Bracket

Denis Reggie Bracket designed to work with any brand flash, with or without radio devices and power packs.

Denis Reggie has designed the ideal flash bracket to position two shoe mounted flash units and optional accessory battery packs to create the ultimate portable umbrella lighting rig. Setup and breakdown times are very quick and smart design elements include swiveling flash mounting shoes to allow for instant directional adjustment (see photo below) to maximize firing reliability when using standard line-of-sight signaling. Say goodbye to your flash meter and those annoying repeated measurements in the faces of your subjects. Today’s accurate automated E-TTL flash systems have replaced the manual flash techniques of years past with high-tech, ultra-fast technologies. Now exposure adjustments are commanded instantly from the camera – not the umbrella rig – making the workflow even faster.

Amazing professional quality lighting results using the Denis Reggie Bracket. © Denis Reggie 2010

The Denis Reggie Bracket is core to a rugged, lightweight umbrella rig ideal for use with state-of-the-art exposure and signaling technologies using shoe mounted flash units of any brand. While Denis is an outspoken believer in E-TTL flash automation for formal photography sessions, use of precision manual exposure output is also an option. Click to order your bracket below and simplify the task of achieving professional quality lighting on location.

For indoor portrait lighting (often in church, synagogue, or reception venue) of individuals, couples and groups, here is a listing of gear that he likes best for his formal portrait sessions which generally last only 20 minutes:

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III or Canon EOS 1D Mark IV. Both cameras are in his gear bag; he generally uses the full frame 1Ds for portraits. Other popular camera choices include the excellent  Canon EOS 5D Mark II and the impressive Canon EOS 7D.

Nifty swivel shoes allow for easy slave flash twisting to aim toward on-camera master flash - an excellent feature when not using radios.

Denis brings many lenses to each assignment, but for the formal portrait session, his most-used may be the Canon 50mm f/1.2 L, a perfect lens for groups and couples.  An affordable alternative is the surprisingly sharp Canon 50mm f1.4 lens. Typical settings are ISO 800, aperture at f:4.0 – and yes, every face is tack sharp. The shutter speed, sometimes as low as 1/25 second depending on ambient light, is chosen by the camera when set to Av mode (use a tripod to avoid potential motion blur). Denis is not a fan of wide angle lenses for group shots because of the unfortunate perspective that is generally unkind to subjects.

Another favorite is the amazingly sharp Canon 85mm f1.2L II lens though it’s too long for groups, of course, and somewhat pricey. An affordable yet excellent alternative is the Canon 85mm f/1.8. Other good options are professional quality zoom lenses like the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L and the impressive Canon 24-105mm f/4 L IS.

A look inside the power pack... Maha Powerex AA batteries are his choice.

Two Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash units (using E-TTL believing manual is too slow, requiring repeated adjustments with change in distance) each with matching Canon CP-E4 flash power pack. Denis uses the second flash as a practical matter of redundancy. He considers the investment to be “cheap insurance” as this virtually guarantees perfect flash output every time, even if one flash fails to fire for some unexpected reason.

MiniTT1 slips directly into the camera's hot shoe

The power packs slightly improve recycle times but are used mostly to triple the number of flashes. Depending on working distance, ISO and aperture settings, this rig usually delivers well over 1,000 shots before fresh batteries are needed. He uses rechargeable Maha Powerex NiMH batteries in each flash unit (4 AA batteries) and power pack (8 AA batteries). It is very important that all 12 batteries are of the same brand and rating (he uses 2700mAh rated batteries). Denis recommends the matching Maha 8-cell battery charger for optimum results and battery life.

Speedy Manfrotto Neotec tripod, just pull the legs to extend, no knobs to turn whatsoever. Fabulous design.

Avenger A0035B aluminum light stand is solid, very well made and does the job up to 11 feet, then collapses to less than 36 inches for easy packing. A soft white umbrella in the 36 to 42 inch range such as the Adorama 40 inch white umbrella works just fine.

Remember to extend the antenna arm on the Pocket Wizard

Denis has long enjoyed the quality and stability of lightweight Gitzo carbon fiber tripods, but for unrivaled speed – all-important to the photojournalist – he now uses a “faster” tripod. The impressive Manfrotto 458B Neotec pro photo tripod features ultra-quick setup and breakdown that has to be tried to be believed. Both ballhead and camera L-plate are precision manufactured by Really Right Stuff - fittings are offered for all popular camera brands and models. L-plates have dual platforms, one for each orientation.

The main advantages are (1) placing the weight of the camera directly over the center column regardless of orientation – say goodbye to over-torquing the ballhead when camera is in vertical position;  (2) switching orientations is nearly instantaneous thanks to dual platforms and the ballhead’s nifty quick release, and (3) orientation changes requires no refocusing and minimal recomposition. Very sweet indeed. Denis credits his friend and remarkable nature photographer John Shaw with the introduction to the fabulous RRS line of products.

Use flash unit's wide angle diffuser to fully illuminate the umbrella

Though the flash units are designed to act as slaves or masters to fire with full E-TTL exposure automation, successful synchronization unfortunately requires the units to be within line-of-sight and that is often a challenge. A far better option nowadays is to use quality radio devices that are able to maintain the full E-TTL electronic handshake – such devices have only come to market in the last couple of years.

Denis uses two Pocket Wizard FlexTT5units that are attached to his bracket along with the flash units, and one PocketWizard MiniTT1 transmitter which fits neatly on the camera’s hot shoe. These intuitive devices automatically set the attached flash to proper master or slave mode, and also activate high speed mode to allow flash use at any shutter speed.

Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. Three dimensional lighting with his paint brush... he would have loved Denis' bracket rig!

The normal distance from the camera to the umbrella rig is anywhere from 8 to 20 feet away, and Denis has no problems with firing reliability. A special RF interference reducing sock is provided with each FlexTT5 to encase the flash and greatly extend the range of the radio system but Denis finds this accessory unnecessary given his shooting distances.

Though the camera’s MiniTT1 transmitter is capable of hosting a flash unit on top, Denis is not a fan of light emanating from the camera position. A properly positioned umbrella rig is the sole light source at his formal portrait session other than any existing light. Direct flash, use of white card or plastic diffuser, and even ceiling bounce (dark eye sockets?) consistently deliver flatter, two-dimensional results – think amateur snapshots. The difference is vast and obvious when compared to photographs with well executed lighting presenting one side of the face lighter than the other. Softness is one aspect of the quality of light… but it is light’s directional quality that creates the subject’s distinctive presence and depth. In truth, presenting height and width – the first two dimensions – is pretty straightforward. It is the challenge of communicating the third dimension – depth – that demands a special effort… one that is handsomely rewarded. Johannes Vermeer clearly understood this principle back in the 17th century and his sensational masterpieces are living testament today.