Setting up the Background

We set up two Photoflex 2218 LiteStands, about 10 feet apart, at the back of our set. Each stand was initially set about four feet tall so we could attach our background pole easily. When setting up any light stand, it is best to secure the horizontal braces parallel to the floor; this offers the broadest footprint and therefore the most stable footing (figure 1).

The background pole was assembled using three of the four available sections placed on top of the two LiteStands. The hole on each end of the pole slides over the threaded post of the LiteStand. Then a wingnut is hand-tightened on both posts to secure the assembly (figure 2).

Figure 3 shows the background pole resting on the two LiteStands. Figure 4 shows a closeup of the threaded adaptor post and wingnut used to secure the background pole to the LiteStand.

The background can now be attached to the background pole. A-clamps can be used to hold the background on the pole. However, our background has a sewn-in channel at the top allowing the cloth to feed over the pole.

For this, we loosened the wingnut at one end of the pole and slid the pole off the post. We fed this end of the pole into the sewn-in channel of our background cloth until the cloth was all the way on the pole. The pole was resecured to the LiteStand by hand-tightening the wingnut (figures 5 , 6, and 7).

Figure 8 shows the background assembly.

To raise the background, the LiteStands were extended until the desired height is found.

This was done by loosening the locking wheel on one section of the LiteStand's center column, raising that section, then re-securing the locking wheel by hand-tightening. If doing this alone, it's best to raise each stand about 2 feet at a time until finished.

Figures 9 and 10 show two angles of the background raised into position.

Notice that the bottom of the cloth has been pulled forward and rests on the floor forming a bit of a cove. This is a standard method of shaping a backdrop.

Setting up the Quantum Q Flash

For this photo session, we used the Quantum Q-Flash strobe light head in a Photoflex Medium LiteDome soft box as the key, or main, light.

Out of the box, the Q-Flash needed some minor assembly before we set it on our Boom and Boom Stand. We placed it on a LiteStand to make it easy for us to show the proper assembly procedure.

First you must install the flash tube. It has four pins that insert into the strobe head. They need to be lined up correctly, but this is simplified because there is red dot near the pins that can be easily lined up with the red dot in the receiving end of the strobe head (figures 11 and 12).

NOTE: Make sure the power cord is not plugged into a power source when inserting the flash tube.

The Quantum Td4 comes with a reflector that is easily attached and removed from the light head.

When attaching the reflector, first turn the retension ring at the top of the light head all the way to the unlocked position (to the right when facing the front) (figure 13).

The reflector has a metal sleeve on the rear with two registration cutouts. These cutouts should be positioned vertically over each other when inserted over the flash tube and into the light head.

Insert the metal sleeve of the reflector into the lighthead. Turn the retension ring all the way to the left (when facing the light head) to lock the reflector into position (figures 14 - 17).

The Quantum Td4 can also be used in conjunction with a tilting Heavy Duty Swivel mount.

To use a swivel mount, a threaded brass stud needs to first be attached to the strobe head. We screwed the 1/4-20 thread end of the brass stud into the base of the strobe head (figures 18 and 19).

Once attached, the stud was ready to attach to the swivel (figure 20).

Now the Heavy Duty Swivel can be attached to the LiteStand. To do this, we simply placed the bottom of the swivel onto the brass post of the LiteStand, and tightened the swivel's locking knob to the post (figures 21 and 22).

Then we were able to position the brass stud on the Quantum strobe head into the top of the swivel mount (figures 23 and 24).

Finally, we tightened the locking knob to secure the strobe to the Swivel and Stand assembly (figure 25).

Figures 26 and 27 show how the swivel mount can add a range of movement for the strobe head.

The swivel has a locking wheel at the center. Unlock the wheel to change swivel angles, then re-tighten to secure into position. Use care when loosening the locking wheel to avoid any sudden shifting of weight that could cause your light head and soft box assembly to topple (figure 26 and 27).

We used a Quantum 2X2 battery pack to powere the Quantum Q-Flash.

To attach the flash connector cord, we first had to remove the plug inlet cover on the battery pack (figure 28).

We then could install the flash connector into the plug inlet, making sure to orient the plug properly to the inlet (figure 29).

We were then ready to power up the battery pack by holding down the power button until the indicator lights came on (figures 30 and 31).

Programming the Qflash

Now that we have the Qflash T4d put together, we will take you through the basic set up and programming steps.

First we need to familiarize you with the controls on the Qflash. The following figures show the buttons and connections that you can use to set up the Qflash for your style of shooting (figures 32-35).

• Locking Ring: Locks the reflector and/or soft box connector to the Qflash
  
• Open Flash: Fires the flash for test or to get a meter reading
  
• Option Button: Lets you set/select some of the options features such as- Speaker On/Off, Reflector Type, and Turn On/Off the Flash Indicators, etc...
  
• Down Button: Allows you to scroll down through the settings in either the Mode or the Options windows.
  Mode Button: Allows you to change/set the flash modes, Auto, Manual, TTL, etc...
  
• Modeling Light: Turns on the flash to allow you to see and focus on your subjects in low light situations.
  
• Up Button: Allows you to scroll up through the settings in either the Mode or the Options windows.
  
• Flash Indicator: Lets you know the flash fired by lighting up.
  
• Reflector: Controls the spread of light and helps to focus it on your subjects.
  
• Flash tube: Emits the strobe burst when the flash is fired.
  
• Auto Sensor: Senses the light and controls the flash exposure in the Auto Modes.

• Earphone Jack: Allows an earphone to be attached to aid in hearing the indicator sounds from the Qflash when they are enabled.
  
• Twin Blade Sync Socket: The connection between the camera and the Qflash with either a sync cord or a radio slave.
  
• Bounce / Swivel Release: Allows you to manipulate the position of the flash head.
  
• Dual Accessory Sockets: Allows you to connect several Qflashes together or install other Quantum accessories.

For our glamour portrait, we wanted to control the depth of field to keep the subject in focus, while letting the background fall out of focus. When flash is used in photography, the shutter speed for the exposure is determined by the flash duration and at what speed the camera syncs to the flash. Typically, this speed is 1/60 of a second, but 1/125 to 1/1000 are not uncommon. This leaves any exposure control to be set by adjusting the aperture setting on the camera and the power settings of the flash.

In our glamour shot, we placed the lights close to the subject, and we wanted to shoot at f/16 to control our depth of field. To simplify this even more, the Quantum T4d has an Auto setting that will control the amount of light the flash puts on the subject based on the aperture setting of the camera. To set the Qflash into the Auto Mode and set the aperture settings to f/16, follow the next sequence of figures.

With the power on, press the Mode button to activate the Mode menu. Then use the UP/DOWN buttons to scroll through and select the Auto setting (figure 36).

Next, press the Set button and the f/stop reading will begin to flash in the LCD screen. Use the Up/Down buttons to set the reading to f/16 (figure 37).

Once you have made these adjustments to the Qflash, the “working” distance range will appear in the LCD screen on the unit (figure 38). The working distance at our setting is 1.1 to 10 feet, meaning that we can set the T4d Qflash anywhere in this range and get a good exposure every time.

Installing the Radio Slaves

Radio slave units are a great asset when using multiple strobe lights in the studio. These units allow the strobes to be synced to the camera using radio frequencies instead of wires.

To sync the Q-Flash units to the camera we used the FreeXwire radio slave units. To attach the unit to the Q-Flash simply insert the AC end of the sync cord in the Q-flash (figures 39 and 40).

Then insert the PC end of the sync cord into the PC outlet on the FreeXwire unit, and attach it to the light stand with the strap provided (figures 41 and 42).

Once you have attached the sync cord you can turn on the unit and flip up the antenna (figures 43 and 44).

With the Q-Flash and the camera attached to the radio slaves, you can then set the channels to the proper setting to have the camera set off the Q-flash unit. On the front of the FreeXwire units you should see a set of switches to set the programming for the unit.

Now that the camera and the Q-Flashes are connected we attached the Q-Flash to a Medium LiteDome and attached it to a Boom and Boom Stand. Then we placed the light over and just in front of our subject, then turned the light to fall on the models face (figures 45 and 46).

Programming the E-300 Camera Settings

Now that we had our key light set up, we were about ready to begin shooting. Before we could though, the camera needed to be programmed to the desired settings.

First, the camera needs to be turned on.

The power switch is on the top, right of the E-300 body. Turn switch to the ON position (figure 47).

We want to shoot in the Manual mode to have greater control over aperture and shutter speed settings.

The exposure dial at the top, right of the camera can be rotated for mode selection. Rotate the dial until the M (Manual) setting is next to the indicator mark (figure 48).

To set the camera to Manual Focus mode, press the AF (Auto Focus) button on the rear of the camera. The LCD screen will show the focus menu. Rotate the main dial at the top, right of the camera until MF (manual focus) is selected. Press OK (figure 49).

The White Balance setting needed to be set to ensure proper color rendition in our shots. Since we are shooting with strobe lights, which are daylight balanced, we needed to set the camera to 5500º K to match daylight.

Press the WB (White Balance) button on the rear, left of the camera. Then rotate the main dial to select 5500º. Press OK (figures 50 and 51).

We wanted a high quality image resolution for our shoot, so we wanted to shoot in TIFF mode.

To set the resolution, press the Resolution button on the rear, left of the camera. Rotate the main dial to select the TIFF mode. Press OK (figure 52).

To reduce the noise, or digital grain, we used the lowest ISO value on the camera, 100, for our session.

To set the ISO, press the ISO button on the rear of the camera to show the current ISO setting. Rotate the main dial to reset ISO to another value. Press OK when done (figures 53 and 54).

To set the aperture manually, press the INFO button at the rear, bottom left of the camera. The current aperture setting will show in the LCD screen.

Rotate the main dial to find the desired aperture. Press OK (figures 55 and 56).

We set our aperture to f/16.

To set the shutter speed manually, press the INFO button on the back of the camera, then press the +/- button on the rear left of the camera to highlight the shutter speed in the LCD screen. Rotate the main dial to the desired speed (figures 57 and 58).

We set our shutter speed to 1/60 of a second.

Of course, we needed to insert a media card into the camera. The EVOLT E-300 uses a CompactFlash media card for recording images. We used a Lexar 1G CompactFlash card for our session.

The media card access door is on the right side of the camera. Open the access door (figures 59 and 60).

Insert the CompactFlash card into the media slot. The pins of the card insert first as the label side of the card faces the rear of the camera (figure 61).

Press the CompactFlash card firmly in place, then close the access door (figures 62 and 63).

To set up the NeoTec simply hold it at the approximate height you wish and pull the legs to the floor one at a time (figures 64 and 65).

Once you have set the legs to the length desired spread them out by pulling then out into position (figures 66 and 67).

To fine tune the height of the tripod use the rapid center column, loosen the locking nut and slide the column up the desired height and tighten the locking nut (figures 68 and 69).

To remove the camera plate push the locking lever and the release lock at the same time and the mounting plate will release from the ball head (figures 70 and 71).

Secure the camera plate to the camera with the proper mounting screw (the 468RC4 comes with a ¼-20 and 5/8" mounting screw). Remember, do not over tighten the mounting screw. Then place the camera and mounting plate assembly onto the ball head and gently press it until it clicks into place. Ready to start taking pictures?

And Now We Shoot. . .

We can now start shooting some photos. Our first shot was taken using only the main light positioned as shown earlier in the lesson, in front of and above our model. Figure 72 shows the result when using only this light.

Our results show a good-looking shot, we have very nice skin tones and over all contrast, but we wanted some more spark in the subject's eyes.

To add some spark, we added a second light in the form of the Photoflex Small HalfDome. Following the same procedures for the first light, we assembled the second Q-Flash unit and attached a Small HalfDome to the light. Then we attached the light and soft box to a Photoflex 2200 LiteStand and placed it in front of the model, tipping the light up to fill in the shadows under the subject's face and into her eyes (figures 73 and 74).

With the fill light in place we again framed up our model and made a second test exposure (figure 75).

We were finally getting that spark in her eyes, and her skin looked even better with the addition of the second light (figure 76).

Our next step was to add some separation between the subject and the background. To accomplish this we set up a Dedolight unit (figures 77-82).

The Dedo DLHM4-300U is a 150 watt tungsten focusable light unit that comes in a kit with four lights and all the accessories you will need to create great effects in many of your shots.

For this lesson we set one of the DLHM4-300U heads on a Photoflex 2218 LiteStand with casters attached. The casters allow the light setup to be easily moved so our assistant could make minor corrections quickly. Then we set the light just behind the model and aimed it at her (figures 83 and 84).

Then we looked through the lens and had our assistant make adjustments to the lights' positions to get the effect we wanted, once we were happy with the position, we posed the model and made the next exposure (figure 85).

Now our shot was really coming alive. The result shows a glow around the subject and adds a sense of depth and separation between the subject and the background, giving us an image that was vibrant and interesting.

The following figure shows the progression of the shot to this point, one key light, the key light and fill light, and the key, fill and the separation light (figure 86).

At this point we asked the model if she could put her hair up so we could see the separation light better. While she was in make-up, we added a magenta gel to the Dedo light to add some more color to the final shot (figures 87 and 88).

The following results show the model's hair up and the effects of the light without the gel and with the gel (figures 89 and 90).

The key to shooting glamour lies in adding interest by trying new things. In our session, changing the color of gels was just one idea for adding different looks to our shots. You can also try various poses, different clothing and hairstyles, or possibly introducing props into the shots.

We took some more playful shots of our model. Some of these are shown below (figure 91).

We cropped in on these shots to put more attention of the model's face and not so much attention on the hat.

To add another touch, we added a wrap and got this shot (figure 92).

When shooting glamour shots, don't be afraid to experiment with your lights. Not everything has to be shot according to a formula. You may find some interesting effects that fit your particular style. Happy shooting.