Shooting with battery powered lights in dim lighting.

If you've ever done an on-location shoot using portable battery powered lighting in a dimly lit location, no doubt you've run up against this rather annoying problem:  your camera isn't able to auto-focus because of the lack of available light.  One obvious way around the problem is to use the modeling light on your flash though.

Since I directly meter my lights with a flash, rarely have I ever used a modeling light to gauge the output levels of my lights.  One thing I find myself using the modeling light for though is to add light to a scene so I can properly auto-focus on my subject.

Depending on what you're using for lights you probably already have a modeling light you can use.  For example, Alien Bees/Einstein lights have a 120v modeling light.  The lights I use (Hensel Porty's) have a 12V automotive style bulb.  You may be using a light that has no modeling light at all though (i.e. a speedlite).  Excluding speedlites, no matter what you use you've no doubt already figured out one of the biggest downfalls of using a modeling light as a focusing assist light:  it kills your battery.

Paul C Buff doesn't recommend using the modeling light on their lights when you're using a Vagabond power source since it'll kill the battery very quickly.  With the Hensel Porty, the modeling light is barely adequate since it's just a 12V automotive bulb and isn't particularly powerful.  It also causes the light head to get really hot, and it kills the 12V battery in the Porty very quickly too if you keep it on for very long.  Speedlights?  Well, they don't have a constant light source in them to begin with.

You could try strapping a flashlight to your light but it's not exactly ideal.  It'll weigh down the light and unless you spend a lot of money on a good quality flashlight, chances are that it's not going to be very bright either.  Instead, what if you could use something that can output as much light as a car's highbeam, is miniscule in size, can potentially go for hours, is inexpensive, and doesn't kill your flash's battery?  Sounds like a wild fantasy right?  Well not anymore it isn't!

As Tony Montana once said, "say hello to my little friend!"

Besides being into photography, I'm also an avid cyclist and I ride at all times of the day, including at night.  High powered lighting for bicycling use has exploded in recent years because of the advent of high output and power efficient LED's.  Although there's a lot of LED flashlights out there, the biggest name in LED's for those flashlights is CREE.  It used to be that a good bicycle headlight with CREE LED's cost a fortune (for example, I have a MagicShine MJ 880-U2 and that set me back over $200).  However, you can get a headlight with the same CREE XM-L LEDs in it for significantly less.  How much less?  Well, I bought one for $30 that's nearly identical to the light I paid over $200 for a year earlier!

If you go on eBay you can find quite a few listings for these lights.  Just do a search for "CREE XM-L U2 HEADLIGHT" and you'll see several listings at various price points.  Here's one listing for example:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121365041733

The light is *TINY* (roughly 2 1/4" x 1 1/2"  Height varies on mounting method) and because it was designed to be used on a bicycle it's lightweight and the lithium ion battery is small too.  Depending on the light you purchase you can also adjust the light output over a variety of presets as well.  It can easily fit on top of a speedlite with Velcro or bungee cords, and you can also strap the battery onto the side of the speedlite without it looking completely out of place.  You can also attach it to a light stand using nothing more than the included o-rings.  With a little work you can also attach it to the shaft of an umbrella and it wouldn't interfere with the flash output.  You could mount it inside a softbox too if you wanted.

Depending on the included battery and the output level you select the run time will vary, but generally speaking, on "low" power, most lights will last about 4 hours.  Medium is 2 hours, and full power is about 1 hour.  My particular unit lasts almost two hours at full power, which depending on what you're doing, full power is complete overkill.

Is there any downsides?  Well... yes, of course there is, but they're not dealbreakers.

Because it's not directly part of the light it's function as a true modeling light is limited at best.  It won't be able to track the power output of your light so using it to judge exposure isn't going to work.  Also, because it's not at the same focal point as the flash tube, it won't give you a 100% accurate representation of the light pattern (but depending on how you mount it, it can get really close).  At full power the light also gets really hot, and by hot I mean you won't be able to touch it.  If you put it into a softbox be aware that it's going to get really warm.  It's also something else you're going to have to remember to bring with you, but it's small enough where you could keep it in your gear bag and not generate extra weight.

I wish I had thought of using this light on my speedlites back in October when I shot a wedding.  I had to shoot some of the formals in next to complete darkness with only my cellphone's flash (as a flashlight) to focus by and two Canon speedlites for illumination.  I managed to pull it off but things would have been so much easier if I had this light on one of the speedlites!  I did use this light on my Porty this past weekend though in-studio and it performed beautifully.

I shoot friends in small spaces...

Yeah, yeah.  I know it's been a while since I posted anything new on here.  A lot has been going on in the past year and I just haven't had the time to update this page with new content.  The majority of what went on is just life in general.  For the most part I'm just now getting back into the swing of things with shooting again for a variety of reasons.

At any rate, I figured I'd kick off the new year with sharing a "dirty" secret and a trick that some of you may find useful (if you're a photographer with limited shooting space that is).  One thing I'm going to say up front though is that you try this trick at your own risk, and by trying it you acknowledge that I'm not liable if it doesn't work for you, you break your gear, you hurt, mame, or kill yourself or your client, model, whomever or whatever, or for your own stupidity if you do something that this just can't handle.

The "dirty little secret" is that everything you've seen me post that was shot from 2009 to present was not shot in a formal studio.  A few years ago I used to shoot out of a local co-op studio, but for a variety of reasons I left.  I switched to using my living room in my home; it was more convenient, I didn't have to pay for something that I already had, and I didn't have to put up with drama either.  WIN/WIN/WIN!  :)

With that said though, shooting out of a living room that's only 12' x 22' can be a challenge.  The ceilings are never high enough and there never seems to be enough floor space.  Using a few tricks though makes the experience a LOT nicer and improves the quality of the images.

One of the biggest problems with having limited space is finding a place to put light stands, having ample room for the counter weight on a boom arm, etc.  With the former, you either end up tripping over the stand a few times, knocking it over, or you can't put the light exactly where you want it.  With the latter you end up banging the counterweight against walls (or against your head... yup, I've done that).

The easiest solution to not having enough space for a light stand or boom arm is... well....  just don't use light stands or boom arms.  :D

I really can't take full credit for this since a former acquaintance of mine showed me part of this "trick".  Some of you are going to say "hey, that's nothing new!", and to a degree it isn't something "new".   So what's the trick?

Use wall attached boom arms clamped onto autopoles instead of using light stands and boom arms.  :)

There are a few makers of Autopoles (Matthews, Impact, & Kupo), but the biggest manufacturer is Manfrotto.  For the boom arm you can use any brand you'd like; me personally I bought two from Adorama on one of their ebay auctions.  It was inexpensive and did the trick.

If you have nothing and you're just going to go out and buy the items you'll need, the whole thing is pretty cut and dry:

• 1 Manfrotto AUTOPOLE *2*
• 2 Super clamps (any manufacturer will do, but I like Calumet's since they're about the average price you'd pay for other manufacturer's clamps and the last time I bought them they came with the hex bolts you'll need for this).
• 1 Wall mountable boom arm (mine are made by Flashpoint)

Manfrotto makes a few variants of Autopoles, but the biggest change was from their original Autopole to their Autopole 2.  Manfrotto improved not only the clamping mechanism but they improved the gripping surfaces too.  Although Manfrotto recommends that you use their optional tripod legs if you use boom attachments, if you're using Autopole 2's, as long as you're not trying to hang really heavy lighting accessories on the boom, and you have hardwood floors and a decent ceiling, you should be fine.  Your mileage may vary though so TEST IT BEFORE YOU SHOOT WITH IT!  I've seen this rig used with Autopole 2's and the pole was put in all sorts of weird angles and it held firm no matter what was on the end of it.

Everything assembles together easily; almost like it was meant to go together.  :)  No drilling or cutting is required.  Just attach the super clamps to the mounting holes on the wall mount boom arm like so:

 

I was being a little anal retentive when I assembled mine and I used four bolts instead of just the two that came with the super clamps, but you really don't need four.  Two will hold just fine.

You then attach the whole apparatus to the autopole.  Once it's attached all you need to do is loosen the upper super clamp a little and then release the autopole when you want to move it.  Once you put it where it's supposed to be and you clamp the pole, just tighten the upper clamp.

OK so that's not much of a trick, I know.  I'm willing to bet some of you already even know that one.  But, say for example you're like me and all of your autopoles are the original models without the improved clamp and gripping feet?  Manfrotto suggests using their tripod legs attachment for this but if you're shooting in a small space it's counterproductive to be using it.  I mean, the whole point of using the autopoles is to make better use of your space, right?

The pole's clamping mechanism isn't much of a problem really.  If you clamp the boom arm like how I have it in the photos above, once you lock the pole and tighten the super clamps, the pole's slide mechanism isn't coming loose.  The problem is the gripping feet; once you extend the boom it's going to work itself loose from the surface it's pressed against and topple over.

That's where a little American ingenuity comes into play.

There's two ways to solve this problem; the cheap and dirty way and the elegant and semi-cheap way.  Either way will do, but here's the cheap and dirty way.

If you have the original Manfrotto Autopole that does not have the non-marring surface pad attachment on it (and the holes in the pad are too large to let you attach those pads), here's what you need:

• a spindle from a 25 pack of CD/DVD's
• some self-sticking weather sealing tape
• JBWeld (this depends on the spindle really)

Just add the weather sealing tape around the sides (depending on the spindle construction, you may need to put some JBWeld and some of the tape around the center too if there's a lip around it) and if need be a small piece on the peg of the spindle.

Attach it to the end of the autopole...

And then mount the pole in place as you normally would...

You may notice the end of the autopole where it attaches to the spindle move a little, but that depends on the size of the peg in the spindle really.  There's nothing to worry about though since it won't slip against the ceiling once the pole's clamped tightly to it.  I've been using this trick for about a year now and I've yet to have the pole slip off the ceiling, even when using a beauty dish.

Now the reason this works isn't so much because of the improved gripping surface of the weather sealing tape.  It works because the spindle locks into the end of the pole and combined with the better gripping material, the larger surface area spreads the force of the clamping pressure and the force of gravity working against the boom arm over a larger area on the ceiling.

If you have an autopole with a smaller diameter hole in the gripping surface, or if you have the tools on-hand and the inclination to make it, you can technically make a less expensive version of this that'd grip even better.  Instead of a CD spindle, get a 6" x 6" piece of wood, a dowel that's 2" long (the diameter will be whatever the hole size is on your autopole's gripper foot), some wood glue, and some rubbery shelf liner.  Drill a hole in the middle of the 6"x6" piece of wood, put some glue on the dowel, hammer it into the hole, and let the glue dry.  Once it's dry, glue the rubberized shelf liner to the back of the board and trim to fit.

If you want to impress your clients, paint the thing a matte black so it looks like you spent big bucks on it and then attach the rubberized shelf liner to the back of it.  :)