i've never had any external flashes etc as yet so my question is what name / description do you give to an off the camera flash that you can fire separate from what the camera is doing. i'm asking this so i can do some research into on and off camera flashes on youtube. The situation i thinking of is having a dark room, using the camera on long exposure then firing an off the camera flash as the shutter (light capture?) to expose the subject. of course if any of you do such a thing any ideas would be great. In the UK fwiw
Caladina, most modern flash units have a wireless connection to modern cameras or if you don't have a modern flash as I don't then I suggest a wireless flash transitiver which come in sets of two or more . Yonguno produce a cheap units (which can be purchase off of eBay) that will allow one or more flash units to operate. One is mounted on the camera and transmits and a second or more receiver units are placed on the flash units, This allows the use of cheap older flash units. This allows the purchase of flash units from car boot sales and opportunity shops stores greatly reducing your cost and allowing cheap experimenting. I also suggest you look at light modifying to control the amount of light being emitted on your scene, there is heaps of things that can be used found around the home All the best with it , Craig S.
Well in addition to searching for "off camera flash" you can also search "strobist" David Hobby, a know photo journalist, started a blog over a decade ago about off camera lighting and modifiers using the term strobist. Its a good read. I don't think you need to leave the shutter open in pitch dark. You can invest in either canon or third party gear to do wireless flash triggering and keep the shutter in sync with the flash, from there its all about how creative you want to get with lighting. My two cents on the gear: If you can go ahead and purchase canon brand flashes, the color balance and longevity of the flash are good reasons to go name brand. The EX flashes will be compatible with your canmera, since you don't need to get the new generation of RT flashes you should find nice prices on the older EXII flashes lightly used, you can read up on some of the other third party ones if you like. The previously mentioned yongnuo brand is my go to brand for triggers they are full function TTL and a fraction the cost of popular staple pocket wizard which many wedding photographers have sworn by for many years. I have a number of the 622c transceivers and the 622 flash controller to control them from on top of camera. To start I would recommend a few light stands and umbrellas, David Hobby will mention some good choices on his blog. These are not too expensive and will do wonders for controlling the flash off camera.
thanks for the in-depth replies very helpful. the reason i'm thinking longer exposure is so i can do multi flash at different times and maybe use light source motion, as for how creative i might get, outside the box is where the fun begins. early days let, my mind is full of interesting ideas, probably work some stuff down to a simpler set up when i get to experimenting. more i think about the scene i have in mind it my be even better as a video clip
Caladina, on each of the Younguno transceivers you will find a button to test or activate the units so if you wish to leave the shutter in bulb mode you can fire off the the individual units at different times and you do not have to have the transmitter attached to the camera.
