A Step Closer to Strobes: Cowboystudio Speedlight Bracket T

Using speedlights with modifiers that were originally designed for strobes sometimes entails compromises.  The ingenious Speedlight Bracket T from CowboyStudio mitigates those disadvantages and helps your modifiers perform at their best by positioning your speedlight for optimum performance.  This bracket also enables you to use a wider variety of modifiers.

Note: This post is part of a series that will cover equipment reviews for committed enthusiasts.  Read more about Toys for the Big Kids here.

HOW LIGHT DIFFERS BETWEEN SPEEDLIGHTS AND STROBES

Speedlights have a different light pattern compared to strobes because a speedlight's flashtube is inside the flash head whereas strobes have flashtubes that are exposed (i.e. bare bulb), allowing you the option of sending the light out in almost all directions instead of a cone.

When speedlights are used for modifiers that were originally designed for strobes, modifiers' performance can suffer:

Umbrellas.  Many strobes have built-in holes for umbrellas that allow the flashtube to sit close to the umbrella's axis.  On the other hand, the typical umbrella bracket for speedlights places the speedlight head a significant distance from the axis of an umbrella,  resulting in less even lighting of the umbrella.

Speedlight on typical umbrella bracket.  25-inch umbrella shown.

Softbox.  When the bare bulb of a studio light is placed in the softbox, the light is scattered everywhere within the box -- some to the front, where it is diffused by the front panel, but much of the light also illuminates the reflective sides of the softbox, from which it is further diffused by the front panel, spreading the light more evenly across the face of the softbox.

When a speedlight is used with a softbox, most of the light is sent forward, and less so on the sides of the box.  A hotspot becomes more likely, which arguably reduces the effective size of the softbox.  It is possible to use a dome diffuser to simulate a bare bulb but with some softbox brackets for speedlights, the flash head is partly outside the softbox wasting a significant portion of the light.

Beauty Dish.

Each beauty dish has a different focal point depending on the curvature and design of the dish, and the size and position of the deflector.  A speedlight that is not at the focal point produces different light patterns.  See the heading "Fine-Tuning the Beauty Dish Output" here.  Using a speedlight with a beauty dish that was designed for a  specific strobe often means that the speedlight won't be positioned at the focal point.

COWBOYSTUDIO SPEEDLIGHT BRACKET T

The CowboyStudio Speedlight Bracket T addresses the foregoing issues to some extent, and adds other benefits.  With this bracket, the speedlight is mounted horizontally.  It has a ring that fits modifiers compatible with the Bowens S-mount.  The bracket also has a tiltable lightstand mount with umbrella hole.

The bracket includes several parts, with some thoughtful design features:

1 - the Bowens mount

2 - a coldshoe.  Similar in design to the Stroboframe cold shoe, except that it has a protrusion at the bottom that fits in the groove of the L-bracket (#4) so that the cold shoe will not rotate.  It also has a screw to prevent a flash from sliding off one end.

3 - a second cold shoe plus a washer.  This cold shoe allows the flash to be rotated.  It has a hole for flashes with locking pins.

4 - L-bracket.  Supports the flash.  The groove allows the flash to be adjusted vertically (within a 2-inch range). The L-bracket can slide along the length of the rail (#7). Reversible.

5 - 1/4-20 screw.  Secures the cold shoe or a flash with female 1/4-20 insert to the L-bracket (#4).  Includes a metal washer and a rubber washer.  The rubber washer has a notch to accommodate the protrusion of the coldshoe (#2).

6 - thumbscrews to attach the mount (#1) to the rail (#7).  Tools not required.

7 - Rail. Around 8 inches long.  The bottom of the rail includes an umbrella holder and a tiltable lightstand mount.  The lightstand mount includes grooves to resist movement once tightened.

8 - thumbscrew.  This is attached at the opposite end of the rail to prevent the L-bracket (#4) from sliding off the rail.

9 - spigot - can be inserted in the lightstand mount to accommodate either a 1/4-20 or 3/8-16 insert.

BENEFITS:

This bracket has a simple design but offers several benefits:

1.  The flash is on-axis.  By placing the flash much closer to the axis of an umbrella, the bracket allows a flash to illuminate an umbrella more evenly.

2.  The flash can be adjusted in 3 axes (vertically, horizontally, plus rotation).  Unlike other speedlight bracket designs, this bracket design has tremendous range of travel along the horizontal axis of the bracket -- a range of around 8 inches.  In the shot above, you can see that even though the flash is horizontally positioned in the bracket, it may be moved further away from the umbrella than with a typical umbrella bracket.

The range of horizontal travel is a critical feature because it allows the flash to be moved inside the modifier to the modifier's focal point.  Together with a dome diffuser, this addresses at least part of the softbox problem and beauty dish positioning problem.

3.  Compatible with both speedlights and large flash (e.g. Quantum, Sunpak 120J, Vivitar, Armatar, etc.).

Some bracket designs are compatible with large flashes but the position of the flash is far from ideal.

This bracket allows a large flash to be perfectly positioned.

4.  Allows a wide variety of modifiers that are available for Bowens/Calumet.  Speedlights are still playing catch up to studio strobes when it comes to availability of modifiers.  With this bracket, you can use the myriad of modifiers compatible with Bowens/Calumet.

5.  Replaces both an umbrella bracket and speedlight softbox bracket.   You won't need to carry separate brackets for an umbrella or speedlight softbox.

6.  Sturdier than the generic speedlight softbox bracket.  

Some speedlight brackets have a thin speedring that is supported with only one screw.

The Speedlight Bracket T has a mount that is very sturdy and is attached to the rail with two thumbscrews.

7.  About half the cost of the almost identical Cheetah Speed Pro Bracket Mk I.
CheetahStand.com has a very similar bracket that costs around $68 at the time of this writing.  I got my Speedlight Bracket T from Amazon for around $30 with free shipping.

8.  Good quality construction.  The fit and finish on this is not perfect but most of the parts are metal and should last several years.

Disadvantages:

1.  No support for the front of the flash. The flash is supported only by the L-bracket.  The front end of the flash is not at all supported, which places a lot of strain on the hot shoe.  By comparison, the Cheetah Speed Pro Bracket Mark II has an adjustable vertical support.

2.  The Bowens mount has to be removed to pack it.  It takes a couple of minutes to attach the mount.  With repeated packing and unpacking, I'm also concerned about losing the thumbscrews.

SUMMARY:
The Speedlight Bracket T is the perfect complement for your flash and will bring it one step closer to strobes.  It is sturdily built and well designed, with many thoughtful features.  At $30, this is a must-buy accessory for your lights if you want to get the most from your modifiers (and your lights).  Highly recommended.

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Meike MK-RC7 update: one receiver dead

Just an update about my Meike MK-RC7 flash triggers. One of my
receivers died for no apparent reason. By dead, I mean that it won't
turn on at all even if I replace the battery. I didn't drop it or get
it wet. Notably it is the receiver that I use more often. The other
receiver that I use less often is still functioning (for now).

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Toys for the Big Kids: Speedlight Softbox

In this post, we will have a look at a softbox for speedlights.  This post is part of a series that will cover equipment reviews for committed enthusiasts.  Read more about Toys for the Big Kids here.



WHY USE A SOFTBOX?
Softboxes are bulkier and more costly than umbrellas.  It is hard to use a softbox without a light stand or an assistant.  On the other hand, umbrellas are cheap, fairly portable, and can be employed relatively quickly, even by a solo photographer.  Why bother with a softbox?

One issue with umbrellas is that they offer less control.  A shoot-through umbrella spreads light everywhere.  If photography is drawing with light, then a shoot-through umbrella is like splashing your canvas with a bucket of paint.

A reflective umbrella offers more control than a shoot-through umbrella and is a closer match to a softbox.  However, a reflective umbrella (especially a silver one) is more specular and has a greater tendency to have a hotspot (the light is less even across the umbrella).  With a softbox, the light is bounced around the reflective insides of the softbox and then sent through one or two diffusion panels.  By the time the light goes through the panels, it is much more even than that of a reflective umbrella.

There are now umbrella-softbox hybrids that combine some of the best qualities of an umbrella with those of a softbox.  These umbrellaboxes look like reflective umbrellas, except that they have a diffusion panel (where you insert the flash).  See this post.  The result: it has a much more even lighting across the face, just like a softbox, yet it is as portable (and almost as inexpensive) as an umbrella.

Umbrellabox aka softbrella, umbrellasoft, brollybox

[Note: there are also umbrellas that look like shoot-through umbrellas with a panel at the back.  Those do not function like softboxes and produce a light pattern more similar to those of shoot-through umbrellas.]

However, a softbox has a couple of advantages over an umbrellabox.  First, an umbrellabox has a pole sticking out the middle.  That means there is a limit to how close you can bring it to your subject.  Some umbrellas, such as the Photek Softlighter have a partially removable pole that addresses this concern to some extent.

Second, if you want the tight control offered by a grid, a softbox is your only option for now.  I have yet to see a grid made for an umbrellabox.

SPEEDLIGHT SOFTBOX
Softboxes have traditionally been used with strobes, and were originally designed for use in a studio.  The speedlight softbox is a little different from a studio softbox because it's designed to be portable, is quick and easy to setup, and includes a bracket made for speedlights.

Lastolite probably deserves credit for making speedlight softboxes popular with their collapsible Ezybox design.  Look for an upcoming review of the Ezybox by my co-author mshafik.

Meanwhile, similar designs have since appeared from third parties.  Mine is by CowboyStudio and I got it from Amazon for $55.  The CowboyStudio softbox that I got includes:

• a 24" collapsible softbox
• bracket for speedlights
• removable inner baffle
• removable front diffuser
• 50-degree grid
• round mask
• small round bag for the softbox
• and a bag for the kit.

Softbox
The softbox is described as being 24 inches.  In reality, when unfolded, each side is only about 21 inches.

I like this softbox design because of the setup speed.  Typical studio softboxes are assembled with rods connected to a speedring.  The rods are in turn inserted into the corners of the softbox.  Check out this video of a typical studio softbox:

As you can see it can take a few minutes to put it together.

The softbox here is entirely different and instead comes as a triangle that simply and instantly pops up (like some car shades) into the shape of a softbox.  The optional inner baffle has metal hooks that can then be connected to loops inside the softbox.  The front diffuser is then attached via velcro to the lip of the softbox.  The optional round mask or grid can also be attached via velcro.

Folding the softbox back into a triangle for storage is just as easy.  The triangle can be further folded into a smaller circle for maximum portability.

Besides ease of setting up the softbox, another feature I like is that the front is recessed, which helps improve control and reduce spill.

Bracket


This kit comes with an adjustable bracket that can accommodate speedlights of various sizes as well as some larger flashes.

Assembled bracket

Bracket components

A flash can be attached via the included hotshoe or the 1/4-20 thumbscrew.  However, if you use the thumbscrew, you may need a spacer.  For example, the thumbscrew was a bit too long for the 1/4-20 insert of my Nikon AS-E900 adapter (for a Radiopopper JrX).

Bracket shown with Yongnuo YN-560 (same size as Canon 580EX) and a Quantum X2 battery-powered strobe

Although the bracket is adjustable, the extent to which a flash head can be moved inside the ring (and into the softbox) is limited.  In the case of a Quantum X2, much of the flashtube will sit outside the softbox.

The bracket can be mounted on a light stand's 5/8" stud.  Alternatively, the bracket can accommodate a spigot with female 1/4-20 insert (not included) so that the bracket can be mounted on a tripod.

EVENNESS OF LIGHT
Given that softboxes were originally intended for strobes with bare bulbs instead of speedlights that send most of their light forward, I was concerned about how evenly the softbox would be lit.  In the worst case scenario, if the speedlight would light only a small portion of the softbox, it would act as a smaller modifier.

I took some test shots to see the evenness of the light on the face of the softbox.  I first took test shots with only the front diffuser (without the internal baffle).  Even with an SB-800's built-in diffuser in place and the flash zoomed to 14mm, the light was not very even:

I then tried using a dome diffuser attachment (similar to the Sto-fen omnibounce).  There was almost no improvement:

I finally attached the internal baffle.  The speedlight was zoomed to 24mm without the built-in diffuser or the dome diffuser.  It was a significant improvement.

Note that I did not adjust the power level on the flash. Judging from the luminosity map, there was also not much power lost.

SAMPLE SHOTS
Earlier, my wife had volunteered for photos because she was going to get her hair done.  Afterward though, she didn't like how her hair turned out (looked fine to me).  So I had to resort to a self-portrait.

In this first shot, my key light was the 24" softbox (powered by a Nikon SB-800, triggered by a Radiopopper JrX).  To show the effect of the softbox, I didn't use any fill.  Behind me was a seamless gray paper supported by a Linco background support.  I also attached an SB-80DX and an SB-26 behind and to both sides on 1/64 power, using a super clamp to attach them to the background stands and triggering them optically with their built-in slaves.  The shot is almost straight out of the camera with minimal adjustments to give you a better idea of what the softbox light would really look like.

In the next shot, I kept the same setup but added on-axis fill light with an ABR800 ringflash and increased the power of the kickers to 1/16.  I also moved myself farther from the background.

Finally, I kept the same setup as the shot above, except that I attached the grid.  Note that the light on the background has been reduced.

SUMMARY
Strengths

• Setup is much quicker than studio softboxes.
• Inner baffle is effective at making the light more even.
• Bracket can accommodate larger flashes.
• Kit includes grid and round mask.
• Much lower price compared to Lastolite Ezybox or the virtually identical CheetahStand Q-Box.

Weaknesses

• Bracket does not allow some flash heads to be inserted completely in the softbox.
• Smaller than advertised.
• Ring on bracket is secured with only one screw.  The ring can be twisted to the left or right, and is not very sturdy.
• Shape of softbox is not parabolic.  Light is not parallel.  

OTHER RESOURCES
Comparison between the Cheetah Q-box (substantially similar to this softbox) and the Lastolite Ezybox.

COMING UP ON TOYS FOR THE BIG KIDS:

• a bracket that can replace the bracket included with the speedlight softbox, and can expand the number of modifiers available to your speedlight or battery-powered strobe.
• bare bulb advantages.
• introduction to Quantum flashes.
• review of the Paul C. Buff ABR800 ring flash.
• other cool modifiers such as an octagon softbox and a beauty dish.

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Toys for the Big Kids

We will be posting a series that will review equipment for committed enthusiasts and aspiring pros.

Thus far, most of the equipment we've reviewed on our blog have been usable for candid shots.  By contrast, the equipment here are usually for setup shots, when considerations of time, convenience, and/or cost take a backseat to emphasis on control and getting the best result possible.

If you have been taking mostly candid (as opposed to setup) shots, these reviews are an opportunity to view another side of photography.  You may also be interested in these equipment for taking setup portraits.

In these reviews, we will not only talk about the product itself but also the rationale for using them.  We're not equipment snobs and we're not going to assume their value but instead continuously prod the justification for their use.  If we blow a few myths along the way, so much the better. :)

LIST OF ARTICLES (TO DATE):

1. Speedlight Softbox
2. A Step Closer to Strobes: Cowboy Studio Speedlight Bracket T
3. Bare Bulb Superiority: Fact or Fiction?

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BC3:2L Portrait - Local Hiro

Strobist.com's Boot Camp 3: 2 Lights (BC3:2L) started a couple of weeks ago with the first assignment, a portrait of a person from your community.

I had some difficulty choosing the subject, partly because we're new to the South Bay area of Los Angeles.  Initially, I thought of taking a photo of our local neighborhood watch captain or maybe a city official, but I thought those choices were kind of boring.  I then thought about the qualities that first attracted us to our city, such as its laid-back, casual atmosphere.  I started thinking about people who might represent that quality, and then I thought of Chef Hiro.



Chef Hiro owns Sun & Moon Cafe, a sushi bar that serves Japanese fusion cuisine just a block from the beach.  The bar is a well-known hangout among locals.  The first time we went to his bar, I saw all the eclectic, somewhat chaotic decor, with Japanese umbrellas and daruma dolls beside drawings of surfboards.  I thought it was a little wacky but cool in a down-to-earth way, which reflected the personality of Chef Hiro.

When I asked him for an appointment for a portrait, I introduced myself and offered to shake his hand.  He offered me a fist bump instead.  That's Chef Hiro.  He has bragging rights for having been an Iron Chef in Japan but you'd never know it by talking to him because he's entirely unassuming, and the first time you meet him, he already makes you feel like you've been buddies for years.


CONCEPT

For Chef Hiro's portrait,  I thought it would be nice to have an environmental portrait in his bar because it showed his personality.  On the other hand, the background could be very distracting.  I did consider bringing a white popup background to create a relatively easy high-key portrait but that wouldn't do justice to Chef's colorful restaurant or his personality.

To make the background less of a distraction and more helpful to the portrait, I thought of some solutions such as a low-key portrait where a shaft of light illuminated only part of the background.  However, I thought that the low-key portrait didn't suit Chef Hiro's bright personality.  Instead I decided to use a background light to draw the viewer's attention to Chef Hiro.

For the light on Chef Hiro himself, I initially thought about using a softbox - a safe choice.  But again thinking of what I wanted to convey about the subject, I decided to keep it simple and natural - like Chef.  I decided I would rely on ambient light from the large window and for the fill, I would use a reflector.

PREPARATION

To maximize the chances of executing my vision exactly as planned, I did a dry run at home, which forced me to think of things like where I would place the light, and which tools I would use.

Speaking of positioning the light, the bar is small and narrow, and there's not much room to maneuver around.  I couldn't use my favorite light stands with its 52-inch footprint.  I decided to use a tripod for my background light.  I brought a couple of super clamps and justin clamps justin case. (har har)

To trigger the light, I would use the Radiopopper JrX Studio - it would be more reliable than CLS AWL (although I would give up the precision of exactly specified flash exposure and instead rely on the JrX dial).  When I packed my gear, I connected the speedlight (already gelled) to the RP Cube, and the RP Cube to the receiver, set to its frequency, all ready to go.  Getting everything ready this way would minimize the setup time, thus saving Chef Hiro a bit of time from his busy schedule.

THE SHOT

I got to the sushi bar a few minutes before the appointed time.  I set up the light in just a couple of minutes, taking some test shots and chatting with the lovely waitress while doing my best to insert what little Japanese I could in the conversation.

Finally, Chef was ready.  He was game from the first shot, so I needed only a few shots (3 to be exact) to get a good expression.  The gesture I captured here is 100% Chef Hiro.  I didn't 'direct' him or anything, although that's exactly what I imagined he would do (partly why I chose a wide focal length and short shooting distance - to exaggerate the gesture that I expected).


In post-processing, I applied a radial blur with a layer mask to keep the viewer's attention on Chef Hiro.

And with that, my first BC3 assignment was done!

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Easy Beach Photos

Baywatch is getting a remake

During the long weekend, I got to take our toddler to the beach.  The sun was very bright - ambient was at ISO 200, f/20, 1/250.  That also meant extremely high contrast between sunlight and shadow.  If I exposed for the sunlight, the shadow would have little visible detail.  The simple solution is to use fill light.

Fill light will lift the shadow detail and reduce the dynamic range of the scene (the difference between the relevant highlight and relevant shadows) to within the camera sensor's dynamic range, thus preserving both highlight detail and shadow detail.

However, the other problem with shooting in these conditions is that the sun is a very hard light source, creating sharply defined shadows (as in the shot of our toddler building sand castles).  To address that issue, I like to use the sun as rim light instead of the key light.  With the subject's face in shadow, there's no harsh light on the face.  But that leads to the previous problem of dealing with the exposure of the subject's face which is now hidden in the shadow.

We could use a popup flash but that is a hard light source just like the sun, so we would be back at square one.  It's possible to use an umbrella or softbox but the beach is usually very windy, making it hard to handle a suitably large umbrella or softbox.

An easy alternative is to use a ringlight (aka ring flash), which produces light that appears almost shadowless (as long as the subject is not next to a wall).  A ringlight produces flat, even lighting that doesn't help reveal the subject's three-dimensional form - but that's ok under these circumstances because that's what we would expect a shaded subject to look like, thus making the use of the flash less obvious.  The ringlight's reflection will show up on sunglasses and other reflective objects but it's easy to clone out if you want to.  Here I left the reflections alone.

Besides real ring flashes from Profoto and Paul Buff, less expensive speedlight adapters are available from Ray Flash, Orbis, some eBay and Amazon sellers, and now from DIYPhotography.net.

RELATED POSTS:
Coco Ring Flash
Use Flash in Daylight?
Fill Flash: Summer Pool Party

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Photoverse 1.5

Back in February, we reviewed Photoverse for iOS.  We recommended it as a great way to get the latest photography information and tutorials on the road.  It has also earned recommendations from esteemed photographers such as David Ziser.

We have great news -- Photoverse v1.5 is out, and it's a major upgrade!


Photoverse has a full list of the improvements here.  The improvements that I like best are:

1.  Hiding blogs.  The original Photoverse included a list of many blogs.  The new one has even more new sites.  Sometimes, it was clear which ones were relevant to me and other times it wasn't.  I didn't want to have to remember which ones were not relevant to me.  Now that I can hide blogs, I can filter out the ones I'm not interested in.  Just swipe to the right and a "Hide" button will show up.  It's possible to show the hidden blogs by hitting "Undo" though it appears to reveal all previously hidden blogs.  Perhaps in the future it will be possible to selectively reveal hidden blogs.

2.  Bookmarks / Favorites.  Now I can find the blogs I like best by pressing the bookmark button.  It shows up in a separate list called Favorites.

3. Search by Name, Category or Description.  Looking for blogs that relate to your interest but don't want to go through each blog one by one?  Now you can search for blogs you're interested in by typing keywords based on your interest.

There are tons of other features for Photoverse v1.5.  Best of all, this is a free upgrade for existing Photoverse users!

Currently, Photoverse is available only for iOS.  However, an Android version is scheduled to be released in about a month. 

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