BetterPhoto Q&A
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20D with studio strobes on sync cord

I'll probably be using a pc cord to fire the flashes for each shot but I don't know how I'm going to meter. Should I just use the ability to throw away crappy shots with digital and just snap the shutter to make the flash go off and take a reading, or does anybody in this position know if you can trigger the pc socket to sent out a flash signal if you hit the flash exposure lock button? What if I were to get one of those things that attaches to the hot shoe for those cameras without a pc socket? Will that let me be able to trigger the strobes?

If I haven't said it clearly enough, I would have to hold the meter up to the face of the model and have somebody else trigger the flashes by pushing the test button on one of them, which isn't practical.

If you can share your knowledge or perhaps what YOU do to trigger your strobes and to meter, that would be great.

Thanks!

Andrew

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June 18, 2006

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June 19, 2006

I guess I don't understand why all the hoop jumping.
Most studio strobes have slaves in them..Just use your on cam flash to trigger them..dial down the on cam flash so it won't contribute to the shot.
Have your subject hold the meter..what's the big deal?

Personally, I despise sync cords..just one more thing to trip over. LOL

Pete

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June 19, 2006

About firing the flash with the light meter through the sync cord, I just don't want to have to unplug it everytime I take a reading and plug it back in again.

I want to just be able to go up to the person, hold up the meter without having the meter on the cord, and be able to set the flashes off without going back and hitting test. So that's why I was asking if the FEL either through the sync or through the hotshoe would work, if anybody knew.

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June 19, 2006

If you don't want to be inconvenienced with the PC cord, and dislike asking your subject to hold the meter, which probably isn't too professional anyway, try this approach.
If you already have a posing chair/stool or at least have a fixed background so you know where you are going to place your subject before hand, then just set your camera to self timer. Walk your meter to where you subject will soon be, and wait for the flash to fire.
So long as you don't change the distance between your lights and the subject, then your exposure should be the same for the entire shoot.
Another idea, particularly suited if your setup is permanent, would be to measure off, in feet, from your subjects position to your flashes, main and slave. Using tape, in a semicircle, with your subjects position being the center, you can lay out flash positions on the floor. That way, even if you move your lighting side to side, you can, at a glance on the floor, maintain the same distance between your flash and subject so you don't have to remeter everytime. In most instances, your subjects feet won't be in the picture, so neither would your markings. And even if you did a full length shoot, the markings wouldn't even start till you were a good five or six feet at the least, away from subject position.

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June 19, 2006

As a side note, I won't have a permanent studio since I'll have to set it up each time I need to use it, plus I want to use them for location shooting as well. That's what I seem to have liked the best since I dont' have to buy all the props and backdrops for more variety.

What I'm wanting to avoid is just having to unplug the cord from the camera and put it into the light meter since I take a new meter reading anytime the subject moves closer to or further from the lights. That cound mean a bunch of cord changes and like I said, I don't have the money for a radio slave. Do you think the FEL button on the 20D will set off the pc socket connection? I also have a hot shoe mount pc connection accessory if pushing FEL will also sent a signal through the hot shoe to flash.

If I were taking photos that were like senior pictures where they just have a single setup in a studio and I could predict what I needed to do since I would always be in the same place, I wouldn't worry about it, but since I've needed lights at times and have been varying distances away, I don't want to have to move around too much.

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June 20, 2006