Shooting in snow is challenging to say the least. It makes batteries die, lenses fog and cameras angry. It also gives you thousands of new options to work with. To name a few; Riders dressed like skittle bags, popcorn effect, never ending formations of snow, urban adventures, and of course, those beautiful snowflakes.

In this section I’ll focus on general lighting techniques for beginners. I’ll be talking mainly about 2 flash set ups as that’s what most beginners would be using. Once you get into 3+ flashes you’re dealing with more advanced techniques.

Points of interest:

1. Equipment Prep
2. Placement
3. Jumps & Rails (Coming soon)

1. Equipment Prep

Alright great. You’ve read our Part 1 on Equipment and are ready to start shooting. Wrong. You need to get that equipment ready for the cold.

Start with a checklist. Do you have your camera (Obvious. Yes. But necessary), flashes, triggers, cords, lights stands, tripod, tripod/light stand carrying case, batteries (Camera, flashes and triggers), lenses!, and your backpack?

Awesome now don’t forget about your jacket, hat, gloves (extra set PLUS mittens), hand warmers, foot warmers another hat, tape when you get holes in your gloves from jumping that fence which coincidentally made you lose your mittens and you’ve realized you left your second set of gloves in the car, very warm boots, snowpants because it’s going to get cold, thick socks times 3, car keys, assistant and don’t forget the map to the super secret hand rail. Ok, now I think you’re ready to start prepping your gear.

I don’t do anything special to prep my gear for the cold but there are a few points I’d like to make. Never, under any circumstances, turn your camera on after bringing it inside UNTIL IT IS WARM. I don’t care if your friends want to see that last shot “Just real quick”. It only takes a fraction of a second for moisture to fry a cameras internal electronics. Tell your friends they can wait or buy you a new camera. Their choice.

Next is make sure your batteries are always charged. And then read this. One of the drawbacks of shooting on location, albeit on the hill or in the middle of a city, is the lack of power. You’re pretty much restricted lugging around a generator, 10,000 rechargeable batteries or expensive professional pack. Since we’re still discussing beginner lighting, I’ll just touch on the AA’s. There is a an alternative though.

Using homemade battery packs. My first battery packs were for my 285′s. They were 7ah 6v SLA’s and they worked “great” for the $35 I spent on them. I say “great” because with anything homemade there are drawbacks and sometimes fires.

To see how to make your own battery packs click here: DIY Battery Pack for Flashes. If you’ve somehow ended up here on accident and are looking for a Vegabond style DIY Battery Pack click here

AA’s are an essential in your camera bag. I carry 16 rechargeables and a backup of new alkalines. You can never have too many batteries. In the cold you can pretty much half your expected number of shots along with increased recycle time. With the SLA’s it isn’t as bad because you will almost never be able to stand around in the cold long enough to deplete them.

The best batteries for your flash are NiMh’s. They are 1.2v but will decrease recycle time and almost always have longer life. Alkalines are to be used only in emergencies.

2. Placement

Every time you use flashes you’re basically creating the same lighting pattern every time. A main light source and a rim light. The way I look at a subject and envision the lighting is place my rim light first then place my main light about 180 degrees on the other side. This is a very basic approach bust then again, that’s the name of the article.

The reason I do this is because you have a lot more flexibility lighting from the front but getting that perfect rim light is very difficult. For me at least. Once you have both in the general area you think is good, take a few test shots. Gotta love digital. You can then tweak it to your preference. Try moving them in and out. You’ll change the shadows and increase or decrease power.

Still subjects are always a 100x easier to photograph than moving, especially with flashes, but also give you another opportunity to get creative with your photo. I’ll discuss shooting jumps and rails later.

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Part 1: Equipment Required

I could start with techniques, opinions and whatnot but I figure since you’re not going to be taking any photos without the proper equipment, I’d start here.

1. Flashes
2. Transmitter/Receiver
3. Cords and such
4. Stands, Gaffer Tape, Etc.
5. Pricing

First you’re going to need a camera with a hot shoe or pc-sync out. Yes I know it sounds obvious but just today someone asked me what “lights” I recommended for a point and shoot. I told them to buy a real camera and get back to me. I neglected to mention though that it was possible to do but I do not have any experience with it. Maybe in a future article?

1. Flashes

Next you’ll need a light source. Since this is a beginner guide I’ll start with plain old hot-shoe flashes. Some of the best flashes ever made are Vivitar 285s. They’re cheap, durable and have been around forever. They went into production in the 70′s so there are thousands of them and easy enough to find. Make sure you get a model that is compatible with newer, low voltage, digital SLR bodies if you intend to use it on camera at some point. Wouldn’t want to fry your camera would you? I believe, but don’t hold me to it, that all 285hv’s are digital safe. I own 2 285′s and use them almost ever single time I do off camera lighting. They are always in my bag.

There are, of course, other options. Pretty much any flash with a hot shoe can be used off camera if you have the correct adapter (See cords below).

2. Triggers

In order to get your flashes to fire at the same time your camera does you’re going to need a triggering system. I’ve found that yelling at my flashes don’t have the desired effect and rarely go off when I want them too. There are multiple ways to trigger your flashes though.

Sticking with the beginner theme I’ll start with Ebay Slaves. No they are not small children from foreign countries that trigger the flashes. They are cheap, chinease triggers sold exclusively on Ebay. My first set of triggers were Ebay Slaves and I loved them. They’re easily modified to get increased range and cheap enough that if you break them, it’s not the end of the world. I bought a transmitter and 3 receivers for about $30.  Mine worked great for about 3 months triggering almost half the time! I modified the antenna which bumped me up to about 55% in the distance of 25ft and about 25% from 100ft. I actually got one to trigger about 100 yards away one time. I only attempted to use them in the cold once and they were not entirely fond of it so I didn’t try again. They were a great learning experience though which made me want to continue taking off camera photos and buy a better system. Because of their popularity they have vastly increased in quality over the past few years so keep that in mind if you decide to buy them.

There are a lot of options when you have money to burn. Of course everyone’s mind always goes to Pocket Wizards but we don’t all have that kind of money. Plus you’ve never taken off camera flash photos before. You might hate them.

Cybersyncs are easily the most cost effective solution and although they’re not super cheap at about $60 a unit, they’re still a fraction of other systems. I bought mine almost exactly a year ago and have been in love ever since. They trigger 99.9% of the time and with thousands of photos, I have yet to change the batteries. They’re compact, rugged and easy to use. There one sole purpose is to trigger those flashes. I’ve used mine in dumping snow, -10 degree temperatures and from hundreds of feet away and they’ve been great every time. Only thing you need to watch out for is accidentally triggering them with the test buttons. I won’t go into more detail in this article, just know that they are great triggers and I highly recommend them.

3. Cords and such

You’re going to need a way to get information from the trigger to the flash and to that there are multiple options. You will use a cord and connect it directly to your flash (depending on the connector) or to a hot shoe adapter which then attaches to the flash. On the 285 you will need the hot shoe adapter. Most new flashes have a pc sync though. I use a hot shoe adapter because it has a screw mount for my stands and 2 pc sync connectors. I have modified my 285′s to accept pc sync as well. If you’re unsure what cord you need leave a comment and I’ll let you know.

4. Stands, Gaffer Tape, Etc.

Flash stands are a necessity as well. I won’t go into detail but expect to pay about $30 a piece.

Another great tool to have is a Gorilla Pod. It is a flexible way to attach your flash to pretty much anything. I’ve even set them up on the ground in a pinch.

You will also want a copious amount of Gaffer tape. You never know when you might need it. I also carry electrical tape and duct tape just in case.

5. Pricing

Going off camera is not cheap although with some research and good economic sense you won’t break the bank.

Flashes – $90 a piece

Triggers – $30 or $130 (min)

Cords/Adapters – $10 piece (for what I have)

Stands – $30 a piece

So you’re looking about about $460 for 2 Vivitar 285′s, Cybersync set, cords/adapters and stands. Don’t get discouraged though. Off camera lighting is one of the best ways to get your pictures to stand out.

As always, post any comment, criticisms and nonsense below. Get creative and have fun!

Part 2 here!

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This is a summary of sources I’ve collected for building your own battery packs. Disclaimer: Working with electricity is dangerous and should only be done by a trained professional. I take no responsibility for anything stupid you’ve done by reading these articles.

Some basic things you’ll need:

• SLA Battery; 12v 18AH, 12v 12AH, And of course EBAY
• Ture/Pure Sine Wave Inverter; AIMS 300 Watt, Samlex 150W, Samlex 300W
• Carrying case
• 16ga or thicker wiring (See Waterproof connectors)
• Fuse Holders
• Terminal Connectors
• Charger; 12v 1A, 12v 1.25A Smart Charger

Adam Parker’s DIY Portable Monolight Battery Pack

Erik Seo’s How To Portable Power Pack

Dan Rogers DIY Vegabond (For Dummies)

Virtuamike DIY Vegabond dpreview.com

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1025&message=21173329

More to be added

Related Articles

• Beginner Lighting – Part 2 Basic Techniques
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• Beginner Lighting – Part 1 Equipment
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