I often add a flash here, a flash there to my shoots. Easy peasy.

But if you have never set up a flash, that might not be so simple. Hence today’s lesson: how to set up a flash for some extra light.

From the bottom up, we have:

1. A cheap light stand.
2. A pocketwizard radio trigger. This just tells the flash “fire”. No intelligence.
3. A cable, from flashzebra.com, to connect that pocketwizard’s “flash” output to any flash, via a hotshoe. That hotshoe is screwed onto the top of the stand. (Optionally, I would usually use a ball head between the light stand and the hotshoe).
4. A flash (a.k.a. a speedlight). This can be any brand flash, as long as its power can be set manually.
5. On the flash, a Honl Photo speedstrap (help on with friction).
6. Attached to that Speed Strap, a 1/4″ Honl Photo grid, to be able to direct the light only where I want it.
7. On that grid, a yellow gel: this turns the light into yellow light.

Now all I need is an other Pocketwizard on the camera (the transmitter, whereas this one is the receiver); then I figure out the power level needed; and I am done.

Save this picture if you want to learn studio stuff!