The Flash Center // Elinchrom

Today we had a fabulous demo from The Flash Centre representatives. They were showing us the Elinchrom lighting systems for studios, and it was a really good lecture. They were trying to sell their product to us (which, if I had the money, I would totally buy because it is amazing) but not only that, Chris talked us through good lighting techniques for studio portraits, how to use all the different accessories (and why its good to use them) and all sorts. I wrote 4 pages of notes!! (these are notes that I have written based on the lecture from Chris Burfoot.)

I shall try to be brief but honestly, I think the tutors at uni should take some pointers off the guys who came in today. That's the best lecture I've had yet!

Elinchrom
Swiss manufacturer of lighting since 1967
-high quality, excellent value

The Flash Center
Importer and distributor of Elinchrom since 1980, and are now serving professional photographers in Leeds, London and Birmingham.
-They are a small firm, they only emply around 30 members of staff. Everyone gets listened to!

Why Choose Flash?

• Speed
• Power
• Cool in temperature
• Daylight balanced

In 2008 they launched the BX 500 RI flash heads shown below :

• Only 2 wires inside the light, the rest of the electronics is made up of circuit boards
• Makes the light cheap, easy and environmentally friendly to repair.

In 2009 they launched the Ranger Quadra RS (portable flash)

• Daylight balanced
• 3 hours run time
• LED light runs at a cooler temperature than a bulb

They are currently looking into using UV lights in the Ranger Quadra to assist forensic professors and the forces.

Chris Burfoot (was one of the lecturers who took us on a step by step guide on how to use the lights;)

• Has been teaching lighting for over 25 years
• Lectures for the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), the Master Photographers Association (MPA) and the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers (SWPP)

The Basics
Shaping Light - Hard? Soft? Diffused?
Fill Light - Reflectors? Second source?
Monoblock - flash head plugs straight into the mains

Chris told us that any accessory (old and new) will fit on any of the Elinchrom flash heads. However, only the Elinchrom branded accessories will fit on their kit. (A bit like Canon lenses only fitting Canon cameras.)

They have a basic flash head kit called D-lights, and a more professional kit called...

The BX Range.

• Has a better flash ring inside, as the power is distributed from 2 points (that are opposite each other in the tube).
  
• Means that the flash only has to travel halfway around the ring, so it is faster than the D-light range.
• Has slave cells (so when one flash goes off, it sets the other one off at the same time.) These can also be turned off manually.
• Can be used controlled with infra-red triggers (no cables between the camera and the light. Is also picked up by the slave cell) and also radio controls (see more detailed description below.)
  

Flash duration is important when taking photographs. If the flash takes a long time to go on and then off, you're pictures will not be very good as slow shutter speeds will be needed. If the flash is very fast, your photographs should be sharper because you can use faster shutter speeds.

There are digital buttons and a digital screen on the back of the BX lighting range. The BX250 RI for example, has a maximum power of 5.3. When you need to change this to get the right f-stop on your camera, simply press the buttons (either up or down) 10 times for a full f-stop higher / lower. This is very accurate as you can change the numbers by 1/10th of a stop each time, and you can be certain that once you've pressed the buttons and got your final f-stop, you do not have to go back and meter to make sure. It is that accurate, that you do not have to keep double checking. Time efficient much! The modelling lamp (that is used as a guide) changes power when the flash is changed (although the lamp can be altered manually)

Radio Controlled Flash

• Fits onto the hotshoe of camera and can be used outside.
• Can control the power of the flash
• As 4 lights are usually used in a studio scenario (A main light, fill light (or reflector), a back light and a hair light) the radio controller can control all four of these by putting them in 'groups'. By flicking between group 1, 2 3 etc the controller can control the power of each one, then change the dial to 'all' and press the trigger and all lights go off at once.

As these flash heads are made in Switzerland, when the beep goes off to let you know that they flash is ready, you know that it has been charged to 100% (apparently flashes can be used when only charged at 80%, but Swiss standards say that flashes can only be used once they have been charged up to 100%)

Lighting Techniques

Transfer Edge - the line between shadow and light:
Hard line = high contrast
Soft line = low contrast

The bigger the light source, the softer the light.

Hints and Tips

• "Custard Pie Lighting" - light hitting the face flat on and giving exposure all the way around. Not flattering, don't do it!
• Put reflectors (in holders) really close to the subject, otherwise they do not really work.
• Umbrellas are fabulous light accessories...(Chris's words, not mine!)
• F8 or F11 is the best f-stop to use for portraits, as it gives a good depth of field (subject in focus, background blurred) and uses the best part of the lens (the most part in focus) for the picture.
  
• Honeycombs are the best for lighting backgrounds as they give a controlled pool of light with a graduated edge. Accessories can also be added to hold gels which can change the colour of the light.
• Meter for the mid point in the graduated edge to get this effect behind the model.
• Elinchrom soft boxes are very easy to put up, just push out the arms. You don't have to fiddle around bending the arms to put them in.
• Rotalux branded soft boxes come in various shapes and sizes. The largest octagonal soft box (if the photographer stands in front of it) can act like a ring flash, and the catch light in the model's eyes can be achieved by doing this.
• Beauty dishes are very large metal discs with a plate of over the flash. It is placed over the model at the front to smooth the skin and get rid of shadows.
• A triflector underneath the model reflects light around the underneath and sides of the face, but results in 4 catchlights being reflected from the model's eyes.
• When metering the light, take the reading from the part of the body closest to the light, so this part, the brightest part, is not burnt out.
• When deciding on a background colour white and black are a must, but grey also holds coloured light really well. White tends to reflect it too much and black tends to absord too much. Mottled grey holds colour and provides a texture.
• Use more that one coloured light for a dynamic background colour.The Octagonal 1.9m soft box
  

Ring Flash

Is a flash gun most commonly used for macro photography. It fixes onto the front of the camera around the lens, which provides shadowless lighting on the subject. In the fashion industry ringflashes are really big to provide quality catchlights and flawless skin.




White Backgrounds

• Underexpose a white background and it will turn out grey; over expose it and it will bleed onto the subect back and burn out their outline.
• Light the background 1/2 or 1 f stop lighter than the main light for a pure white background.
• If the background is grubby or creased, more stops are needed to burn them out.
• Fill light should be 1 f stop less that the main light
• Meter to where the cam is going to be with both fill and main light on together eg. 8.3
• Turn both lights down by 0.3 to get a perfect F8.
  

And there you have it. That must have been the longest blog post in history, but it needed to be done. I've learnt an awful lot from the lecture, and would love another lecture like this one in the future.