New Photo Gear

One of my Christmas present.

I have been looking for a light stand kit, so I can focus more on portraits. Found it while scanning through BHPhoto catalog. Very nice price, free shipping (heh heh, can't beat that). Ordered it on Wednesday, and arrived next Monday.

The kit consists of:

• 2 x 32" Convertible Umbrella

• 2 x Umbrella Bracket

• 2 x Air Cushioned Black Stand

The umbrella is white with removable black backing. After a brief test as bounce/reflector, I promptly removed the backing and used the umbrella like a soft box.

The flash bracket is made of pastic, but does not feel cheap. It swivels easily, and contains studs that will let me mount it on a light stand, and accepts the cold shoe mount. Strangely, my Nikon SB-600 will not slide in to the cold shoe mount. I had to use my flash stand instead. I might file that down later.

The biggest surprise are the light stands. They are light, air-cushioned, and reaches 8' high. They feel very well made, and sturdy (with the umbrella kit). Not sure if it can handle larger umbrellas.

I only used one of the set, and tested with the Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS) using the Nikon D70. I really like the way it turned out. Setup the system as a makeshift light box, the light is really nice.

My quick setup.

And a quick portrait shot of a beautiful volunteer model, :~).

Shot with 18-70mm kit lens at 55mm. The camera is about 3 feet from Sarah, and flash is to my left, about 4-5 feet from Sarah. The D70 was set to Commander mode, TTL. I post processed because she didn't have the right makeup on for a color picture, :~)

Now I am scanning through EBay for another flash to add to my setup. The flash that I wanted (SB-24, 25, 26, 28/dx, 80dx) are way out of what I want to pay at this time, DAMN Strobist! :~). I might hit the local pawn shops this weekend, what the heck....

Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase. I guess this is just the beginning of my spending spree for more gear acquisition: let's see, Nikon CLS is nice, but it is an optical triggering system, which has some limitation. I'd invest in RF wireless triggering style system down the road. Once I get the hang of off camera flash.