Some basic questions!

[mjr]

Woohoo! Received the B1 yesterday and been playing with it today, first foray in to flash and finding the experience great!

I was concerned about backdrops as I have a plain white studio but have found that angling the light and using the grid on the beauty dish I can go from a full white background to a fading grey to a black, all with the one light, brilliant!

Anyway, I persuaded my neighbours daughter to help me out last night and sit for me and liking the results but as I play today i can see that it's possible to do so much more.

The light from the beauty dish is lovely and the grid makes a huge amount of difference. The flash head isn't as heavy as I thought it would be, the fan runs all the time with the modelling light on but it's silent when just using the flash alone. Battery life seems great although obviously the modelling light has a significant effect as I found out last night when the battery died mid shoot.

All in all really impressed with the B1 but can see me buying a few extras to get the most from it.

Thanks to all who offered advice, much appreciated!

Mat

 

[mjr]

Here's a first attempt, obviously I have a lot to learn but I'm blown away by the detail when using a strobe. I had dismissed this Nikkor 85 f1.8 as a total piece of crap because in daylight the reflections are just horrific but have found in controlled lighting it really works.

Anyway..



This is my neighbours daughter, never modelled before but I think she looks great. I think I will benefit from a reflector on the left and some way of bringing the light in to her hair but as a first attempt as a dramatic/low key look I like it.

Any tips or tricks, let me know!

Cheers

Mat

 

[gazwas]

Mat, how is using the B1 going and had any more shoots like in your original post?

 

[mjr]

Hey Gaz

All going great thanks, it's a fairly steep learning curve but I'm really enjoying using the B1, I'd be buying your last one if I had the money but alas no serious offers on my lens.

As this is my first step in to off camera lighting, I don't really have anything to judge it against, what I find absolutely brilliant is how easy it is to set up and control, I'm shooting Nikon so only using the air remote and the B1 on manual but it's so easy! I don't have enough experience yet to instinctively know what power I need in a given situation and maybe my only complaint is I can raise and lower the power from the camera but I don't know what I'm raising it or lowering it too so it's hard to replicate without going over and having a look. Obviously it doesn't matter in most situations but when learning, I'd like to be able to see what power setting I'm on.

I haven't had issues with weight so far, not got any really big modifiers yet so will cross that bridge when I come to it. Using an assistant is easy, it's light enough to have them hand hold and move about with it.

Overall, I'm really enjoying it, I have done a couple of small commercial shoots but avoiding taking on anything bigger until I really understand what I'm doing, I don't want to be experimenting with a client.

Now the important thing, have you got the Bron yet???

Mat

 

[gazwas]

Now the important thing, have you got the Bron yet???

Ha, thanks for asking but no not yet.

Sold the B1 today so thats all of my Profoto gear (bar some Air Syncs) gone making it all systems go. The Move packs are 2-3 weeks delivery so I'm in a state of limbo at the moment but have decided what I want. The only problem is I'm now forced back to cables on location again which is a major PITA when you're used to battery.

Glad you are enjoying the B1 and hopefully you get a second one soon. As much as I know the B1 is a real advancement in battery strobes and its an amazing bit of kit I don't think I'll miss them where as I missed the Acutes as soon as I packaged them up for posting.

I just hope the Moves live up to my expectations.

Keep us updated with your progress - the lighting forum is not the most active.

 

[mjr]

Good stuff, at least you know what you're getting. I'm terrible when it comes to waiting, if I buy it then I want it, now! Hopefully it won't take too long to get to you.

I'm actually liking the idea of the B1 inside the para 133 or something, best of both worlds! Need to earn some money first.

Good luck with it when it arrives, all good fun!

Mat