet have all of my materials together, Im not in a position to experiment but even if I did, not having to reinvent the wheel with implied knowledge is useful. With that said, I agree that I dont know that there is not a book out there with that kind of input. I guess its off to the library I go :-)

-- John Pizzicaroli (pizzicar@mindspring.com), February 21, 2000.

John, a couple of other ideas that might be helpful. The SC-17 isn't all that long, so you might want to just get a long sync cord (they are much cheaper and plug directly into your flash). You lose all the fancy automatic metering functionality, but for studio-style work you really don't want that anyway. Instead, it is much better to use a flashmeter and set your flash to manual mode. Then you get repeatable results, and you can really analyze the effect of moving lights around rather than firing away and hoping the metering system does a good job. The SB-28 is very impressive and the automation is a godsend when you are forced to do grab-shots, but in a more controlled environment I think you will find that manual mode is much better.

Another issue is that using the light directly is quite harsh. You will probably want to experiment with softer light, and a fairly cheap way to do that is to buy a clamp that mounts on a tripod, has an umbrella holder, and uses a hotshoe attachment on top. Photoflex has one, I think, for around $30. A $35 umbrella and you have a very pleasing soft light for portraits that is equivalent to what professionals use (except for the amount of power available). You should also experiment freely with large foam-core boards, available at your local arts supply house for a few dollars. Start with white, but you can also try the effect of different colors. They make great reflectors, and give you a tremendous increase in flexibility for very little money. Also try crumpling up some aluminum foil and taping it so that it covers one of the foam boards. That gives you another popular type of lighting effect and is equivalent to the expensive silver reflectors you can buy. Those are easier to transport, more durable, and more convenient, but don't really work any better.

Have fun, Oliver

-- Oliver Sharp (osharp@greenspice.com), February 24, 2000.