I received my flash, light stand, reflective umbrella, and connecting cable in the mail.

The first challenge was to make the flash fire.

Then I got two willing subjects to pose.

They were able to stay still a long time while I fiddled with everything.

I think there must be a better way to attach the flash & umbrella to the stand.

The way I have it, I can hardly angle it down at all.

Eventually I got a 45° angle, powered down the flash,

& filled in some to make the shadows less harsh and the figures more round.

It was total trial and error.

There are ratios one could use to determine % flash power vs. # of stops underexposed vs. ambient.

Hopefully I’ll learn them soon. Most people aren’t as patient as these two.

Facing our subjects, the window is off to the right, the flash to the left.

natural light

with fill flash

Later: Wow! I got that setup completely wrong! 

Just goes to show you even an untrained monkey

could make a stuffed lamb look a little better with some fill flash.