Strobes and their parts

The bottom of a MonoLight strobe, with the parts labeled for easy identification. BTW, for those of you who have strobes that screw into Tilt/Swivel Bulb Holders, the light stand connectors, umbrella holders, tension knobs, etc. are all built into the bulb holders, and work the same way as those which are part of the strobe bodies. See the "Bulb Holder" section below for details. Back to top

Here's another view of the bottom of a strobe, and in this shot you can see the umbrella slot in the strobe's reflector. This allows it to be used with an umbrella, so you don't have to buy a special umbrella holder as is required with many other strobes. The term "Umbrella Reflector" sometimes causes confusion; actually, it's an umbrella- CAPABLE reflector, but all pros and manufacturers just call them umbrella reflectors. None of them would agree to call them "umbrella-capable reflectors," even after I asked them to. Maybe they're afraid someone will actually understand what they're talking about. :) Back to top

The back of the Britek PS-200 Pro Strobe, with the controls labeled (almost all of the other monolight models have the same controls, that do the same things). The "ready" light goes on to let us know when the strobe is charged and ready to fire; the "test" button lets us fire the strobe to test its proper functioning or to take a reading with out flash meters; the "sync" terminal lets us attach a sync (or PC) cord to the sync terminal on our cameras to control the firing of the strobe with the shutter button on our cameras (please see HERE for more important information on this subject); and the "optical slave sensor" lets us fire the strobe automatically with the flash of any other strobe or flash unit (also see HERE ). The other controls are pretty much self-explanatory. Back to top

Here's a front view with the reflector removed from a MonoLight SM-1250 Pro Strobe, showing the standard round non-halogen modeling light bulb and the flash tube. By loosening the reflector / accessory knobs, you can remove the reflector and attach softboxes, softcases, snoots, and similar accessories. Be aware that different model strobes have different modeling light bulbs, and your strobe may have a different shape bulb; but they all serve the same purpose. Back to top

Here's a front view of an umbrella reflector attached to a strobe; actually, it's an "umbrella- capable" reflector, since it has that unique slot in it which allows us to slide an umbrella stem through the slot and into the umbrella holder hole in the strobe's base. The name "umbrella-reflector" sometimes confuses beginners who (logically) think it refers to an umbrella that reflects rather than a reflector with an umbrella slot. This is a picture of a strobe that has a halogen modeling light, instead of the round bulb found in the SM-1250 Pro Strobe illustrated above. Back to top

Here's a top view of the new PS-300 strobe, with the parts labeled for easy identificat- ion (the reflector has been removed for this shot). Back to top

Here's the back of the PS-300 Pro Strobe, showing most of its controls. The "ready" light goes on to let us know when the strobe is charged and ready to fire; the "test" button lets us fire the strobe to test its proper functioning; the "sync" terminal lets us attach a sync (or PC) cord to the sync terminal on our cameras to control the firing of the strobe with the shutter button on our cameras; and the "optical slave sensor" lets us fire the strobe automatically with the flash of any other strobe or flash unit. The other controls are pretty much self-explanatory.   Back to top

Here's a picture of a MonoLight strobe on a light stand with an umbrella attached (remember, the umbrella goes through the slot in the monolight's reflector, and slides into the umbrella hole in the base of the strobe). Be aware that it often takes some pressure to insert the umbrella stem into the umbrella hole in the base of the monolight strobes (and the same goes for the umbrella holes on the bulb holders, too). Also, reflection umbrellas - like this one - are designed to "bounce" the light backwards onto the subject. Therefore, in the image to the left, the subject would be to the left of the strobe and umbrella setup. Back to top

Problem	Solution
Help! I can't get my PS-300 MonoLight strobe to attach to a light stand. PS-200 Strobe owners see here!	This is most likely caused by the light stand connector fitting being too deeply seated in the strobe case. Here's how to solve this problem (below). Just follow along, and you'll see how to fix this common problem.
Important information for PS-200 Strobe owners! <- Click!
<- This is probably how your PS-300 strobe's light stand connector fitting looks now. It seems like the connector fitting on the strobe is a male screw. "But the connector fitting on the light stand is a male screw, too!" You're exclaiming. So how do they fit? Read on. It sounds like the strobe(s) you've received, probably has a light stand fitting that must have moved up a little too deep into its plastic sheath (this is a common situation, and most long-time photographers are familiar with this; soon, you will be, too). Your strobe probably has a male screw sticking out of the bottom fitting, as in this picture; its other end is the female fitting, and this is the fitting to which the light stands must mate. See the next picture. Sometimes the metal fitting's female end, into which the light stand screws, gets pushed up into the plastic case (the round hole). This silver metal fitting has a female socket on one end (this is where the light stand screws in), and a threaded male screw on the other end. It's the female end that will need to attach to the light stand, but sometimes this female end gets pushed up into the surrounding plastic too deep to mate with the light stand's male fitting (often resulting in the male end sticking out of the opposite side of the hole, as in this picture). Back to top
To solve this problem, you'll need to push this fitting's male end deeper into the plastic base, to allow the female end to just barely stick out the other side (so it looks like this). Loosen the tension knob, also called an angle adjustment knob (on the bottom of the strobe), and push the male end of the fitting (the round silver metal connector with a male screw on one end, and a female socket on the other) down, so the female end just barely comes out the bottom. Then you should be able to attach it (via the female end) to the top of the light stand's male end (BTW, getting the light stand to mate with the female end of the fitting is a bit tricky; you have to align them perfectly, and then they'll mate perfectly). If the fitting won't come down, try tapping the opposite end (tap the male screw sticking out) with a rubber mallet; if that fails, we have an extension fitting that I can send you, but the fitting almost always slides down under moderate pressure. Once the strobe and light stand are mated, tighten the angle adjustment knob to set the strobe at the appropriate angle. A worst-case scenario would be that the strobe is in some manner defective, and of course, should that be the case, I'll replace the strobe for you at no charge (of course). But try the operation I've outlined here, and see if that doesn't solve the problem for you. Back to top
IMPORTANT Update: Many of the PS-200 Strobes are now being shipped without the screw-tip light stand connector (which is shown in the picture to the left). In this case, simply attach the PS-200's light stand connector hole to the light stand in the same manner as the bulb holder (below) is attached to the light stands. Here's a picture of the new PS-200 MonoLight Strobe; you can see the Tension Knob, The Light stand connection fitting (which is the same fitting used by the other MonoLight strobes, as with the PS-300s, and SM-1250, in the image above, but sometimes excluded from PS-200 strobes). You can also see the rear of the Umbrella Holder slot. The PS-200 can also connect to a light stand in the same manner as does a bulb holder (which is quicker and easier than using the screw-in fitting); see the details by clicking the link below.   Important setup information for PS-200 Strobe owners!
More technical information is below...	Who da man? Huh? Who da man?
NEW! Fabulous backgrounds/backdrops: HERE! Preview the LATEST backdrops HERE! Back to top
Important information for PS-200 Strobe owners! <- Click!
Help! I can't get my strobe or bulb holder to attach to a light stand. <-- See how there's a threaded tip on the top of the light stand? It's used to connect certain models of MonoLight strobes to light stands, but NOT all strobes or Continuous Lights that use bulb holders or similar connectors! Most light stand manufacturers use a connector tip that will work with many different kinds of strobes and other lighting accessories. Special instructions for PS-200 strobes	This is most likely because the light stand connector fitting is confusing, since it has a threaded tip. Normal folks will presume it's designed to screw into something! It is, but NOT for strobes or continuous lights using bulb holders and similar light stand attachments. Here's how to solve this problem (below). Just follow along, and you'll see how to deal with this common problem. Back to top

Modeling Lights and Continuous Lamps with Halogen Bulbs

IMPORTANT notice for owners of lights with Halogen and/or quartz-halogen bulbs: First, NEVER, EVER touch any halogen bulb with your bare hands - even when it's cool or turned off! This also applies to the standard round, non-halogen modeling lights used on strobes, but to a lesser degree, so always use a soft cloth or paper towel or gloves to touch, install, or remove ANY halogen bulb. Why? Because the acid on human skin may cause the bulb to burst at its weakest point when it's turned on and heated up! It will also scare the living doo-doo out of you when it bursts. :) ALL halogen bulbs get very hot (very quickly), and the glass may burst at the weakest spot (i.e., where your fingers touched the bare glass of the bulb). Also, strobe owners should be sure to turn off your halogen modeling light whenever you don't need it (see below for more information). ALSO, once again, halogen bulbs get hot; very hot. Consequently, never touch a halogen light bulb when it's on, and always wait at least 10 minutes after turning it off before attempting to touch a halogen light bulb (even through a paper towel or thin piece of cloth, the heat can easily burn your fingers (take it from a photographer who knows:). Also, it's always a good idea to have a few extra bulbs (and fuses) along with us. There are few things more annoying (and embarrassing as well) as having all our beautiful new studio lighting equipment set up for a shoot and then discovering that one (or more) of our bulbs are not working (or misplaced)! Just think - an entire photo shoot brought to its knees because of a tiny little light bulb! I really don't care where you buy your bulbs, but take my word for it, it pays to have a few extra bulbs along on every shoot. ALSO - make a practice of using a surge suppressor with all your photographic lighting equipment - just like we use with our computers. The electrical surges and spikes do a great job of blowing our bulbs (and fuses as well). So to save yourself some time, money, and lots of irritation, be sure to use surge suppressors with your lights. You'll be glad you did. USING modeling lights (on strobes only): While the modeling light puts out only a small fraction of the strobe's actual flash output (the modeling light is meant to show you where, on your subject, the flash output will fall, as a guide to where the highlights (light areas) and shadows will be on your subject when you fire the strobe. This will aid us in placing the strobes in the right position for achieving the effects we're after). Whenever we have a HALOGEN modeling light, though, the modeling light bulb gets VERY hot, and should be turned on only when you're setting up your lights, then turned off until it's needed again. Because the halogens get so hot (when left burning for an extended period), every strobe that comes with a halogen modeling light also has an electronic "heat detector" built in, as a safety precaution. So whenever the system gets too hot, the heat detector will automatically shut down the whole system, until it has cooled off and is safe to use again (if the heat gets past a certain point, the fuse will blow to protect you and the circuits). Consequently, whenever you may leave a halogen modeling light on too long, your strobe will turn itself off for a while. If this happens, don't worry about it, just wait for 10 or 15 minutes, and when it's cooled off, it will start to work again. You also might want to turn off any non-halogen modeling lights whenever you don't need them, and this practice should protect against your strobes overheating on you. BTW, in the language of photography the word "modeling" doesn't mean someone who is acting as a model, it's photospeak for the way light and shadows fall upon our subjects. A common comment we hear in portraiture, for example, might be: "Is the modeling correct on our subject's face?" or "How's the modeling when I move the strobe a foot to the right?" Consequently, the "modeling" light shows us where the flash from our strobes will illuminate our subjects, before we fire our strobes. This saves us not only time, but it saves lotsa film, too. But don't fret if your strobes don't have modeling lights; pros have been making fabulous pictures using strobes without modeling lights for half a century! It's just like owning a car without air conditioning - it will get you there just as well as one with air, but it's just a little less comfortable during the trip. In fact, it's probably better to learn good photographic techniques to start without modeling lights - it forces you to think before you make an exposure!. Back to top

ALSO, when replacing fuses, use 5 amp fuses, NOT 3 amp fuses (even if your light came with a lower-amp fuse).

Need replacement bulbs for your lights? See them HERE!

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These instructions apply to ALL lights, both Strobes (flash units) as well as Digital and Continuous Lighting equipment which use bulb holders and built-in attachments similar to bulb holders, to attach the lights to light stands.
Problem	Solution
Important information for PS-200 Strobe owners! <- Click!
Help! I can't get my strobe, continuous light, or bulb holder to attach to a light stand. <-- See how there's a threaded tip on the top of the light stand? It's used to connect certain models of MonoLight strobes to light stands, but NOT all strobes or Continuous Lights use these or similar connectors! Most light stand manufacturers use a connector tip that will work with many different kinds of lights and lighting accessories. Special instructions for PS-200 strobes	This confusion most likely results due to the fact that many light stand connector fittings have a threaded tip. Normal folks will presume it's designed to screw into something! It is, but NOT for strobes or continuous lights using bulb holders and similar light stand attachments. Here's how to solve this problem (below). Just follow along, and you'll see how to deal with this common problem. Back to top
	First, look at the picture of the light stand connector tip, above. For the Continuous Lighting Equipment, such as this 1,000 Watt Digital Lamp, you'll see the "Light Stand Connector" opening on the base of the lamp. This is where you connect it to the light stands. See the pictures and instructions for attaching bulb holders to light stands, below for more information. Back to top
	First, look at the picture of the light stand connector tip, above. If you bought these fabulous new 650 Watt Focusable Digital Lamps, notice the Light stand attachment on the bottom of the light frame. This is where you slip it over the top of your light stands, and then tighten the Tension Knob. See the close-up pictures below. See the pictures and instructions for attaching bulb holders to light stands, below for more information. Back to top
	Here's a close-up image of the bottom of the light frame on the 650 Watt Focusable Digital Lamps; slip the opening over the top of your light stands, as in the pictures below, and then tighten the Tension Knob. Back to top
	IMPORTANT: Both the 200 Watt Lamps AND the 300 Watt Lamps work exactly the same! Consequently, the information about attaching the lights to the light stands is the same for the 200 watt and 300 watt lamps. With the 200/300 Watt Continuous Digital/Video Lamp, you have the ability to choose whether to mount the light on a light stand, or on your camera's accessory shoe. In this picture, we see the lamp attached to a light stand. As you can see, the light stand connector slips over the light stand's connector tip, and Tension Knob 2 is tightened to hold it in place. As with all lights using this type of connector, be sure to slide the fitting all the way down onto the light stand tip before tightening the tension knob. To mount the lamp on your camera or camcorder's accessory shoe, unscrew Tension Knob 1, and remove the light stand connector fitting part completely, and slip the accessory shoe attachment fitting into your camera's shoe. Back to top
	While some of the PS-200 Strobes used come with a screw-tip insert to let you attach the PS-200 to the light stand's screw tip (as explained above), most PS-200s now come without the screw-type insert, so you can attach the PS-200 to the light stands in the same way as when using a bulb holder strobe or a continuous light! Why? Because it's so much quicker easier than using the screw-on method. If your PS-200s came with the screw-in inserts, and if you don't want to hassle with screwing and un-screwing your lights every time you need to pack them up, simply remove the silver metal light stand connector fitting (see image to the left) just loosen the tension knob, and pull the silver insert completely out of the strobe base (if your strobe came with the insert). Then, attach the strobe to the light stand exactly the same way as when using a bulb holder - see the pictures below. This method is quicker and easier, and this is the thecnique I usually use in my studio, especially if I'll be switching the strobe between different light stands. If you'll be leaving the strobe on one light stand and never moving it or packing it up to go on location, then the screw-in tip method will be fine. But, of course, you should use whatever method is most comffortable for you. Back to top

HaloFlood 1,000 Continuous Lamp: Parts

This view shows the HaloFlood 1000 with the Barndoors attached. The 2 images below show us all the parts and controls with a front view and a rear view. Most of the parts shown are pretty self-explanatory (but feel free to e-mail me if you need any help).

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Here's a view from the front of the HaloFlood 1000.

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Here's a view from the back of the HaloFlood 1000.

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FREE Photo Tips & Tricks

Free Photographic Tips and Tricks Home Page <- CLICK!	Photo tip #56: This is perhaps the most important piece of photographic advice...	The Business of Photography - Selling more and making more money is fairly easy if you just...
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	BARNDOORS Ah, here's one of every photographer's favorite accessory. The barndoors is a wonderful, inexpensive, and easy way to modify and direct the light. As you can see from this image, and the one below, we simply open and close the barndoors' four "doors" to control exactly where we want the light to go (and, of course, by extension, where we don't want the light to go). Back to top of page
	Sometimes we don't want any light to appear somewhere in our frame; one common example is when we don't want any light "spillover" to reach out backdrop (especially when we're after the solid black "dropout" effects so popular today). Conversely, when we're using a strobe as a backlight - to light our background - we often want to keep the light confined to our backdrop, and not illuminating the rest of our workspace; so we use the barndoors to restrict our light to the backdrop. Other times, we want to keep the light directed onto a certain part of our subjects (like when we want to highlight the face of our portrait subject, or a product). There are a million uses for barndoors, and as your photographic talents (and needs:) increase, I have no doubt you'll want to add a barndoors (or a couple of barndoors) to your arsenal of studio equipment. Back to top of page
This Barndoors will fit both the BB-50 and the BB-100 strobes which are equipped with the barndoors-capable reflector (this special reflector automatically comes with strobes ordered with barndoors; if your BB strobe did not come with a barndoors, then you'll probably need a barndoors-capable reflector). Barndoors: Only 24.95 Back to top of page

The round 4 filter set for the BB-Series Strobes See the 2 pictures just above for a sample of the two different filter types

Here's just a small sample of the variations you can get from putting a color filter over your background light (or any strobe). The point is to let you know that owning strobes with capabilities of accepting additional, optional light-modifying accessories (like these great strobes) is always better than buying lights that cannot be accessorized or expanded. A custom set of color filters or barndoors, or other accessories are always available to you (most for less than $20). The translucent white filter is like having a softbox! Just pop the white filter over your main light, and you'll soften the light as well as eliminating any possible "red-eye" problems, and reducing glare on reflective surfaces! The background on all the shots above was a pure white muslin. The color intensities can range from a heavy, deep color, to a light tint, depending upon the settings you choose, the angle of your background light, and the distance of the background light from the backdrop. I made these exposures with a relatively light tint (and I purposely included the strobe in the shots, something we usually don't want!), so you could see it (we usually place the background strobe behind our subject, and hidden from the camera's view). If you'll notice, in the blue exposure (on the right), how I angled the BB-Series Strobe (by pointing it up), resulting in a tonal gradation of deeper color at the top, and lighter color at the bottom, to show you one of the many techniques you can use to give you all sorts of different coloration effects. With a set of these filters, simply by putting one over your background strobe, you can make any light-colored backdrop any of the 4 different colors - quickly, easily, and inexpensively! If a subject has blue eyes (for example), use the blue filter on your backlight, and have a matching background color! If a subject is wearing a red blouse, just use the red filter, etc. Also be aware that these shots were made with a cheapie digital camera; your 35MM or mega-pixel digital camera pictures will have much better results. Another great technique is to use a color filter with a dark (even black) backdrop, and see the subtle highlights that result. Heck, you can spend a whole week just playing around with this stuff! Just be sure you keep careful notes (you DO keep notes on your exposures, don't you?) so you'll be able to duplicate your favorite effects! Order now. Back to top of page Check out my eBay auctions!

The AS-90 Strobe

As you can see from this view, the AS-90 is a Master/Slave strobe which means it can be fired either via a sync cord (the master setting), or cordless via the optical slave sensor (the slave setting - see below for an explanation of slave sensors). This gives us the maximum possible control of our strobes. The "Test" button allows us to test the strobe by pressing the test button, which will fire the strobe to assure all is well (although there have been unconfirmed reports of disgruntled photographers lying in wait in the dark of night for neighborhood neer-do-wells, then leaping out of the darkness, and flashing the strobe in their faces; dozens of terrified juvenile delinquents have been reported running for their lives down city streets and country lanes, overwhelmed with terror, shrieking with fear, and certain that aliens had landed and had attacked them with a futuristic light weapon:). The Sync (or PC) terminal lets us connect the strobe to our camera with a sync cord (included in this package, of course), and fire the strobe when we press our camera's shutter button. Back to top

PhotoSpeak: What's an "Optical Slave Sensor?" Well, if you had to use a PC Cord for every strobe, just think what a mess of tangled wires you'd have if you were using 5 or 6 or more strobes to light your subject (as many pros do)! So, science came to our rescue with slave sensors. It's a tiny little sensor built into most good strobes, that sits & waits for a short, intense burst of light. When it detects this burst of light (the flash from another strobe), it automatically sets off the flash tube in the strobe its built into. Voila! Now, with strobes that have slave sensors (often just called "slaves"), we can connect only one strobe to our cameras (with the PC or Sync cord), usually the strobe closest to our camera, and when we press the shutter button, firing the one connected strobe, that flash will automatically set off all the other strobes we may be using for that shot! Ah, ain't technology wunnerful (sic)? Even most of the little flashes built into most modern cameras can set off most strobes with slaves. In fact, most of the time, we never need to use any sync cords (also called PC Cords) at all! We just let the little flash built into most cameras set off all the pro strobes we may be using via their optical slave sensors. Back to top

This is a picture of a screw-in strobe (here we're showing the AS-90, but it's the same for ALL screw-in base strobes). The screw-in base is screwed into the socket on the bulb holder. See below for more information and instructions on attaching a bulb holder to a light stand. Back to top

Bulb Holders and their installation

	Whenever we're using any screw-base strobe (such as the BB-Series, AS-Series, and similar strobes) or almost all continuous digital/video lights to light stands, we'll need to ignore the screw tip and use the techniques illustrated here. Also, many PS-200 Strobes also attach to light stands in the same manner as bulb holders do, so follow along. Here's what your Tilt/Swivel Bulb Holder looks like; in this view you can see the LARGE hexagonal opening in the attachment part of your bulb holder. This opening is designed for larger connectors than are on the light stands which accompanied your package. The smaller opening, which is designed to fit your light stands is on the OPPOSITE side of the attachment part, as illustrated in the picture below. Please be aware that the Tilt/Swivel Bulb Holders DO NOT screw into the threaded fitting on top of the light stands; instead, they go OVER the whole fitting (the fitting on the light stands is designed for multiple purposes, including some strobes which do use the screw threads, like the ones illustrated above - but the bulb holders do not use the threaded part of the fitting; instead, they go over the entire fitting).   Back to top   Back up to the continuous light section
	In this view, you're looking at the CORRECT opening on your Tilt/Swivel Bulb Holder to use to attach it to a light stand. The PS-200 also has an opening just like this. This small hexagonal opening is designed to fit completely over the fitting on the top of your light stand, as illustrated below. To attach your bulb holder to a light stand: 1) Loosen the tension knob 2) Place the SMALL hexagonal opening completely over the light stand's attachment fitting (the screw-on threads are NOT used when attaching a light stand to a bulb holder). 3) Push the SMALL hexagonal opening over fitting on the top of the light stand, and push it all the way down. 4) Point the bulb holder at your photographic subject, and then TIGHTEN the tension knob to set the angle you want. Voila! You've done it! 5) To remove the bulb holder from the light stand, LOOSEN the tension knob and remove by pulling the bulb holder straight up (don't bend it on an angle when removing; that could cause damage to the base). Back to top
	See more on the BB-Series Strobes, below. Here's a picture of a properly-installed Tilt/Swivel Bulb Holder on a light stand. The same goes for the PS-200 Strobes. Whether you're using continuous lighting equipment or strobes, be sure to push the bulb holder or similar attaching hardware all the way down over the light stand's connector fitting before tightening the tension knob. And remember, whether using Bulb Holders or the digital lighting equipment, it does NOT "screw" onto the light stand's threaded fitting; it goes over the whole fitting, down to the base of light stand's fitting top. See below for an example of how NOT to attach your strobe or your strobe's bulb holder to a light stand.   Back to top
	Be careful to always slide the bulb holder ALL THE WAY DOWN to the bottom of the connector tip (as in the picture above), or your strobe could fall off the light stand and break! It would be pretty embarrassing if this happened in front of a client, huh? So always seat the bulb holder properly. Back to top
	Here's an example of a screw-in base strobe; all strobes which have a screw-in base (such as the BB-series, AS-90s, AS-120s, AS-66s, etc.) are screwed into the bulb holder's socket just like a light bulb. Then, the bulb holder is attached to the light stand (you can also attach a photographic umbrella to the bulb holder). BTW, here's a joke I heard recently that seems to be appropriate for this subject matter: Q. "How many feminists does it take to screw in a light bulb?" A. "At least a half-dozen: One to screw in the bulb, and the rest to complain about the violation of the socket." ;-) Have a better one? Send it in! Back to top
	Here's a picture of a screw-in strobe in a bulb holder, on a light stand with an umbrella attached.      Back to top

DS-33 "Anywhere" Flash Units Setup Instructions You'll need to get two "AAA" batteries, and insert them into the battery compartment on your new DS-33 Flash Unit(s). Just follow along (see instructions and pictures below) and you'll have your new flash ready to go. [See also the "Using your DS-33, below] Back to top
	Here's some helpful information for new DS-33 "Anywhere" Flash Unit owners: Image #1 shows the DS-33 "Anywhere" Flash Unit upside down, with two "AAA" batteries (not included) inserted. Image #2 is the sliding battery compartment cover, which has been removed. Image #3 is the suction cup base, which has been removed from the flash head.. A) Make sure the batteries are inserted correctly; one battery must be inserted with the + end (the end where there's a little round button sticking up from the center) facing down, and the other battery must be inserted with the + end facing up. Hold the DS-33 "Anywhere" Flash Unit upside down, with the flash window facing to your right; slide open the battery cover, and insert the first battery (the left battery) with the + end facing down, and insert the 2nd battery (the right battery) with the + end facing up. Back to top
B) Slide the battery cover over the two batteries; you'll have to press down on the batteries with your finger in order to slide the battery cover over the slightly protruding ends of the batteries, as you can see from this picture. Press the batteries down, and slide the cover all the way closed (with the battery cover closed all the way, the DS-33 is in the "Off" position). C) Once the battery cover is completely closed over the batteries the unit is now "off." Next, to turn the unit "on," carefully slide the battery cover about 1/8 or1/4 of an inch to the right (like you were opening the battery cover, but only open it a little bit). Now the unit will be ON and ready to fire. D) VOILA! After you slide the battery cover just a tiny bit open, you might hear a soft whine, and then the "ready" light should glow. Press the "test" button, and watch the DS-33 "Anywhere" Flash Unit flash. Place it wherever you want, and then take a flash picture with your camera; as soon as you fire your camera's built-in (or dedicated on-camera) flash, the DS-33 will automatically fire, too. Ah, ain't technology just wonderful? :) E) When you're finished using the DS-33, slide the battery cover all the way closed to turn off the unit until you need it again.
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Using the DS-33 "Anywhere" Flash Unit

	Simply place one of these "Anywhere" DS-33 Flash units to camera right or camera left, and use it as a "fill light" on the shadow side of your subject. Experiment by placing the "Anywhere" DS-33 Flash unit on the right, then on the left; try it at different levels and different distances from your subjects to determine the results you like best. I guarantee you, you'll be amazed at how something so small and so simple can make your pictures look so much better! Back to top
	Want to get rid of those ugly shadows we usually end up with behind our subjects? Want to separate the main subject from the background, giving the depth and separation characteristic of pro images? Huh? Just stick an "Anywhere" Flash as shown in the diagram to the left, and "zap!" the shadows disappear! Ideally, set one DS-33 to camera left, a second to camera right, and the third to light the background - and blow away all those ugly shadows! Then watch how much better your pictures look! Quickly, easily, and inexpensively! See the diagrams below for examples. Back to top
	Similiary, place one of these "Anywhere" DS-33 Flash units to camera right or camera left, and fill in the shadow side of your multiple subject pictures, too.     Back to top
	Order several of these dynamite little units, and improve ALL your flash pictures! With 2 (or more:) of these babies, we can use one to blow away the shadows behind our subjects, and another to serve as the fill light for our pictures (as shown in these diagrams). You'll be amazed at how much better your pictures will look with the addition of a couple of these babies! And it will happen quickly, easily, and inexpensively! We use a "fill light" (the #1 DS-33) to illuminate the side of our subjects which are farthest from our camera's built-in flash (or dedicated flash on our hot shoe), and we use a "backlight" (the #2 DS-33 in this diagram) to eliminate all those ugly and distracting shadows that mess up our (otherwise beautiful:) flash pictures. Back to top
Truly, dear photographic friends, the addition of just a few little photographic gizmos can startlingly improve our images. Really, all it takes is learning a few simple photographic lighting techniques. Unfortunately (in my humble opinion), the photographic gurus have made it seem phenomenally complex and difficult to figure out these few easily-learned photographic techniques. I'm not sure why they do this, but they do. Heck, you could learn in, maybe, one mellow afternoon (give or take), what you'll need to know to improve your pictures substantially! My point? No, I'm not selling any training programs (I don't have the time) - I'm just trying to encourage you to pick up a decent book or two, cut out a few helpful articles from your favorite photography magazines, acquire a few inexpensive lights (strobes), and go for it! I assure you I'm not trying to talk you into buying you something from me - I really don't care where you get your equipment, or where you buy yourself a photographic book or two; I mainly just want to help you make some nice pictures (well, if you really want to buy something from me, please feel free to do so:). I know you already want to improve your images - if you weren't interested in photography and in making better pictures, you wouldn't be here reading this, right? So take some free advice: Make pretty pictures, have fun doing so; hug those you love every single day, tell those you love that you love them every single day, listen to your heart - and especially to your gut feelings (and remember that all disease is due to the mind's anguish - disease results from dis-ease) so give love, accept love, forgive those who you can (and avoid those you can't), and - most of all - be happy. And did I mention "make great pictures, too?" Every great image adds beauty and joy to the world. Immerse yourself in beauty, see beauty everywhere, and make pictures of it (wanna know how I found beauty? see this). . That's all, folks. Back to top
Specifications: Power Source: 2 AAA Batteries (not included) Guide Number: 33' (ISO 100) Subject Distance: 1.5-10 feet with ISO 100 film; 3-20 feet @ ISO 400, 6-40 feet @ ISO 800, etc.) Size: 64mm x 60mm x 19mm Weight: 45 Grams (around 1 1/2 ounces) Camera settings guide imprinted on side of units. Illustrated placement guide also included with every flash! Back to top

The BB-Series: BB-50 and BB-100 Strobes

As you can see from this view, the BB-Series strobes are Master/Slave strobes which means they can be fired either via a sync cord (the master setting), or cordless via the optical slave sensor. This gives us the maximum possible control of our strobes.	As we can see from this view, the New BB Strobes are well-stocked with controls and come with the extras already built-in. As with all my packages, everything you'll need to start working with strobes is included; the strobe itself, flash tube, a removable reflector, a Tilt/Swivel Bulb Holder, power cord, and a sync cord; just plug them in, and fire away! The "ready" light goes on to let us know when the strobe is charged and ready to fire; the "test" button lets us fire the strobe to test its proper functioning; the "sync" terminal lets us attach a sync (or PC) cord to the sync terminal on our cameras to control the firing of the strobe with the shutter button on our cameras; and the "optical slave sensor" lets us fire the strobe automatically with the flash of any other strobe or flash unit. Back to top
	Here's a view of a BB-Series Strobe with its reflector removed. Having a removable reflector is a great advantage for the photographer; when we want a wide angle of light coverage, we can simply and easily remove the reflector. It's also great when we want to add additional accessories, like color filters (gels) or barndoors, etc.
	Here's a BB strobe with the reflector removed, and a green filter over the bulb. These filter sets are available for under $20, and come with a custon carrying case. See below for a sample of what filters can do for us. Back to top
	BARNDOORS Ah, here's one of every photographer's favorite accessory. The barndoors is a wonderful, inexpensive, and easy way to modify and direct the light. As you can see from this image, we simply open and close the barndoors' four "doors" to control exactly where we want the light to go (and, of course, by extension, where we don't want the light to go). Order now.
	Here's a BB strobe with the reflector-size color filter, and a red filter inserted (see the round color filter kit in the picture below). These filter sets are available for under $20, and come with a custon carrying case. See below for a sample of what filters can do for us struggling photographers. :) See below for samples of what color filters can do for us!   Back to top
	This view shows a BB-Series Strobe with an umbrella mounted. To use an umbrella with a BB Strobe, simply insert the umbrella stem into the umbrella-holder slot (see image below) on the bulb holder. Back to top
	As we can see, the umbrellas can be used either with the reflector attached to the strobe (as above), or with the reflector removed (as in the picture to the left). Usually, though, we use umbrellas with the reflectors attached to the strobes, so the majority of the light is directed into the umbrella for maximum transference. Although transparent "shoot-through" umbrellas are shown here, the reflective umbrellas (usually the Black/White Umbrellas), are often used. Back to top

 
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