Portrait Session With My Beautiful Wife
Saturday night I took another shot photographing Miranda with off camera lighting. I used the same set-up that I have used before when making these photographs (SB-600 diffused with a white shoot through umbrella) and I have to say, it went a lot smoother than it did the first time.
The time that I have invested playing with the flash has really paid off. Knowing the shutter speed and the aperture that I wanted to use made it very easy to make some test photographs to dial in the power on the flash. After that, only minor aperture and shutter speed tweaks were made.
Here are a few of my favorite photographs from the evening:
* All of these photographs were made with the D90 and the SB-600 in full manual mode. The flash was fired with Cactus Triggers.
Nikon SB-600 : Learn How To Use It
When I first posted about my attempts to learn how to use my Nikon SB-600 I sought out answers on Flickr and on the Strobist Blog. I got some great feedback and tips on how to use it but the bottom line is that these tips and settings do not work in every situation. I, like many others was looking for the simple answer on how to conquer the use of the flash in all situations.
As time has passed, the best tip that I was given was to simply use the thing. Try it out. See what works. Over the past few months (and lots of AA batteries) I have used the SB-600 in various settings with wonderful results. I have abandoned using the Automatic function on the flash and I only use it in Manual Mode. Here are the steps that I take when using my SB-600:
- Set your aperture to your desired setting to get the DOF that you are looking for in the photograph
- Set the power of your flash as a starting point. This will vary based on how far away you are from your subject
- Review the photograph and the histogram on the rear LCD screen of the camera
- Adjust the power up or down depending on what you see
- Keep photographing, checking the LCD, and re-adjusting the power of the flash
This may seem like common sense to some, but for those of us who have bought the SB-600 and have felt totally lost, it is the best place to start. You will find that the flash will be on your camera a lot more and that you will be more comfortable using it.
SB-600 Tests : Indoors
I figured the first attempt that I would make at this would be to shoot indoors with a fairly low amount of natural light. Being home alone with Bailey I figured he would be a great subject for the tests. Judging by the fact that he turned his back on me after the first flash, I got the impression that he wasn’t as into it as I was.
I took a series of shots with my camera in Aperture Priority and in Shutter Priority but since there was such a small amount of natural light in the room, I had to go to shutter speeds less than 1/10 in order for the aperture to move from f/2.8 so I stuck with Aperture Priority as my shooting mode.
Below are the series of shots that I captured labeled with the exposure information listed on each. Some things to know about these shots:
- The maximum shutter speed that I could in this mode was 1/60 because that is the limit of my D90
- These are the RAW files right out of the camera and they have not been edited. Just re-sized.
- Nikon SB-600 was aimed to the ceiling
- Nikon SB-600 was fitted with a Stofen Diffuser
You can easily see the effect of opening the aperture here while leaving everything else alone. Personally, I like the shots at f/5.6 and f/9 the best. In this type of setting, I will stay within that range of apertures in the future.
What do you think?
Back to Basics : Using the SB-600 on Camera
It has recently occurred to me that while I have messed around a little with my Nikon SB-600 and I never leave home without it, I really don’t feel that comfortable putting it to use on camera. Lately, I have been noticing a lot of people using their speed lights in situations that I tend to bump up the ISO or open the aperture a little wider in order to compensate for not really knowing how to use the paperweight that I carry with me.
So, what I am going to do about it? Well, I am going to force myself to use it so that I can get a better grip on the ‘right’ way to use it. I know, I have started into Strobist techniques a bit with the Cactus Triggers that I picked up a few months back but I feel like I should learn how to crawl a bit before I run.
I am hoping to pass on whatever I learn as I make my way through this with some tips and some fun shots along the way.
Stay tuned !!
More With Off Camera Lighting (Strobist)
You may have read my previous post about how I started to get into off camera lighting (Strobist). I took it all a step further last week and picked up a 45″ umbrella, an umbrella clamp, and a stand to further my efforts into the technique.
At first I took some amazing shots of my wife with the setup but last night I went with some smaller subjects. I wanted to see the effects using the umbrella vs. using the flash directly on the subject or by bouncing it off local surfaces (ceiling and walls).
“Lucky Leilani” served as my model for the little project. She proved to be a very patient participant in the work.
In this first image, the SB-600 was aimed over and down on the model 45 degrees to camera right while being fired through the umbrella. What you can see is that the light is very evenly distributed all over the model providing a nice exposure.
As a comparison, the same setup was used except this time, the umbrella was removed. In this second image, the SB-600 was aimed directly on the model 45 degrees to camera left without the umbrella. What can be seen is that the shadows on the model are much harsher producing a more dramatic effect but I struggled with getting a proper exposure. While I like the shadows here, I do not like how the image is under exposed.
In talking with other Stobists on Twitter and Flickr, it was recommended to me to move the SB-600 to an angle of 60 degrees or more in future experiments in order to maintain the dramatic effect of the shadows while getting the exposure right.
I plan on playing around more with this in order to get the results that I am looking for. If you have any questions about the equipment that I am using or what the set-up looks like, Email and I will be glad to answer you.
Strobist Tests
I am starting to explore the practice of using my SB-600 off camera. After poking around over on the Strobist Blog, I have decided that I am going to give this a bit of a go. I am planning on ordering the a light stand, clamp, and umbrella in order to get more use out of the SB-600 off camera. Check out the Lighting 101 section of the blog for a great overview of what you need in order to do this.
The more I have read through the blog, the more questions I have. I figured the best way to learn is to simply mess around with what I already have. So, earlier tonight, I collected my D90, SB-600, ML-L3 remote, and my two tripods and moved into the living room. I set the SB-600 on a small tripod and the D90 on the larger one.
I moved and tilted the flash all over the room having the light directly on me and reflecting the light off of the walls and ceiling. I also toyed around with the power settings of the flash that is in the camera as well as the SB-600 which was set up as a remote.
Yes, that is right. The light fell on me as I was the subject. I figured that I would be as good of a guinea pig as anyone. Here are two of the shots that I liked the most. I have to say, it is not so much fun seeing so many photographs of yourself in such horrible light. Oh well, If you can’t laugh at yourself …
I am interested in any feedback that anyone has to offer.
