A Flock Of Flashes

I believe this photograph now holds my personal record for most speedlights used in a single photograph. Let's count them. From front to rear:

• 1 key light used with a shoot through umbrella
• 1 fill light bounced off of the floor beside me,
• 1 kick light used to create the highlight on the background 
• 2 background lights aimed at the shelves in the background
• 1 skid light aimed at an angle to the ceiling, and
• 1 background light aimed at the back wall

The Key Light: Nothing special here. I used my twelve-foot tall light stand to position the light high and to camera left. I angled it slightly to prevent severe over-exposure to the clock by the left edge of the frame.

The Fill Light: When I can, I use a Joe McNally technique of bouncing a flash, positioned perpendicular to the floor, to provide a highlight at the lower edge of the subject's eyes. It does throw some light into the nose shadow, but cannot brighten the teeth. The effect is very subtle, but I am a big fan of catchlights, and I am always uncomfortable when I can't see any. See left photo.

The Kick Light: This flash was aimed specifically at the rack of clothing behind the subject. I wanted to add some three-dimensionality to the clothing behind the subject. I clamped it onto a clothing rack at camera left. In retrospect, I should have reduced the power, or eliminated it altogether.

The Two (Shelf) Accent Lights: Because the isle between the two facing shelves was so narrow the flash beam angle, even at its widest setting, couldn't completely cover the box-filled shelves. This forced me to use two flashes to get the coverage I needed. Each flash had its own light stand. While the selves themselves don't add anything to the photograph, it prevents the warehouse from looking like a cave with no ending.

The (Ceiling) Skid Light: I started by aiming a flash perpendicular to the ceiling. Unfortunately, the reflective surface of the insulation didn't give me the effect I wanted. I then moved the flash as close to the back wall as possible and angled it so the light would bounce off the ceiling at a 45 degree angle. This increased the coverage and highlight size. And if you look closely, you can see the flash mounted in a "foot" on the floor.

The Background Light: The last light was placed to light the far wall of the warehouse, placed to define the physical limits of the room. Even though the flash wasn't powerful to fully light the wall, it added enough detail to proclaim its presence.

Controller Compatibility: My equipment included 4 older Gen 1 Flashpoint controlled and a total of 4 newer Gen 2 Godox controlled speedlights. In the past, I could cross-control these two different speedlight families by mounting a Gen 1 controller in the hot shoe of a Gen 2 controller. 

This photo shows a Pocket Wizard mounted on a Gen 2 Godox controller. A Gen 1 controller could be mounted in the same manner. I could have mounted the two controllers in tandem, but instead chose to maintain direct control over the original four speedlights and switch the three others to the speedlight's built-in optical S1 triggers. Shifting to the S1 mode requires manual adjustment of the output, but in truth, frequent adjustments are not needed for speedlights other than the Key light.

This photo was not an unplanned grab shot, but a carefully controlled and orchestrated photograph. It certainly wouldn't qualify as a "spot news photo" in the traditional sense, nor was it a managed candid. I wanted a photo that was eye-catching and visually interesting enough to encourage the reading of the caption.

I'm Getting Better

Graduation At The Adolf School. It's that time of year, and I returned to Hillsdale High School to photograph the students receiving their GEDs and High School Diplomas through the continuation school. My primary goal was to get a series of really nice photos of the graduates as they received their diplomas from the school's director. While candid photographs of the speakers at the podium would also be part of the coverage, the one posed handshake photo would probably be the most meaningful for the graduates, along with being a five-second window where I had total control of the photograph. 

Rehearsals: To prepare for the handshake photo, I got the sixteen graduates together and introduced myself and congratulated them on their achievements. Next, I gave the both instructions and a demonstration of exactly how I wanted them to proceed. First, the would shake hands with the director (right hand, below) while accepting the diploma (left hand, above). Next, I told them to stand on a blue-tape X I had placed on the stage, about ten feet in front of where I would be standing. Finally, I told them to stay put until I gave them the thumbs up sign, a signal for them to return to their chairs on the stage.

Equipment: Since I had so little time between graduates, the equipment needed to produce consistent results. I mounted a speedlight on a seven-foot light stand for a key light and aligned it with the taped "X" I had place on the stage. I triggered the flash using a radio transmitter. Then I went and stood on the X, and made selfies until I was happy with the exposure.  At the last minute, I decided to add a CTO gel onto the speedlight so I could use the same white balance preset when I photographed the speakers standing at the podium. With the gel in place, I reset my aperture to compensate for the light loss from the CTO gel. Finally (here's the genius part) I wrote down my final exposure settings (ISO, aperture, speedlight output) on a small card and taped it to the lightstand. This way I could effortless duplicate the setting when the graduates walked off  the stage.

I knew that when I returned to my usual aisle position on the floor, I'd be changing ISO, aperture size, and exposure duration "on the fly", so I was sure my settings would be very different than those selected for the flash-lit handshake shots.

This shot of the Valedictorian was made using only the house spot lights using a 28-70 equivalent lens on my Fuji T-4. I was shooting in burst mode, trying to capture one expressive moment during her presentation. This is the one I selected (60 frames just to get this one), and it's a winner.

When the last speaker had spoken I hurried back to my shooting position on Stage Left, an waited for the presentation of the diplomas. Only one shot per graduate was needed, and the whole process went quickly.

The exposures were very consistent, and no adjustments in post processing were necessary. I did erase an errant "Exit" sign,  since the images were not headed for publication so a little retouching is permissible.

The Takeaway: I believe that if you cannot add some form of light modifier (softbox or shoot-through umbrella), positioning the key light can greatly improve the quality of the image. In this cropping of the topmost image, you can see that the highlights are position higher on the face, although fairly close to the lens axis. If you look at the shadow cast by the tip of the nose, you will see that it's quite narrow AND does NOT CROSS THE UPPER LIP. This has been a hard rule for "normal" (read flattering) portraiture, as advocated by portraitist William Mortensen (1897-1965), a classic Hollywood photographer in the 1920s and 1930s. Like all rules, he and other photographer break the rule when an unconventional., albeit unflattering, portrait. Note too that the closer you light is to the lens axis, the better the chances you'll get some nice catchlights in your subject's eyes.

Congratulations, Class of 2026!

Opening JPG Files In RAW Mode

In an earlier post I discussed how I used an umbrella as a reflector to throw some additional light back onto my subject's face. The result was not perfect, but will certainly contribute to a better rendition when it comes time to print. Reflecting on the photo session, I am reminded that I could have easily negotiated for some additional time to make the photo, but in my excitement, I was content to forgo the flash and place the open shoot-through umbrella on  the ground just out of the right edge of the frame. The result was the left frame, which shows detail in Ray's face, but not bright enough for my taste. The right frame is much closer to what I had in mind, and is the result of some judicious exposure control involving the shadows, the mid tones, and the highlights. 

Open In Camera Raw: I started the salvage operation by opening the JPG file in Camera Raw. It is  easy to find, located just below the Open command in the dropdown File Menu. 

The most striking feature is the appearance of large swaths of red and blue in the opened file. Interpretation is simple: Red indicates areas of over exposure, and the blue areas underexposure. So far as Adobe Elements is concerned, the red zones represent the highlights, and the blue regions represent the shadows. Now the information contained in a JPG file is nowhere near that of a true RAW file, so consider this a way to improve an image, not a way to recover a completely botched exposure.  

I have enlarged the sidebar to show the sliders you will be using. 

• Mid Tones: Drag the Exposure slider to the left or right until you get the skin tones where you want them. Don't worry if portions of your subject's skin turn red. AT least not yet. (+0,85)
• Highlights: Next drag the Highlights slider to the left until the (almost) all of the red highlights return to their original color. If large swatches of red are still present, return to the Exposure slider and move it to the left. (-100)
• Shadows: Finally drag the Shadows slider and watch how the shadows start to brighten. Be careful, though. If you slide it too far to the right, you may see your highlights begin to turn red. (+23)

When you're done adjusting the sliders, you should take some to admire the overall effect. Warning: That red shape in the back of Ray's truck is an orange Home Depot bucket. You may also notice some tiny red-colored highlights on Ray's hand. Fortunately they are very small, and I'll let them stay since they are neither distracting nor unexpected.

This post processing is very intuitive once you start using it. It can also correct white balance, and improve the intensity of the blacks and whites. It is well suited to my low-volume workflow. And while it is a slight improvement over the simpler Levels command, it does offer access to a variety of other adjustments, all in one application.

Would That It Were True: My editor put this together using Chat GPT and a cell phone image of me actually  photographing the hive seen in my earlier post. It shows that getting "up close and personal" is more than just a phrase. For me, it's all part of the job.

I Wasn't Thinking Ahead

My Long Story: My editor's daughter in law, "K", is an advocate for, and a student of, bee hive preservation, noticed that bees were entering and exiting the ventilation hole of a utility vault's cover. This activity suggested that there was a hive inside the vault.  Its proximity to a major thoroughfare made its safe removal imperative. My editor contacted me about photographing the removal. Give me the date and time, and I am so there.

This cell phone photo taken several days prior gives you an idea of the situation of the utility vault. Bees could be seen entering and exiting the tiny ventilation hole in the cover, a sure sign of a hive hiding within. Its safe removal and relocation was important from both an ecological and safety perspective, since the local flora needed the bees for pollination, and the utility workers needed safe access to the enclosed valve. Plans were made to include a professional bee specialist and the San Mateo Water Department representative in the hive's relocation on Wednesday at 11:30. On my docket.

That morning I arrived at 11:05, and spent more than ten minutes trying to find a convenient parking place, and finally found one two blocks away. I started my long walk to the hive. In the interest of mobility, I brought only a lightstand and a shoot-through umbrella which I keep in my trunk for times when portability is most important.

Taken 11:28 AM

I arrived at 11:20, just moments after "K" and her husband. When we arrived at the vault, we were told by Ray the beekeeper  that the queen bee had apparently left, leaving behind a partially constructed beehive hanging from the vault cover. With the vault cover hive-side-up on the grass, we could see small dark spots in a few of the cells, signs that some eggs were on their way to pupation. Looking at the hives still attached to the cover I started to make some photos, if only to add some value to a morning that had just fallen apart due to the impetuous actions of the queen bee.

His work done, Ray was preparing to leave, and was in the process of cutting out the little hives when I asked if he could stop for a few moments while I prepared to make some photos. While any images I made would not tell the complete story of bee hive relocation, they might serve as accents to a future article. I instructed Ray to kneel beside the little hives just to see if the 16mm setting on my zoom lens could accommodate him. As you can see, it couldn't.

Two things became apparent. First, the 16mm setting on my zoom lens was not wide enough, so I would have to move farther away from my subject/s. Second, I would need some additional light on Ray's face to give me some detail. The repositioning was easy. The additional light was not. In the interests of time, I pulled a Hail Mary and opened my shoot through umbrella and positioned it just out of frame, camera left, hoping it would reflect enough light back on Ray's face.

This shot was a definite improvement. The face, will benefit from so adjustment in post processing.

Next Time: If memory serves me, there is a quote from Joe McNally that I should make my mantra: "Whenever possible, negotiate for more time". I should have asked Ray how much time he could spare to help me make a better photograph. Had I asked, I could have easily extended the session by ten minutes or more, judging from the time spent in friendly conversation once everything was put away. 

• 

  "K" made this little sign.

  Next time, take a few minute to set up a proper lightstand with a flash and shoot-through umbrella or small softbox.
• Next time, position the light at a 45 degree angle (or less) when aligned on the subject's nose. 
• Next time, angle the flash up and to  camera right to reduce the texture ruining light on the honey comb.
• Next time, I will select, from my current collection, a speedlight to store alongside the lightstand and umbrella in the handy carrying bag. No more buying new stuff.
• Next time, I'll determine some practical guide numbers for said speedlight and tape the information to the head of the flash. Pre shrunk, pre thunk, I'm fond of saying.

I'll do that tomorrow. Yeah, right.

The Quilt

 This photo was the second photo assignment of the day, and even though I spent almost two hours of "run and gun" at a Memorial Day celebration, I have seldom been more energized that I was during this shoot. 

The assignment was to photograph this quilter with her submission for the upcoming County Fair. I was ecstatic when I found out i would be photograph inside one of the pavilions, which meant relative security and a complete lack of wind. While the artist went to  hang the quilt, I started unpacking. When the quilt was hung, to take a no-flash shot to see what the ambient lighting looked like.

From this first attempt, you can see the structural details of the ceiling and the accents provided by the ceiling lights. You can also see that the ambient does provide some light on the subject, although not enough to bring out the true colors of the quilt. I was very encourage by the graphic aspects, so I proceeded to create my flash lighting solution.

I decided to approach the photo from a typical copy lighting setup. I set up two identical speedlights set on light stands adjusted to a height that approximated the half-height of the hanging quilt. Shoot through umbrellas were used as modifiers and positioned at an equal distance for the lens axis line. 

If you look at the above photo, you will see a red arrow pointing to a my accent light, which was a 200 WS flash with a grid mounted to help contain any potential light spill. It did provide a the glancing light that gave my subject's hair the separation from the darker background. I believe there was some lens flare created by the flash, so I made a small gobo (shade) out of gaffer tape to reduce it.

Now here's the fun part. From my camera position the lightstand is aligned with the open garage door on the far wall. In fact, the lightstand is practically invisible. This means that the accent light is coming from an existing location, and the effect is therefore believable, although greatly exaggerated. 

The final photo was simply cropping out the left edge of the frame. What remains of the garage door suggests a light source for the viewer, and that little hint helps make the photo a little more "believable". 

You can see from the cropped portrait (above right) that the accent light did a proper job of highlighting my subject's hair. Notice that the accent light is placed so it did not create a highlight on the side of the subject's nose, an important thing to remember.

I can never leave well enough alone, and in this photo I am bothered by how the (camera) right edge of the quilt gets lost in the dark background. I didn't notice the problem until the end of the session when I was at the end of my allotted  time. At the last moment I tried to add an accent light as I had done on camera left, but couldn't get one to trigger properly. I couldn't get the effect I wanted, so I resigned myself to come up with a solution for future use.

If I could replay the whole scenario, I would have taken my fourth speedlight and set it to S1 mode so it would be optically triggered by the flash I had placed on the left side of the frame. Since I didn't have another light stand, I could have simply used the ball-headed clamp I had in my camera bag and attached it to the back of a chair. I would have positioned the chair just out of the right edge of the frame, and aimed it directly at the right edge of the quilt. Then I would move the chair away from the camera, until the light skimmed in front of my subject. This way I could get light on the edge without affecting the seamstress herself. I don't know if it would have worked as planned, but at least next time I can try.

On June 1, the photo was published. I was shocked at the size. It takes up more than half of the page. It was cropped a bitt, but I suspected it would be, as I always provide some "extra" on the edges so the photo can be adjusted to fit the available space. The quilt is shown in all its glory, and the colors and details really pop in spite of the limits posed by printing on newsprint. All the effort it took to set up the twin copy lighting setup was all worth it.

Flash In A Tree

This One Is Ready To Pick: My New Best Friend, 

Facebook continues to present me with new videos about the IT32. Content creators have moved past just listing the features, and now that the flash is readily available to consumers like me, many so-called "professional" photographers are editorializing on whether this little flash is capable of playing with the big boys and taking on some professional level applications like weddings and modeling modelling sessions. That's a pretty heavy lift for a flash smaller than a can of Spam.

Let me put in my two cents. The IT32 was not, is not, and never will be a flash worthy of riding in my Domke Camera Bag. It will be in my shirt pocket whenever I carry a camera just for the joy of looking for something new. In that task, the flash can extend my vision to capture images that are beyond the exposure limitations set by my camera's sensor. 

• Fixed Internal Battery: Having a built-in battery is convenient, but prevents you for changing batteries when it's drained. No matter what the literature says, you won't get the maximum number of fleshes listed, and when in the field, every other request from you client will be "Just one more please".  Sure, you could carry a second TT32, but now we are committing to carrying more equipment, exactly what we were trying to avoid.
• Tight Control Panel: This flash is just so small, it's almost too small. While it can be configured to fire multiple flashes from the camera mounted controller, the configuration process is not exactly straightforward, and one I did not find intuitive. Besides, if you need to control multiple flashes, you would be much better off with a larger dedicated flash system. Now the current S2 family of flashes, while larger, offers the user a larger, easier to use interface.

I say that photographers should just purchase the flash and use it in the way it is best suited, namely as a convenient, pocketable flash with both manual and TTL flash metering, and an easy way to experiment with off-camera flash. Sure, start out in the on-camera TTL mode, and then you can experiment with off-camera exposures by gently separating the flash body from the flash foot. Later on, a simple ball-bungee can be used to attach the flash to a fence or pole for a completely different look. You can use the TTL feature as long as you like, knowing that full manual controls are available when you're ready to experiment..

Curated Lighting

Salwan Georges for The New York Times. 2026-04027

I took this image from a New York Times article. I don't remember the event, but it caught my attention because of the care the camera crew took in creating lighting suitable for a television spot on the evening news. Amid the forest of light stands I can see two "spot" lights and two "broad" light sources. They appear to be in a cross-light configuration. What really caught my eye was the large translucent umbrella that minimizes the effects of direct sunlight on our reporter's head. I also noticed the cord that was used to help counter-balance the boom holding the umbrella. In the past I would have used a sandbag to carefully counterbalance whatever was mounted on the far end of the boom, but this method could make it much easier. This doesn't eliminate all the problems associated with hanging an accent light on the boom, but makes them more manageable. 

 A light modifier that I haven't used often enough is the Lumiquest Softbox III, although I often had one neatly folded and stored in my camera bags. I preferred to use a shoot-through umbrella, but I have had them damaged when the wind decided to blow them over. The Softbox III has a  much smaller cross section and is less likely to be carried away. I did have some problems keeping it mounted on the flash head, and finally added adhesive Velcro strips directly to the flash, and finally securing it with a Velcro strip that cinched around the mounting tabs like a belt. 

I was invited to photograph a shooting event sponsored by an18th century historical reenacting club and decided to experiment with a portable lighting setup. Instead of my usual translucent umbrella, I went with the Lumiquest because its small profile was less likely to be blown over by the wind. I mounted it on a Manfrotto compact light stand and went to find some action.

This photo gives you an idea of how the lights tand was positioned. Once a proper exposure was determined, I could position the light in a variety of positions as long as I maintained the seven-foot distance between the light and the subject. The height was set just below my subject's eye level so I could get some light under the brim of his hat. The flash was angled upwards so it wouldn't cast a second shadow on the ground. Once the light stand had been positioned, I had plenty of time to position/reposition the light, so I frequently made quick test exposures. I started out with the sun behind my subject, hoping to highlight the smoke that followed the shot. Because the distance between the flash and the subject was unchanged, I was able to make a variety of photos without further adjustment.

I started with a backlit shot with the hopes of highlighting the smoke. It did work, but the depth of the shadows on my subject's shirt betrays my flash's presence. Another flash could have been added to brighten up the shadows on my subject's back, but that's getting to be a bit much, even for me.

One shortcoming of this photo came in the form of a bright highlight on the side of the rifle. It happens that the barrel had its flat side reflected the light from the flash with mirror-line precision. It could have been eliminated by a different light stand location, but that's something to keep in mind for a future shot.

While the shooter was preparing his equipment for his next shot, I took the light stand and placed it on the same side of my subject as the sun. Here the light was used to brighten up the shadows a bit, and if you look at the shadow cast by his right wrist, you can see that the light was again set at my subject's eye level, and positioned beyond the right edge of the frame. It is more natural looking, almost even, but the shadow regions have a little more detail in them.

Two variations on the technique were selected for used as the club's website banner. If you look at the first image, you can see there are some consequences to pointing the softbox a little too high, while in the lower image it was probably pointed too low. I did get the dramatic lighting on the smoke set off by the dark trees in the background in both shots, which was my intent all along.

Updating An Old Technique

One Big Umbrella: In 2015 I had great success using a Westcott 7' Parabolic Umbrellas on a photo assignment in San Mateo's Japanese Garden. By placing the shoot-through umbrella in a path of the morning sun, I was able to produce an enormous softbox effect with no flash enhancements. 

Parabolic umbrellas were all the rage back then, as they supposedly provided the photographer with a more efficient design to concentrate the light more effectively. The dream was that speedlight users could get more "bang for your buck" when using their little flashes. While skeptical, I bought two, one shoot-through and one with a silver reflective interior, and decided to see if the hype was true. Right out of the gate I found the umbrellas difficult to control even in the most gentle of breezes. After some experimentation, I determined that the best way to secure the umbrella was to use two light stands clamped as far apart as the umbrella shaft would allow. While stable, I need a bunch of sandbags to keep them from swaying. Certainly it was effective, but so darn clumsy.

The only way this could be made to work (legally) in a public venue was to have Cissie hold the umbrella aloft on a monopod and  manually align the umbrella for maximum effect. I hope you'll agree that it was worth the effort, and I still consider this photo shoot one of my best efforts. As lovely as the shot was, I couldn't help but think that proper exposure for my subjects resulted in an overexposed background. Nobody has ever commented on it, but I know it's there, and find it very bothersome.

Fast forward to 2026. The assignment was to photograph the District Manager for California Water Service Bayshore District. (Cal Water). I knew Cal Water had a new facility just two blocks from where I used to work, and since there was an inner lot for storing emergency vehicles and equipment, I suggested that we make the shot with an outdoor background. I had scheduled the shoot for early to take advantage of the breezeless morning air, so I pulled my mega-umbrellas from storage and brought them, along with two twelve-foot light stands in case they both were needed. 

It was about 9:15 in the morning, and the air was relatively still. Ross, my subject, suggested that we lay out the contents of a typical "go bag", and use the San Mateo "Water Wagon" as a background. As luck would have it, the morning sun illuminated the wagon perfectly.

I started out by mounting the translucent white  umbrella on a light stand and aligning it to produce the largest possible shadow on the ground. You can see the shadow of a second light stand that was used to hold my speedlight key light. Notice that the props are placed well within the edges of the shadow. I purposely left a gap between the trailer tires and the far edge of the shadow (below left).

Next I positioned my subject so that his entire body is within the shadow. Notice that the fill lighting from the shoot through umbrella is very even, but a bit underexposed when compared to the background (above right).

This final shot was made with a small Lumiquest Softbox mounted on a lightstand about two feet to camera right. This gave the subject some three dimensionality and added some sparkle to the supplies in the foreground. His right foot has now been positioned within the shadow provided by the umbrella. If necessary, the umbrella could be moved slightly, but it is so much easier to position the umbrella and arrange everything else.

This technique can also be applied to making a headshot where the background needs to be handled differently. Had a head shot been required (sample, left), I could have used a smaller aperture (the shutter is set to 1/250 of a second (the fastest convention flash synchronization speed) and the key light moved closer to the subject to brighten the subject without any other adjustments. 

Never Let The See You Sweat: Behind the scenes there was a bit of unseen drama. My flash trigger failed to communicate with my key light, so I was forced to switch for the key light's radio receiver to an optical trigger which would be triggered by a shoe mounted speedlight. Some position changes had to be made, but once all of the adjustments were made, the session went smoothly. It turns out it was a depleted battery issue, and instead of changing them out, it was faster to revert to the optical mode. All this was done while keeping up the chatter on how well the session was going, while under my breath I occasionally muttered,  "That's odd".

Elapsed time from first test exposure (8:18 AM) to the last photo (8:31 AM) was 13 minutes.

 It was a good day.

Godox IT32 Flash

Everybody's Talking At Me: Internet influencers have pounced on this new flash and have proclaimed it the greatest advancement in flash photography since powder. Likes and followers allow them to directly benefit from their evaluations, and presumably make a living doing it. Unlike influencers, I present products that I actually purchased, and write on how they might positively affect my flash enhanced photography. My newest flash happens to be the wunderflash  Godox IT 32. So what about it got everybody excited?

Compact Form Factor: I wanted my next flash to be compact and pocketable. While I still believe the Nikon SB800 was the GOAT speedlight, it's a lot of flash to carry on a casual jaunt. The IT32 is comparable in size to  the Godox TT350, and larger than the LightPix Q20 II  Volumetrically, all of these flashes have from half to a third of the volume of an SB800.

Buy yours here.

Built In Batteries: I wanted a compact flash that had a built-in rechargeable battery. I checked the printed specifications and the IT32 packs a 7.4 volt rechargeable battery, while the TT350 and the Q20 II rely on a pair of AA batteries which provide about 3.0 volts. Almost twice the voltage than the TT350 in a comparable package.

Rotating and Swiveling Flash Head. As you can see, the IT32 has a very conventional form, just slightly smaller than the full sized speedlights. The separate head allows for elevation and rotation, albeit limited to 90 and 270 degrees respectively. A diffusion panel and fill card can are also present. The separate head also permits the use of a slide-on diffusion dome. You will find TT350 has similar capabilities. The Q20 only elevates, and lacks a diffusion panel and a bounce card.

Zoom Flash Head: Only the TT350 can change the output angle of the flash. 

TTL Automated Flash Exposure: Both of the Godox flashes have TTL flash metering while the Q20II has manually selected output. And even if I never use it, it's nice to have it as a backup. I have not used it extensively, but it appears to work well, and would be just the ticket for some low power,  fumble-free outdoor fill illumination.

Off Camera Remote Triggering: This is the big one. Until you've tried it, you can't imagine how useful this feature is. Now radio flash triggers have been around a long time, beating out light-based triggering in terms of distance and reliability. Normally you'd buy a compatible pair consisting of a transmitter you mounted on the camera and a receiver attached to the flash itself. I believe the big breakthrough was the Q20II which incorporated a transmitter in the hot shoe when it was separated from the flash body. Super convenient, but manual only in this first integration, and deployment required that the shoe be "turned on" to establish communication. The TT35 was compatible with the larger Godox flash trigger, but it was compatible with the large family of Godox (and Adorama branded Flashpoint) flashes. The IT32 not only gave the photographer an extremely compact trigger built into the shoe, but engineered it to automatically turn itself on when the shoe and the flash were separated. 

 

Output: Back in the day, the Guide Number was the accepted measure of flash output. It was provided by the manufacturer, so you can be assured that the number would be "optimistic". To use, you calculated the shooter aperture by dividing the Guide Number by the flash-to-subject distance. These GNs were suggested by the manufactures:

• IT32: GN = 59' at ISO 100
• Q20II: GN = 65' at ISO 100
• TT350: GN = 118' at ISO 100 and 100mm zoom equivalent.

At first glance our IT32 appears to be trailing the pack, but there's more here than meets the eye. First, the IT32 recycles to full power in a third of the time it takes the Q20II. And the power lifting TT350, the only member of the trio equipped with a zoom flash head, achieves this by zooming the head to concentrate the light into a much smaller area.

Colored Gels. The Q20II comes with an assortment of semi-ridged plastic gels in a variety of pretty colors. Installation requires that you insert the gel into a tiny slot on the face of the flash head. They also came in random colors, and I admit to having used the blue gel to make this photo.

The TT350 has no easy way to attach a gel. It would be a simple task to cut some gels in the shape similar to the ones Nikon used for the SB800 speedlight. Each had an additional tab that slipped into the diffusion screen slot while the screen itself held it close to the face of the flash. For a better look at how Nikon did this, click here to see an earlier post.

The IT32 has integrated four tiny magnets into the small colored filters which are easily attached to the flash face. It is interesting the the two filters that come with the flash are not random colors, but consist of a CTO (color temperature orange) filter to tint the flash to simulate a 3200K incandescent photoflood, and a 1/2 CTO filter, which tints to flash to provide a warmer, more flattering light for portraits, or to simulate late afternoon lighting. The photo shows the gel assortment's colors. If you're even thinking about getting a IT32, you can order the magnetic filter/gels here. If you don't mind losing a ton of light, you can mount one filter on top of the other.

Reason To Own: The off camera capabilities make this a great lens for experimentation, and the addition of the TTL feature makes it an easy lens when you don't want to worry about exposure. This little unit will never replace the versatility of my bigger kit flashes, but that's really not what it's for. I think anybody should believe that the IT32 can step to the plate and knock one out of the park, It's a compact flash that fits easily in a pocket and has a surprising feature set. 

I made this pair of photos during my morning walk. The left photo was made with the flash off-camera and overhead, while the right photo was made with the flash extended arm's length to left of camera. Flash output adjustments were easily made with the thumb wheel. For the few minutes I spent on the session, I was very pleased with the results. No adjustments were made in post production except for minor cropping.

Brightin Star 10mm F 5.6 Pro Fisheye

By the time you read this, I will have already purchased, and lightly tested, both of the a Brightin Star fisheye lenses. I took out the Pro Fisheye because of the adjustable aperture, just to see how the lens would perform. I used my first Fuji mount fisheye, a Pergear, and enjoyed using it. After getting past the silly distortion of my facial features being distorted by the lens, I decided to take the lens seriously and try to find some happy compromise between the uniquely wide angle of the lens, and the uncorrected circular distortion.

Note: Contrary to some of the online evaluations, the lens aperture ring does have clicks, but they are soft and only at the full stops.

I took the 10mm F 5.6 Pro model lens, mounted on a Fuji X-E2 body, with me on a walk along the Sausalito shoreline. I parked beside the San Francisco Bay Model, as its location allows me to walk past a variety of boats at rest in their slips.

Doors to the San Francisco Bay Model in Sausalito. The windows are indeed round.

This photo is the entrance to the San Francisco Bay Model in Sausalito. I tried to position the doors as close to the center as possible, and did my best to keep the camera level. From an exposure perspective, the photo is "out of bounds", but the I believe the placement of the round windows so close to the center of the photo creates an interesting juxtaposition for a fisheye lens.

This cute little sign has a circular graphic that when centered, gave me a fairly normal looking image. The placement of the horizon line minimizes the distortion, while the randomness of the foliage on the right minimizes the visual impact of the edge distortion.

Post Production Corrections: One could say that a fisheye lens is just a wide angle lens with under corrected barrel distortion. It follows that some post production software can correct these errors. In Elements  I used the Spherize Tool to see if any meaningful correction could be applied. I was able to pull the "bulge" in slightly, and render the vertical edges of the sign a little straighter. With no discernable reference points on the left and right thirds of the frame. the finished rendition doesn't shout "fisheye" but could pass as a conventional wide angle lens photo. That is much more grief than I care to endure, as I could just as easily installed a conventional 10mm wide angle lens.

Blue Sky Exposure: In earlier posts about the fixed aperture Brightin Fisheye, I  had complained that the fixed aperture setting of F 5.6 wouldn't be small enough to provide some outdoor flash capabilities with the Fuji camera bodies I favor. I made three blue sky exposures with the highest possible synchronization setting for an X-E2 body (1/250 second).

Fuji X-E2 Body. From left to right: F 5.6, F 8.0, F 11.  Camera Settings: ISO 100, 1/250 second exposure

Based on these three test shots, I could basically set my lens to F 8.0, my ISO to 100, and my shutter speed at 1/250 of a second and get a very nice blue sky. Not ideal for recording fluffy clouds, but the information is useful.

Sun Stars: This flag photo was made with an emphasis on the sky and letting the flag exposure go along for the ride. I was surprised by how nice the sun star turned out. If I had an important subject in the near foreground, I could have used a flash providing it was close enough to me, and that the light falloff wouldn't be objectionable. This is probably the only time that the "sun star", the effected created by the aperture design, held any interest for me.

I noticed this mural painted on a retaining wall behind a smog station located in the Castro. While the damaged sofa seems totally appropriate for the mural, the tableau seems out of place in the Castro. I was attracted to the comic detail of the cars, especially the Volkswagen station wagon with the old-fashioned room skylights. The camera was set to Aperture Priority, with1/3 F stop underexposed. I purposely cropped the right edge of the frame to minimize the presence of the pile of boxes at the left edge. There is not significant detail on the left edge of the frame.

My observations beg the question: Why use a fisheye? Nearly all of these shots could have been replicated with a 10mm rectilinear (non-fisheye) lens. I suspect that because the lenses are essentially zone focused (focus set my distance), it frees me to concentrate on the unique perspective the lens provides. Fisheye lenses require an appreciation for the roles the frame's left and right thirds play (or don't play) in keeping the viewer's attention at the center of the frame. That can be challenging, and for the moment, that's reason enough.

Fisheye Double Take

Pergear (Brighten Star) lens. I bought mine here.

For whatever reason, I seem to be behind in the times when it comes to what's new in    photo equipment. Granted, I am quite content with "living within" the capabilities of my existing equipment, and only when I am confronted with some new challenge will I be motivated to look for, and possibly purchase, some new piece of equipment. Lately I've been giving away seldom used pieces of kit when they become at best irrelevant, or at worst, boring.

In an earlier post I replaced my older Peargear 10mm F 8.0 pancake fisheye lens with a Brighten Star (a.k.a.Pergear)  10mm F 5.6, fully aware that there were some features I was less than pleased with. As I mentioned, I considered the change from F 8.0 to F 5.6 would make it more difficult to control my "blue sky exposure" to obtain the interesting skies I prefer as my background.

Brighten Star 10mm Pro. For a more detailed description click here.

Now I will be the first to admit that I didn't stop looking just because I purchased that lens. I knew it wasn't the perfect solution to all of the exposure problems that I encounter, but was intrigued by the challenge of making it work in challenging situations.

My wandering eye fell upon another Brightin Star fisheye lens. It was a 10mm F 5.6 lens, specifications identical to those of the pancake lens I just purchased. I  noticed that this lens replaced the petal lens hood with two rectangular "wings". On closer examination, I saw some real innovation in the design. I liked that there were separate distance scale in both feet and meters. I'm sure the extended focusing knob would make it easier to select the proper distance setting. The icing on the cake is the placement: Both scales are visible when viewed from above. Closer examination shows multiple aperture settings ranging from a wide-open F 5.6 to a minimum aperture setting of F 22. 

Photo Source: Click here.

As you can see from this photo of the chrome variant, both  scales are visible when viewed from above. As I wear progressive bifocals, I can appreciate that I wouldn't have to squint at both scales being crowded into a tiny viewing window. I wonder if anybody will see fit to adding this twin-scale configuration to a lens more suited for casual street photography. It would certainly get my attention.

I have to admit, based on features alone, I must own this lens. I'm going test the first Perger/Brightin Star lens first to see how it performs. If it passes some basic sharpness tests, the innovative Pro version will be on its way.