Monika Sledz, Three Flashes & An 86″ Refelective Umbrella
Saturday, September 26th, 2009, 22:01
Impromptu shoots are becoming a bit of a habit for me. I had nothing at all planned for this weekend and with nothing to do, I ran the very real risk of getting sucked into work. So instead, on Thursday, I went in search of local models to see if they would be interested in shooting with me. I was delighted to stumble across the profile of Polish model Monika Sledz, who has just recently moved to Ireland and even more delighted that she agreed to work with me on such short notice. We had no fixed themes to work to and to be honest being free of a specific agenda was great fun 
I know this is going to be terribly geeky of me, but I’m not sure what was most enjoyable? Working with a stunning, 6″ Polish model, or playing with some new toys? The best of which absolutely has to be a 3 headed flash bracket. It enables you to place 3 flash heads on a single bracket, two offset to opposite sides and one in the centre. Working with them in this set up offers so many advantages over my normal single flash approach
- The spread of light is far more uniform than it would be from a single flash head, so it’s more even
- With more lights, you can turn down the power of each unit allowing faster recycle times (almost instant) and obviously increases battery life
- If needed, there’s more power available so it’s more than possible to overpower strong ambient.
On the bracket I had 2xSB800 flashes and a SB900., each of them triggered by a pocket wizard. They were fired into an 86″ reflective umbrella 
The combination of the umbrella and the power of the flashes, offered me so much flexibility and so many options. It was great fun
Lola Gavin holding the flash/umbrella – my assistant on the day.. thanks
The first shot above was taken in Dublin’s Phoenix Park at the steps of the Wellington Monument. Monika was about 7 feet way from the light source and each of the flashes was set to about 1/4 power each. We also shot another set using the trees and sky as the sun was setting, but I haven’t gotten around to editing them yet… watch this space 
As well as the park, we also shot a few sets in my kitchen, which serves as my make shift studio I just loved the light thrown off by this setup. To be sure the umbrella size is quite unwieldy, but it’s certainly worth it. I can’t wait to play with it more. I’m also hoping that I’ll get the opportunity to work with Monika again.
Tags: colour, dublin, flash, model, monika, nude, stairs, strobist
September 29th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Great blog – cant wait to see the sunset shots!
October 13th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Great blog, I have been playing around with off camera flash myself lately, I like the 3 flash set up, am I wrong in saying you could trigger the SB 800’s with the 900? , as I trigger mine with the on camera flash of my d300, with differing results as the on camera flash as an effect on the light ,I have found the (eBay triggers unreliable at best) what are the best triggering devises and where can you get best value for money ?
Thanks for reading and a response would be most grateful.
Martin
October 13th, 2009 at 9:14 am
Nope, you’re not wrong
I had the option to put two of the flashes into slave mode and then the third flash would trigger them. I guess the fact I had my collection of pocket wizards with me, was the reason for going down this road. It also meant I didn’t have to fiddle with any settings 
Other alternatives would be to use something like the Belkin Rockstar splitter (http://www.flickr.com/photos/phos-imaging/3583892272/) or indeed just break out the soldering iron and build my own custom 1xmini-jack 3xsync lead.
Using your on camera flash to trigger off camera flashes can be tricky. As you’ve noted, even though it shouldn’t, the on camera flash can sometimes effect the overall exposure. You also run into problems where the off camera flashes have to be in direct line of sight of your with their sensors turned towards the camera. Radio triggers are definitely the way to go for this kind of work.
The cactus triggers can be unreliable at times, but you need to balance that with just how cheap they are. I’d much rather people buy these as their first set than run out and buy an expensive alternative. If and when you decide that this is the sort of photography you are going to be indulging in, it is at this point I would make the investment to move to pocket wizards (or an alternative)
Thanks for the comment.
October 13th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Thanks for the responce, very kind indeed , thanks again Martin
October 20th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Since last night , when I found your site , there was a lots of learning for me . Great and wonderful site .I have a question :
Is there any link to those brackets that I can mount 3 fleshes on them ?
Many thanks ,
Jahangir
October 20th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
I ordered mine through eBay but I’m sure there are other places you can order it from. It’s Lastolite, so any supplier which sells that brand should be able to source it for you.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:38 am
Thanks Ciaran !
November 27th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Hi there,
came across this page while googling monika sledz. I’ve worked her too and just wanted to say I’m totally jealous of your flash setup.
some of my work featuring ms sledz is at http://perfectpixel.redbubble.com