Im asking the questions!

OK, that is, for once, I will ask a question.

I shoot with flash – I even teach the subject. My setups are often like this one I used a few hours ago today:

Tht was to shoot an exec portrait.

In a setup like that (three speedlites, one with a gel) E-TTL (or Nikon’s i-TTL) does not work well. No reflecting surfaces in that big hall,  and no line of sight, what will all those umbrellas. So, I use Pocketwizards and manual metering. Fine – no problem.

In this setup I have two needs:

  1. I need to connect the pocketwizards to 430EX flashes that have no x-synch input. So I need to find a way to connect them so the PW can trigger the flash.
  2. I need to mount all this without dangling things. I note that both the flashes as well as the Pocketwizards have threaded holes for mounting stuff. How do I use those?

So who sells the cables I need, and hwo has mounting hardware that uses those thraeded mount holes? Especially in Canada and of course “now”, not “next year”? My local camera store did not know.

Answers are therefore very welcome, and not just by me, I bet.

Oh and the portraits, for a magazine, were of this type:

0 thoughts on “Im asking the questions!

  1. I was about to suggest exactly what you just purchased for the solution to the first problem.

    I don’t use PocketWizards myself, and my triggers (Cybersyncs) are smaller, but what I (and a number of other photogs I follow who do use PocketWizards) do is to mount them directly to the flash using black industrial strength velcro (get it at Michaels for maybe $10 for 10 feet… or get less but once you have it you start to find all sorts of uses.) The Cybersyncs fit nicely on the side of the flash, but if PocketWizards are too big you could mount them to the top. I know you’re not much for the homemade stuff, but its cheap effective and still looks professional. As an alternative I also recall something about PocketWizard safety cords… still dangling, but by a cord rather than the flash sync cable… I think it was on the Strobist website.

  2. Thanks Craig, good suggestions.

    Yes, PWs are big and I use Honl modifiers, so I have the speedstrap preventing mounting the PW on top. Although the same company has options (I am trying them), I will also look at those safety cords. Thanks!

  3. And to be clear, I was using the widest angle I had available (16mm on a full frame camera). That’s the way to get depth into the pictures. And this is an out-take: I don’t like to scoop my customers. 🙂

    • Totally understandable. Might I suggest indicating that in postings like this one. Even as a long-time follower of your blog, I wasn’t 100% sure if that was a final product… and it certainly doesn’t reflect the calibre of some of your other work.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *