Canon has been at this for a long, long time and they realize what it is their customers want, need and expect from them as one of the most well known camera purveyors in existence today.
Click to continue reading “Flash Above The Rest – Canon Speedlite 430EX”
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SB900 using the sun as a hairlight.
I have heard and get asked a lot of questions about Nikon’s CLS’ ability or inability to function in bright daytime conditions. In my experience it really have not been an issue. I pay attention to the speedlight’s position and its sensor location relative to my camera and SU800.
Today’s metering technology is a great asset so I normally let it take the first ‘shot’ at what it sees in a scene. While I have studio lights and a Vagabond II, there is little I haven’t been able to do with my SBs. The above shot was taken with a single SB900.
SB900 powered by SD8A on 36 inch JTL stand with 24 inch Westscott umbrella. I use this rig when I travel because it fits in my suitcase.
It was very sunny in California the day I shot Candice – notice the shadow on the lower left of the umbrella even though the speedlight fired for this behind the scene picture.
In the photograph of Candice above I metered for the shaded portion of her face and let Nikon TTL do the rest.
In the event it does not produce the result I want I adjust the stop (by 1/3 steps) on the speedlight.
Controlled on camera with the SU-800. Both speedlights were set to TTL remote.
Distance is another concern CLS nay-sayers bring up.
In this photograph Jason is holding a 42 inch Wescott umbrella with a SB-800 tucked up in the open ribs point towarded the camera to get the light reflected back to his face.
Behind him is a SB-900 shooting into another 42 inch Wescott umbrella. That c-stand is a good 50 feet away and up the hill about 10-12 feet above Jason’s head.
Line of sight is important – so just pay attention. But I have used the SB8 & 900s behind glass, reflected the signal off of windows, mirrors, cars just about any reflective surface. I have also ‘staged’ the lights to ‘see’ another but not the SU800.
Think of the IR signal like a billiard ball.
I also use the Nikon CLS to fill on cloudy daylight sessions.
While in Phoenix last week I did the entire shoot with these tools:
Stand, Speedlight, umbrella and a model: the only tools you need.
The result:
Single SB900 camera left - TTL triggered with SU800.
The only time I have trouble with the system is when I position myself on the wrong side of the speedlight’s optical sensor or move in front of the flash. I use a ballhead so I can quickly rotate the speedlight into the correct position.
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In Joe McNally‘s CLS video it showed him using a ballhead to align the flashhead along the umbrella stem axis. Made sense that it would distribute the light more evenly; so I bought the rig. Here’s the test results – you decide.
As pointed out in the note above, I forgot the diffuser.
Single SB800 set to TTL into Wescott 42″ shoot through umbrella.
The ballhead is the Manfrotto Lite Tite Swivel+Umbrella Adapter 26
The coldshoe is the Stroboframe Shoe-type Flash Mount Cat. No 300-SHO
I consider this as a ‘nice to know’ experiment only. With the inherent spill associated with shoot through umbrellas and with the difusser on the speedlight the coverage appears to be good. One additional advantage I found with the ballhead set is the ability to quickly rotate the flash body to align the IR sensor to face the camera.
I’ll know better after I field test it.
Sideview
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I was blown away by the creativity.
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I shot a corporate annual conference dinner the other evening, then posted the images on-line for the attendees to download. We used flash at the start of the event. In an attempt to capture the feel of the evening I switched to my Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 IF-D and shot wide open at f/1.4 in the dimly lit rooms.
I love the lens for it’s sharpness and speed. It works amazingly well with the high ISO capabilities of the D700 which I had set to ISO 1000.
Nearly all of the feedback I have received were on the photographs with the heaviest bohek.
“Bokeh (derived from Japanese, a noun boke 暈け, meaning “blurred or fuzzy”) is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens using a shallow depth of field.”
I like the bokeh too but the comments got me to thinking about why. I will hazard a guess that it most closely mimics the human eye’s ability to sharply focus and isolate upon a single subject within a busy field of view.
Pay attention to your vision the next time your gaze is fixed on just about anything. Notice the ‘bokeh’ effect of the background when concentrating on your morning coffee cup; the sharpness of the person across the room while all else seems to disappear.
Let me know.
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This is my on ‘location’ kit. 2xSB-800s, SB-600, PhotoFlex LiteDome Q3 9, a Wescott 32″ umbrella and two or three stands.
I have replaced the SB600 with a SB900 since this article was written.
Flashes controlled with the D300′s Commander mode.
Taken with my ‘location’ kit. In this case, the location was my media room.
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I’m always looking for ways to light things. This was a fun shoot and I decided to use a small flash attached to the camera’s reflector with a piece of double sided tape.
The camera held by Miglena is a Kodak Duaflex IV Camera with a mini strobe placed into the flash holder. The light on Dav is actually coming from the Kodak. See Photo Playground set from a closer image of the camera.
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This photograph was taken using a Nikon D-300, the Nikkor 28-70 f2.8 and 2 SB800s. One SB800 was placed high picture right behind Emily the other was hand held slightly high picture left above her head. Although I have the equipment to mount the flashes to either an umbrella or softbox, this session was done with only the Nikon defusser on one of the strobes.
I am becoming a real fan of the Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS) and the ability to control the SB-800s using the Commander mode on the D300. I’ve now used them in studio sessions as fill or hair lights, outdoors from as far as 30 feet away or the sole source of light as in this photograph.
The two cautions when using the system is to remember to have the sensor facing toward the camera and don’t step to far in front of the flashes. I spent nearly 10 minutes on one outdoor shoot trying to figure out why the flash wouldn’t fire, gave up and realized, the next day, that I had the IR receiver facing away from the camera.
CLS is a great tool, take the time to learn it.
Read about us being hassled by the Park Rangers in Washington, DC during this shoot.
Also see Damien Franco’s expansion of my photo tip about Seeing the Shadows over at www.yourphototips.com.
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On camera flash photography has always challenged me. I learned photography, in West Germany during the early ‘70s, using natural light only, black and white film and developed my own prints. My first experience, in the early ‘80s, with a flash gun was a reunion of flight school classmates and our families. We paraded the kids through the living room, onesies, twosies, you know the drill, and I took whole family photos too. The garish, over exposed pictures with that damn hard edged shadow (like the top center picture) was embarrassing when the color prints arrived. Who needs a flash? Not a REAL photographer anyway; so, back to natural light for more than 2 decades.
Click to continue reading “Nikon D300 & SB-800 Speedlight Flash Diffusion Test”
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Outdoor Speedlight use in portraiture
I always have my speedlights when doing an outdoor portrait session. I know the basics of using natural light with or without reflectors but also know what I want. I don’t always use the speedlights, but I always have them.
When I do use them I try to either use the natural light to compliment the flash or the flash to compliment the natural light.
An example of each:
flash to compliment the natural light
natural light to compliment the flash
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