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Wireless Flash
By David Honl
When we think of a camera flash, our first vision is usually a built-in popup flash or a flash that slides onto the shoe mount.
But there are so many more opportunities for great pictures when we take that flash off the camera for some creative lighting.
So what can photographers do?
The cheapest way to bring distance between your camera and flash is to connect the two with a PC cord. Like many photographers of my generation,
I used this method for many years and cannot count how many cords I had to replace after they were stepped on, tangled, yanked or twisted.
The tiny, poorly designed PC socket end is notorious for going bad and barely has enough surface area to hold a proper grip in a camera's cord socket.
From a creative standpoint, I always feel "leashed" when a cord is attached to my gear, and I'd much rather have the freedom of movement that allows me
to walk around my subject.
There are several wireless options for unleashing your strobes from the pitfalls of hard-wiring to your camera. Inexpensive hot shoe slaves
(from makers like Wein) use an optical sensor that triggers from any blast of flash, although you will still need one flash connected to your
camera to trigger any slaved strobes.
Another option is the infrared systems offered by both Canon and Nikon. Both systems rely on a small transmitter that slides onto your hot shoe and
triggers multiple strobes via infrared beam. For each system, there should also be a clear line-of-sight between transmitter and strobes for best performance.
Even operation in direct sunlight can sometimes interfere with the signals.
In the past year, I have switched over my entire wireless system to the PocketWizard radio slave system, and I never looked back. Since PocketWizards use
radio waves, they can reach up to 1,600 feet and are not inhibited by walls or obstructions. At a bit under $200 each, they are not cheap - you'll need
one for your camera and one for each strobe. However, it's such a rock-solid and powerful system, in my opinion, it is worth every penny. The PocketWizards
are versatile, too. I use them on everything from my Photoflex Starflash studio strobes to my portable hot-shoe type speedlights, and even trigger my camera
with them when needed.
Here are few examples of some of my earlier work with the Canon wireless system and my PocketWizard work:
EXAMPLE 1
I shot this portrait of a young Turkish girl in traditional nomad dress in a lemon orchard in southern Turkey. Since she was in the shade, I clamped a single
Canon 550EX (with a gold Sto-fen OmniBounce) to a lemon tree, and fired the strobe with Canon's ST-E2 Wireless Transmitter.
EXAMPLE 2
To highlight this Turkish Meerschaum pipe, I used two separate Nikon SB-24 Speedlights fired by PocketWizards. The white wall behind the subject was easily
turned to blue by covering the strobe with a blue gel and flagging it with one of my Speed Gobo Flags. The subject was lit with another SB-24 with one of my
eight-inch Regular Speed Snoots.
EXAMPLE 3
For this shot, I used a single Photoflex Starflash strobe in a three-foot Octodome, fired from a distance with a PocketWizard. This picture was shot at dawn,
and you can see the morning sun just breaking across the cornfield in the background.
EXAMPLE 4
This is an outtake from a self-portrait I shot for Photoflex's 2006 Lighting Catalog. I used Canon's ST-E2 Wireless Transmitter to fire two speedlites; one
550EX in the softbox to the right, and one 430EX to backlight the translucent disc and give a highlight to my hair. The location was along the Bosphorus Strait
in Istanbul.
EXAMPLE 5
In another self portrait, this time for a Lexar ad campaign, I used a Canon 550EX with one of my HonlPhoto Speed Snoots, triggered by a PocketWizard.
Using PC cords for this shot would have been a disaster waiting to happen since I was surrounded by shallow pools of water - I shot this in a damp and dark
cistern below the streets of Istanbul and any cords would have been a safety hazard.
EXAMPLE 6
I recently shot this picture of Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas in Almaty, Kazakhstan using a single Nikon SB-24 Speedlight on a lightstand, fired with a
PocketWizard. Going wireless meant I could move around the subject without changing the source of light or exposure.
BIO:
David Honl's photography has been published by Newsweek, People Magazine, National Geographic, and American Cinematographer, to name a few. He is also designs
and markets his own line of HonlPhoto accessories for location lighting. His photography can be seen at
http://www.davidhonlphoto.com
David Honl Bio
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