First umbrella, help :)

[yulchick]

Hi there, so my boyfriend got me an umbrella light...its an Opus OPL sa-02 (if the name helps), its nothing fancy, but I do need somewhere to start.. so the thing is I have to Idea how to use it correctly...the flash unit is an OPL-M40 (again if that helps), and its 40ws.

Do i set my camera as I usually would when using natural light? What about the placement of the umbrella? how far away from the subject, how high?

Im planning to do a single person portrait with it, but i dont know where to start..

[i speak in math]

Originally Posted by yulchick

Hi there, so my boyfriend got me an umbrella light...its an Opus OPL sa-02 (if the name helps), its nothing fancy, but I do need somewhere to start.. so the thing is I have to Idea how to use it correctly...the flash unit is an OPL-M40 (again if that helps), and its 40ws.

Do i set my camera as I usually would when using natural light? What about the placement of the umbrella? how far away from the subject, how high?

Im planning to do a single person portrait with it, but i dont know where to start..

(btw, the OPUS site has a whole page of video tutorials)

You'll likely find its pretty useless, unfortunetly. 40w/s is less light than the pop-up flash. You can maybe use it if you have a highly controlled indoor setup.

You'll want to place the umbrella and light in as close as possible, just out of frame -- maybe 3 or 4 feet. Place it at about 45 degrees to one side and a little above the subjects head. It kinda simulates setting sun angle. Of course, you can place it anywhere, but thats a good place to start.

You'll need some way to set the strobe off, likely some cheap radio triggers like cactus v4 or v5 or some yongnuo rf-602. The trigger goes on the camera hotshoe and the reciever gets plugged in the strobe with a sync cable.

Optical triggering won't work well since your flash is brighter than the strobe, it won't have much of an effect.

You can also get a sync cable, which plugs into the camera on one end and the strobe on the other. However, most entry level camera do not have this socket.

[yulchick]

Originally Posted by i speak in math

(btw, the OPUS site has a whole page of video tutorials)

You can also get a sync cable, which plugs into the camera on one end and the strobe on the other. However, most entry level camera do not have this socket.

It actually came with this cable, so I'll use that.. thanks for the tips, and for the link

if that flash is too weak, I could get a different monolight, still using the same stand and umbrella, right?

[i speak in math]

Originally Posted by yulchick

It actually came with this cable, so I'll use that.. thanks for the tips, and for the link

if that flash is too weak, I could get a different monolight, still using the same stand and umbrella, right?

In the video about the strobe that you have, it says it came with an 8 inch cable. Does your camera have a pc-socket? And if so, I don't think 8 inch will allow you to shoot very comfortably.

Yes, you can probably use a different strobe on top of the stand using the same umbrella. It kinda depends on if its a light stand or some proprietary stand made just for that product.

[Superfitz]

In order to use the cable you will need a pc sync adapter that fits in your hot shoe also. Nikon makes one called an AS-15 or something like that. It is like $20 USD. You could get a generic one for cheaper though. I am assuming you got the Opus OPL-M401 40WS Home Studio Flash Kit. If that is the case, then yes you could get a different strobe (alienbee, photobasics, etc..) and use that instead of the strobe it came with. It looks like the stand has a normal 5/8 inch lug deal on it. You could even put a speedlight on top of it with the proper adapter. Just goof around with what you have for a while so you can learn with it. Once you figure out its limitations you will be able to see what you need to upgrade.

[i speak in math]

Originally Posted by Superfitz

Just goof around with what you have for a while so you can learn with it. Once you figure out its limitations you will be able to see what you need to upgrade.

This is very good advice