Recently I have started playing around with multiple off camera lights with my real estate photography. I use a Canon 580EX and 580EX II triggered with three Pocketwizard MultiMAX units.
By the way, my wife wanted me to mention that this home has already sold, but if you would like to discuss selling or buying a home with her you can contact her from her web site.
The first light is rather easy to place. Typically I attach it to a silver umbrella, then sometimes bounce it off a wall or aim it straight at the room but reduce the power. Sometimes this is enough to light a room. For example, in this room I wound up using just this one light – which was to the left of the camera.

The tricky part comes with what to do with the second light. First, I have come to realize that the second light isn’t always necessary. For many pictures, it is best left turned off and to the side. However, there are times when having the second light really helps.
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Posted 3 years, 7 months ago at 1:17 pm. Add a comment
Nelya often gets upset at me because I often prefer to buy books rather than get them from the library. With the exception of technical books for work – which go out of date quickly – I prefer to buy books and read them over long periods of time than have the books for only a few short weeks. In addition, I often refer to books in the future. Still, a number of times she does have a point.
However, Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting
is not one of those books. This is a book that you will refer over and over to and is well worth the investment. In fact, in my opinion this book is required reading. It is not for beginners, but anyone who hopes to understand light at all should have it.
First, let me stress again that this book is not for beginners. It assumes that you already know the basics of photography and how to properly expose a picture. What it doesn’t assume, however, is that you know anything about light.
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Posted 3 years, 7 months ago at 6:02 pm. Add a comment
Understanding of light is crucial to any photographer – from beginners to experts. Therefore, some time ago I purchased The Photographers Guide to Light
in order to get a better understanding of it. The book is well organized for beginners and each chapter covers light in a different aspect of photography.
The book begins with an introduction into the kinds of light and some of the scientific aspects of it. The language is very easy to understand and is accessible to almost anyone.
He then goes into more detail on the following subjects
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Posted 3 years, 7 months ago at 1:05 pm. Add a comment
I finally had time over the weekend to take some pictures, including a number with my new 180L. A review and comparison with the MP-E 65 is coming, but for now I thought you would enjoy some shots I took with the kids playing with a new bubble machine. I decided to practice using multiple lights with this attempt. I used a 580EX and a 580EX II triggered with Pocketwizards for the shoot. On flash had a small softbox attached to it while the other used the white card. In general I was happy with the lighting, but more tricky was getting the focus right. Only a number of shots in did I realize it would be a better idea to only use the center focusing point – as otherwise I was getting only bubbles in focus!
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Posted 4 years ago at 4:15 am. 1 comment