Lighting a scene with multiple flash is done using the same techniques used with incandescent lighting. But since you cannot see how much "light" each flash emits when triggered, a flash meter is necessary because it reads the amount of light from each flash first. You can use a Minolta Flash Meter III to set up a lighting pattern to properly illuminate a person or area. The procedure is straightforward and does not require any previous experience in using a flash meter.
Instructions
1. Open the battery compartment cover on the back of the Minolta Flash Meter III. Remove the battery sleeve. Insert six fresh batteries into the sleeve. Place the sleeve back into the battery compartment and close the cover.
2. Screw the tripod screw at the top of a tripod's platform into the mounting hole in the bottom of a camera. Stand the tripod so that the camera lens is aimed at the person or object that is to be photographed with electronic flash.
3. Open the battery compartment lid on the back of a hot shoe-equipped electronic flash. Insert fresh batteries into the battery compartment and close the lid.
4. Slide the hot shoe at the bottom of the flash into the hot shoe mounting plate at the top of the camera. Aim the camera so that the lens is facing the person or object that is to be photographed.
5. Screw the tripod screw at the top of the platform of another tripod into the mounting hole in the bottom of an electronic flash that has a "slave" mode built-in. Insert fresh batteries into the battery compartment in the same manner as was done with the other electronic flash.
6. Stand the tripod with the "slave" flash even with the other tripod. Move the tripod with the slave flash away from the other tripod, along an invisible horizontal line, until it is 10 feet away. Employ a tape measure to get the distance right. Aim the "slave" flash so that it is facing the direction of the person or object that is to be photographed.
7. Set the "slave" flash's setting to "Slave" so that it will fire when the other electronic flash goes off. Turn on the electronic flash that is on the camera.
8. Press the power button to turn the Minolta Flash Meter on. Adjust the "film" setting to the same speed as the film being used in the camera. If a digital camera is being used, adjust the setting to the same light sensitivity number that has been set on the camera. Adjust the "Measuring Mode" knob to "None C." Press the "Measuring" button on the meter.
9. Have an assistant hold the meter so that its front-mounted dome is pointing toward the camera. Press the manual flash button on the flash that is on the camera to fire it off. Write down the setting that is displayed on the meter's LCD screen. Press the "Measuring" button on the meter again.
10. Turn on the "slave" flash. Have the assistant hold the meter so that its front-mounted dome is pointing toward the "slave" flash. Press the manual flash button to fire the "slave" flash. Write down the setting that is displayed on the meter's LCD screen.
11. Compare the two numbers of the two flashes. Weaken the intensity of the "slave" flash by halving its number, compared to that of the flash that is on the camera. This can be done by decreasing the power output by 50 percent, if the "slave" flash has a selector button of this type. Or, it can be done by moving the tripod while holding the "slave" flash straight back half the distance from the camera to the person or object that is being photographed.
12. Adjust the "Measuring Mode" knob to "Multi." Press the "Measuring" button on the meter again. Have the assistant hold the meter so that its front-mounted dome is pointing toward the flash on the camera. Press the manual flash button on the flash that is on the camera to fire off both flashes.
13. Set the camera's "f-stop" to the number setting that is now on the meter's LCD screen before taking any pictures. Turn the meter off.
Tags: slave flash, electronic flash, flash that, battery compartment, that camera
