Got my cheapoish (yes that's a word) Chinese ring flash today. I bought it off eBay a month or so back, they marked it as a gift valued at $7 so no extra taxes, the unit was not that expensive $103 USD plus a bit for shipping.
It seems like a nice little unit and with the digi cameras LCD you get immediate feedback to see if the exposure is right or wrong. When I used various ring flashes with film cameras through the years proper exposure was always difficult. I have a nice set up with TTL metering and my blad ring flash that works well but all the other ring flashes I owned were difficult to use. This one so far seems quite good, quite simple to use. It is actually two 1/2 flashes not a complete ring but I think it should still work well. It also has separate lights for you can turn on so to focus/compose in complete darkness, a very nice feature. Not sure how long this Chinese product will work but if I get one longer Asian trip out of it that will be enough, I will be satisfied. Might get a back up to this one eventually if I find it works well. Currently I have it mounted on my 24-70mm, it vignettes at 35mm or less so I will have to shoot with at at 35-70mm only which is a bit of a drag but not sure how to avoid that.
This will be the last bit of photo equipment I buy for a while outside of extra batteries and storage cards. I have enough gear, time to make photos. I have been good over the last 5 years not buying much stuff but with this latest digi buying spree I sort of fell off the wagon, time to climb back on now. I have all the digi tools I need now, no more purchases until I buy a used Mark III in a few years. I need to save money for traveling back to Asia.I have enough funds for a 6 month trip but need to save more for future trips.
I bought the ring flash with 2 ideas in mind.
1) To do a series of portraits of dad while I can still make. I will start photographing dad with the ring tomorrow. Doing pictures of dad was the main motivation for all this digi camera buying. This is my last chance to do that style shooting, when dad is gone it will be to late. I want to record my father in the most complete way I can, to tell his story to the best of my ability. Whats a little money compared to the importance of doing that?
2) Possibly use it for the"Lost Innocence" project work. Do close up portraits of the faces of the exploited brothel workers. I was thinking of doing a series of tight powerful flash portraits that detail the humanity, exploitation and vulnerability of the workers. Not sure if I will print it in colour or b/w but with digi I have both options in one shot.
Note * I might also just shoot this series with the blad and ring flash on Tri-x. I will experiment with both systems to see what works best.
Note** For those that do not know "Lost Innocence" is a project I have been thinking of doing for several years documenting the girls/women sold into the brothel life around South East Asia. The project would be an attempt to sledgehammer home the realities of those people's lives, lives that are so often forgotten. It would show the ugliest underbelly of the sex industry in South East Asia by highlighting, humanizing the invisible worker. Once the viewer sees the damaged and abused eyes of these women up close maybe they will remember them. Drawing awareness to a abuse is the first step to destroying it. I want to brand the photo into the viewers mind. I want to make pictures the viewer will never forget.
As Steve McCurry said " What's important to my work is the individual picture, standing on its own, with its own light, tone, structure. I tell stories, but I strive for individual pictures that will burn into people's memories."
It seems like a nice little unit and with the digi cameras LCD you get immediate feedback to see if the exposure is right or wrong. When I used various ring flashes with film cameras through the years proper exposure was always difficult. I have a nice set up with TTL metering and my blad ring flash that works well but all the other ring flashes I owned were difficult to use. This one so far seems quite good, quite simple to use. It is actually two 1/2 flashes not a complete ring but I think it should still work well. It also has separate lights for you can turn on so to focus/compose in complete darkness, a very nice feature. Not sure how long this Chinese product will work but if I get one longer Asian trip out of it that will be enough, I will be satisfied. Might get a back up to this one eventually if I find it works well. Currently I have it mounted on my 24-70mm, it vignettes at 35mm or less so I will have to shoot with at at 35-70mm only which is a bit of a drag but not sure how to avoid that.
This will be the last bit of photo equipment I buy for a while outside of extra batteries and storage cards. I have enough gear, time to make photos. I have been good over the last 5 years not buying much stuff but with this latest digi buying spree I sort of fell off the wagon, time to climb back on now. I have all the digi tools I need now, no more purchases until I buy a used Mark III in a few years. I need to save money for traveling back to Asia.I have enough funds for a 6 month trip but need to save more for future trips.
I bought the ring flash with 2 ideas in mind.
1) To do a series of portraits of dad while I can still make. I will start photographing dad with the ring tomorrow. Doing pictures of dad was the main motivation for all this digi camera buying. This is my last chance to do that style shooting, when dad is gone it will be to late. I want to record my father in the most complete way I can, to tell his story to the best of my ability. Whats a little money compared to the importance of doing that?
2) Possibly use it for the"Lost Innocence" project work. Do close up portraits of the faces of the exploited brothel workers. I was thinking of doing a series of tight powerful flash portraits that detail the humanity, exploitation and vulnerability of the workers. Not sure if I will print it in colour or b/w but with digi I have both options in one shot.
Note * I might also just shoot this series with the blad and ring flash on Tri-x. I will experiment with both systems to see what works best.
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| MK-14EXT LED Macro Ring Flash FC-122 |
As Steve McCurry said " What's important to my work is the individual picture, standing on its own, with its own light, tone, structure. I tell stories, but I strive for individual pictures that will burn into people's memories."
