Rethinking Location Lighting Part 2

Here's Where We Left Off: When we left our Hero, he just managed to stow his four speedlights, three controllers, and box full of batteries in his Tenba bag. Next, he will add the light modifiers and other little goodies. It's worth repeating that my outdoor light usually consists of relatively hard, direct lighting. Setting up a softbox or shoot-through umbrella can sometimes end in disaster, as a relatively gentle wind will send it crashing to the ground. 

Grip: Grip is used to describe the non-electrical components of the lighting solution. Once upon a time, the only grip I carried was a Justin Clamp. In theory, it would allow me to clamp a speedlight just about anywhere I could  reach. Since I now carry a light stand, my bag contains a spare umbrella bracket, along with some ball-equipped clamps to replace the Justin Clamp. Also, the clamps seem to work better on a wider variety of surfaces.

This little gizmo is a clamp that I carry and occasionally use to attach a single speedlight somewhere out of frame. It isn't as rugged as the Justin Clamp, but costs less than half as much, and requires less than half the space to store.  It also has two tiny retractable legs that, when used with the clamping screw, will allow the clamp to morph into a little tripod. Incidentally, the small ball head, seen on the left, has a 1/4 x 20 TPI screw, upon which I attached a Nikon AS-10 cold shoe. I'd would like to provide a link to an on-line source for the clamp, but it seems it was made to be resold by a variety of distributors who don't feel the need to identify themselves. 

Big Light Modifiers: As it turns out,  a folding shoot-through umbrella can barely fit inside the bag. I took a handy Westcott folding  umbrella and trimmed an inch off the shaft to better fit the bag. If you decide to trim one of your own umbrellas, be sure to shove a wooden pencil down the shaft before you start sawing. This will keep the shaft from collapsing when the cutting starts. If you can find a 5/16" screw protector at your local hardware store, use one to cover the end of the shaft. Even though the fit is pretty tight you might want to put a dab of glue to keep the screw protector in place. I listed a link to an Amazon vendor, buy I found mine at a local hardware store, where yellow is used to identify the 5/16" inside diameter.

Alternatively, you can purchase a 35" Manfrotto Trifold Umbrella which has a collapsed length of 12 1/2", which would have been short enough to fit the bag without any modifications. I couldn't justify the purchase because I already own at least a half-dozen shoot-throughs. 

Twin Flash Bracket: Several years ago,I made this bracket to hold two  Nikon SB-800 speedlights for those times when I needed more light output, or shorter recycle times. It works best when used with an umbrella because without it, you stand the risk of casting twin shadows. However, if you can place your subject close to the background, the double shadows will be much less noticeable.

There are a number of multiple-speedlight brackets available, and over the years, I've probably purchased all of them. Some integrate the function of umbrella holder into the bracket (Triflash), while others can trigger all the attached speedlights using their hot shoes and a single microphone jack which. when connected to a radio or optical trigger, can fire them all (Selens). Since I'm using speedlights that already have a radio trigger capability, I suggest my simpler, more compact approach. 

I was looking at the B&H website and found that Impact makes a Twin Shoe Umbrella Bracket that can hold a pair of speedlights in the same manner as my DIY version. If I hadn't already made my own bracket, I would have bought several.

Buy yours here.

Medium Light Modifiers: I will be adding a LumiQuest SoftBox III, primarily because it takes up no space and is easy to use if I am working by myself. It most effective when used up close, and can provide a very pleasing transition from highlight to shadow. It is only 8" x 9" and very flat, so it should fit somewhere in the bag. The only issue I have is the mounting. I installed a  Velcro strip around Speedlight D, being careful to place the strip low enough to not interfere with the a conventional Stofen-style diffusion dome or the Round Head Accessories Adapter (see below). It's an either/or affair with these last two items because the Softbox III can't be attached with the Gel Holder in place. This means that If I need to filter the speedlight, I'll need to tape it in place, just like I did in the old days. Check this post to see how I did this using cut gels and gaffer tape. I'll keep one properly cut CTO gel handy, just in case I need to color correct the mini-softbox. Unfortunately, the Velcro pretty much covers all the usable available surfaces on Speedlight D. For the moment, the gel will live on Speedlight C until I can come up with an alternative storage space.

Attaching Velcro: Here I have a conventional Stofen-style diffusion dome mounted on Speedlight D. As you can see, the Velcro has been mounted low enough to attach the diffuser dome or the Round Head Accessory Adapter, just in case I need Speedlight D to re-join the rest of the fleet.

I also added a Honl Speed Strap. I use it to cinch the Softbox tightly to the flash head, securing it much better than the Velcro when used by itself. In a pinch, a ball bungie cord could help secure the softbox, but once I tried the Speed Strap, I was convinced that this was the better way to go.

Before going any further, I'd like to clarify that all of this may be overkill when it comes to location lighting. A lot depends on how much time you have to work with your subject, whether you  have any control over the location, and how much freedom you have when it comes to light placement. Now that I always have a twelve-foot light stand in my car, I have  a great deal of freedom to locate the light exactly where I want it. When I have Cissie (my assistant) with me, things are different, since she can use the light stand, legs collapsed, in the same manner as we would use a painter's pole or monopod. The stand is only used when it is safe to "spread out". But if the situation demands a "run and gun" approach, all of this equipment stays in the trunk. 

Buy yours here.

Tight Light: This Round Head Accessories Adapter allows me to magnetically attach the diffuser domes, grids, snoots, and gels designed for use on the round-headed Godox V1 Flash. The adapter allows me to add accessories quickly. I already have magnetic gel holders with 1/4 and full CTO gels already installed, so attaching them is fast and easy. I only have one of these adapters at the moment, but when they back in stock at Adorama, I'll order a few more, along with some rubber snoots.

The final step will be to store the grids and gel holders in some way. It happens that the Tenba as side pocket partitions that will keep them separate and safe. There's still plenty of room in the case, so I can add some additional domes and accessory holders.

From left to right, this photo shows a speedlight with the holder in place, adding a CTO gel, adding a Grid Spot, and the holder with just a Diffuser  Dome. All are held in place by magnets embedded in the Adapter.

I have posts on using grids and CTO gels, so click on the links for additional information. For the moment, I'm ready to rock with four grids, four full CTO equivalents, and one each Fluorescent Green, 1/4 CTO, and blue cooling filter to balance a speedlight to open shade.

I happened to have a single-compartment clear plastic box (above) that will easily hold two Round Head Adapters (left one real, right one simulated) with some space in between. Either a round diffusion dome or a rubber snoot definitely fit between two Adapters. I may leave some grids and some CTO gels in the box nestled in the space between them, as those are the light mods I'm most likely to use.

The Kitchen Sink: Beside the Think Tank "flash cozy" and the battery storage box, I managed to create a lot of room in my lighting purse to fill with accessories that are nice to have but not necessarily photo-purposed. Among these I will include extra N95 Masks, Hand Sanitizer, and Sanitary Wipes;  a small first aid kit; a Swiss Army Knife; a notepad and several pens; several Ball Bungies; a small roll of Gaffer Tape; at least 1 Miner's Headlamp; and some cough drops or hard candy.

The Clown Car of Camera Bags: Nearly everything I described or listed in this post has been tucked away somewhere in this bag. The umbrella and the monopod are at the bottom of the bag under the box that holds the round head adapters. When the bag is zipped shut, it is much more compact than it appears in this photo. When my order from Adorama  finally arrives, everything I listed will be present or accounted for.

Having spent so much time just selecting the passengers for this little bus, I'm pretty sure that setting up on my next location assignment will be somewhat quicker, even in the dark.

Rethinking Location Lighting Part 1

After my recent experience at Bethlehem A.D. 2021, I started to re-think what I carry in my supplementary lighting bag. In the past, the speedlights, modifiers, and mounting bits and pieces were thrown into a partition-less Tenba bag, making it necessary to rummage through a jumble of lighting stuff, searching for the bits needed to assemble a proper lighting solution. Working at night with only a miner's lamp on my head doesn't make the task an easy one.

Buy your Domke bag here.

In years past I worked exclusively out of my big Domke F2 Bag where optional inserts with adjustable  dividers made it easier to store items in an upright position.  Then again, my approach to lighting consisted mainly of ceiling and wall bounce applications, and the only light modifier I carried was a Gary Fong Light Sphere. That second speedlight was just a backup

This catalog photo shows how I packed my equipment. With the partitions installed, you can see how easy it was to extract anything I needed.I would use the external pockets to hold two or more speedlights, while I kept the lenses and bodies in the padded interior. I still think the Domke is a great bag, but the weight of a full-blown system made me re-think my choosing Nikon DSLRs as my first-line, go to cameras. When I shifted to Fuji, much of the weight had been eliminated and my main carry bag got much smaller. But as my lighting solutions became more sophisticated, there were other carry issues to be addressed.

Initially, I relied heavily on the Nikon OEM CLS system, and employed the expensive (for the time) SB-800s and SB-900s for my primary flashes. When I started using Fujis, I tried to stay with the Fuji  OEM speedlights, but found them overpriced and underpowered, and I never felt that their TTL exposure metering was consistent enough for my purposes. Eventually I used my Nikon speedlights manually and relied on their native SU-4 (optical trigger) mode when multiple speedlights were needed.

Radio Triggered Flashes: As my conversion to Fuji is pretty much complete, I started to think about how much of my old equipment could be re-purposed to a mirrorless lifestyle.  The aforementioned Tenba bag has been my constant, though disorganized, companion for several years, having served as my primary Nikon camera bag in my pre-Domke years. In my re-imagination of the ultimate bag, organization of my speedlights was first in mind. I took an insert from a Think Tank Change Up camera pack, added some additional padded partitions, and voilà, my speedlights were now neatly arranged and easily accessible. And should I return to the Nikon world, the partitions will accommodate SB-800 and SB-900 speedlights without any additional adjustment.  

"Flash A" with settings taped in place.

Currently, four now-discontinued first generation Adorama / Godox Li-On Zoom speedlights replaced the Nikon SB-800s. Their primary claim to fame was that one could assemble an on-camera, radio triggered and adjusted lighting system that could be used on any platform that employed a conventional hot shoe. If you look closely, you can see that the flash "foot" has only a center contact. This allows the controller to ignore all proprietary electrical contacts, making it a pretty universal setup. I programmed the 4 flashes into four different letter groups, Each has its group letter written on a piece of tape. In addition, they have their settings taped in place so they can't be accidentally changed. Also, once a flash is used, I return it with the hot shoe down to remind me that the batteries may be partially depleted. If you look closely, you can see that I've added a 2 gig Compact Flash card and an 8 gig SD card to the slots in the insert. I chose a small CF card because I have several older DSLRs that can't use a larger card. You never know when an assignment demands the unique talents of an aging Fuji S2 Pro, my first 12 Megapixel camera.

Dedicated Radio Flash Triggers: The Flash Point Radio Transmitter (to the left of the flash) will ride in the mesh compartment in the Tenba's lid. By keeping them above the other equipment, I can minimize any possible damage to their antennas. I normally carry three transmitters but load batteries in only one. I'll load a second if I need to use a second camera.

Buy yours here.

Batteries: The batteries were my next concern. Because of their density, they could potentially damage fragile electronic equipment if allowed to crash about. This battery carrier from The Container Store gives me space for some AA and AAA batteries, two lithium-ion batteries for the Flash Points, plus some other odds and ends. There's plenty of additional room for spare batteries for my Godox V1, my Fuji X-100s, and my other Fuji bodies. It also holds two spare plug-in receiver modules for the Flash Point flashes.

For the moment, this little box currently holds all of the loose "heavies" that I brought with me on my last assignment, and the contents could be easily changed if the situation warrants. Spare camera batteries are usually kept in the camera bag and not the flash bag, but misfortunes arrive when it's least expected. It's comforting to know that I have spares in two different places.

So far, everything I've listed in this post has been neatly stowed away. As you can see, there's still plenty of space in the area beside the speedlight cluster and the battery box. And I still have the three outside pockets to fill.

I think I'm on to something. In my next post I'll add more goodies.