Simplify your lighting!

Many kudos to my friend Paige Elizabeth out in Denver for showing me this cool little trick!

For a while now, I've been trying to figure out a simple way to be able to use my pocketwizards at the same time as my on camera flash for at receptions. There's all sorts of crazy brackets and stuff you can get, but I'm always drawn towards super simple solutions and so when I saw this I knew I had to do it right away. Plus, this setup will seriously cost you less than $1 from Home Depot. Find me a bracket for that price! :)

Also, I realized I didn't mention what the name of that cable was in the video. It's a simple PC to mini cable and I think it comes with most pocketwizards so as long as you still have yours (and didn't loose it like me!) you're all set to go! :)

Check out the video!

Comments

[James Christianson]

Great tip Chris! I tried this at my last wedding and it worked well. I didn't have the neat screws though so I just let the PW hang from the PC cord. Looking forward to seeing you guys soon.

[Kacie Jean]

Thanks for sharing Chris! I was really hesitant to get a huge bracket for my camera, and this is the perfect alternative!

p.s. thanks for the cute christmas card of you two! Hope to see you guys soon :)

[Brody Dezember]

Sweet tip. I actually have been looking for something similar as well. For some reason I have never though of doing it that way.
thanks!

[Chelsea Nicole]

That's awesome - what a great idea! Thanks for sharing. :)

[Melissa Jill :)]

Thanks so much Chris! This is something I've been dying to figure out as well. So helpful!!

[shawnreeder]

Great tip Chris and Paige! I definitely want to get some pocket wizards and this will be awesome to use. Thanks!

[rj kern]

Paige and Chris: thank you for sharing this wonderful tip! Great suggestion! You've inspired me to do some similar little movies for some other simple photo gadgets I've been working on.... stay tuned!

[Michael]

I think I originally saw this on OSP, too. Anyway, I went out and got some and they work great! 75 cents for a 2 pack :-) Here's a tip: they are called "set screws" or "set screw sockets." I got the 1/2" long size--they will make your PW fit flush against the camera body. If you can't find 1/2", the next size up is 3/4", which is what Chris had in the video. You can also use plastic washers to stack in between if you're using 3/4". It's a good idea to get an alan wrench to get the screws out if one gets stuck (note: the alan wrench socket is on one end only, so it's probably better to have that part going in to your PW).
Here's to simple solutions that make shooting easier! :-)
Michael

[Jonilyn]

Hi Chris! Thanks so much for sharing this! I hope you and and Katie are doing well :)

[Matthew]

Hi,

I cant view the video. Tried in Safari and Firefox....
Can you send me another link?
thank you...

[Thomas Pickard]

That's pretty cool.

You can usually trigger your remote flashes with the flash on your camera without the PW, but I know that this does depend on where exactly the remote flashes are in relation to the on camera strobe.

All good though.

[Chris Humphreys]

I know you can use the IR beam, but a lot of times I just put my flash right by a wall and bounce it off of that and so the flash is pointed to the wall so it wouldn't pick up the IR beam.

Also my off camera flash is a Vivitar 285 and it doesn't have the IR beam anyways.

[Melissa Jill :)]

Hey Chris--what happened to this video? I wanted to reference it on my blog...