Fun with flash

Richard Charpentier Photography, RLC Design, Tech Reviews, Tech Tips 2 Comments

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430EX set on the back of the dinette. Click for larger version.

Monsoons have arrived in Arizona.  The large cloud builds during the afternoon, amazing lighting, amazing lightening, fun down pours, the works.  It’s only started, but I think this will be a fun monsoon season.  Hopefully I’ll come away with some interesting photos in the coming weeks.

What does one do when it’s pouring and you’re stuck inside?  How about play with your new 430EX II?  Yup, that’s what I did yesterday.

Yesterday while a black cloud hung over the Airstream (literally) I set up my 580 and 430EXs and tried some wireless triggering.  You know something?  It worked.  The built in wireless on the flashes was extremely simple to setup.  All I had to do was read the manuals.

I know a few people out there gasped with that last sentence.  Manuals are useful gang!  Give them a whirl sometime, they might help you figure out your latest piece of tech.

The 5D Mark II was used for testing.  The 580EX II was mounted on the camera and used as the master for the flash control (you can do that with a 580) and the 430 was set in the middle of the Airstream as the slave flash.  Setup was a breeze on each flash and took me about 5 minutes to complete.

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Same output on both flashes. Click to see a larger version.

The big fun was playing with the flashes’ strength.  High output on the 430, lower output on the 580.  Dark spots and light spots.  I know, I do get bored when it’s raining out.  🙂

I’m just getting into using this combination, so you’ll have to check back to see what I do with the new setup.  I don’t have a giant series of output levels and setups to share……  Well, actually, I do have a pretty big series of shots I did yesterday, but I don’t want to bore you with every test I conducted.  In time I hoping to use the combination for some sunset portraits, and at that time I’ll get into all the specs and setup.  Until then, just thought I’d amuse you with yesterday’s rainy day project!

One final note……The 5D Mark II has flash controls built into the menu system.  So, if you hate using all the buttons and big knob on the 580EX you’re saved!  You can set the controls for the 580 right on the 5D’s menu screen.  How cool is that?  Very cool from my perspective, but keep in mind, I’m a guy playing with flashes on rainy days…….gotta get a life, don’t I?  🙂

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