Trigmaster Plus from Aputure

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to receive a few of the Trigmaster plus transceivers from Aputure for review.

These units ship with 2 AAA batteries, Remote cable to hook to your camera for remote shutter control, PC cable, Sync cable, and Sync output converter. They retail for about $60.00 and, needless to say, you are covered for most of your uses right out of the box.

The Trigmaster Plus transceivers have a nice feel to them. They do not feel cheap and easily breakable in your hand. They operate on 2.4G instead of 433Hz like previous models. The button layout is simple and logical. You have a function switch to go from transmitter to receiver, illuminated channel selection via the small channel button to the right of the channel display, and a large trigger button. The power switch is located on the user's right side next to a very beefy antenna. On the other side of the transceiver are three ports: Studio flash sync, camera remote shutter port, and a PC in port.

The units have a sync speed of 1/250^th of a second and a range of about 260 feet. They have plastic feet without a locking ring. At first I thought that this was going to be an issue. I do like metal feet, but these have a set of tabs on the side of the feet that do a great job of keeping them in place. There is also a hole for accommodating a locking pin from my Nikon flashes.

These transceivers can also be used for shutter control. There are two ways to do this: the first is to use the remote cable and connect it to a transceiver, turn the mode switch to tx, and you're set. The second is to use a second transceiver mounted on the top of the camera and connect with the same remote cable. When you have the triggers set for remote triggering you can use the continuous shooting mode. Just hold the trigger button down for 3 seconds and when you release the button the camera will continue to fire at a fairly fast pace. Touch the trigger button a second time and the continuous shooting is canceled. I find this a fun function for both sports and children.

The only issue I have had with the layout of the Trigmaster Plus units is the test button. The main trigger button on the unit is used for remote shutter firing, and not as a test button for your flash. Instead you have to hold the trigger button down half way and then press the channel button. That is how you test fire your flash units. It is not an impossible task, but is does get a little cumbersome when you are holding a flash meter in one hand and trying to test fire your strobes. Overall, if that is the only issue for the Trigmaster Plus units then they are doing well.

All in all, the Trigmaster Plus transceivers are a great transceiver, easy to use, very reliable, small, and use common AAA batteries. All of that along with a small size makes them a great buy. If you are in the market for triggers I highly recremend taking a good long look at the Trigmaster plus transceivers from Aputure.

Bounce Flash

One of the most discredited lighting set ups is on camera flash. However, I am a big fan of it, especially when it comes to photographing children and families in their home. My go-to light set up for children is a TTL on camera flash bounced off the ceiling.

If the ceiling is too high, sometimes I will use a second flash set up on a bookshelf or nearby table for a key. I find that with this set up, a bounce card on the flash works well. 

Another technique that I add to the mix is bouncing the flash off the wall, but I usually switch to wall bouncing only when the subject is playing next to said wall. Hallways work wonders for bouncing light around.

The only issue that you will encounter with this idea is the color of the walls. Make sure that you use a gray card to set your white balance in each set up that you do.

 

One of the reasons that I go with TTL in these situations is the the children tend to move at the speed of light, and more often than not you will only have one chance to capture whatever they are doing. Having lighting set up in the most versatile way possible and letting your subject do what they do in their home environment will give you great results.

 

 

Fourth Annual Emerging Pro Photo Competition

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Westcott 60" Convertable umbrella

Today I am going to write about one of my favorite light modifiers: the Westcott 60” convertible umbrella. The versatility from this umbrella is fantastic, and if I can only use one modifier out on location it is this one. I find it very capable of handling medium sized groups as a bounce umbrella or as a shoot through with no problems.