Scared Of Speedlights!
Discussion
I have bee very reluctant over the years, maybe reticent is a better word.
I've had a couple of Nikon SB800s for a while and sort-of-thought-I-knew-what-I-was-doing.
Then I got invited to photograph a wedding. Indoors. In February.
So - apart from dashing out for a camera with a low light sensor capability, I thought I'd get the old Nikon CLS going.
....only to find one of my Speedlights had corroded in the battery compartment and needed servicing!
So I scoured Fleabay for three more bargains and this last Thursday set out after a few practice shoots!
Well elsewhere, I mentioned lending a lens to an ex-paparazzo guy ("Bill") - well he had turned up with a D3 and was just doing available light. We had been tasked with "all candid" and "no formal shots"
I broke the rules straight away by setting up my portable studio. Posing the bride with her mother, her brother, the entrance to the ceremony room etc! And after the event my new photography buddy Bill says "we gotta have a group shot". "OK" says I. "Here have a couple of Speedlights - you know what you're doing".
Of course, it transpires that he knows NOTHING about how the Nikon CLS works! Why would he? You don't stalk celebrities with a studio kit?!!
So, for all of ten seconds, confidence came to me - and despite him barking at me what aperture to use (I hadn't asked for the advice and was pretty cross at this) he says "how are you going to trigger them flashguns?" "From a D800 built in flash as a commander, wirelessly," says I!
It's at that very moment, as I whisked up two stands, brollies and SB800s that I suddenly had that "Eureka Moment"!
I Do know something about photography, after all!i don't need to be scared of flash photography. I could teach a kid, a complete imbecile and a f
king-know-it-all-pap a thing or two about "stuff"
...And my confidence came to me!
So, if you were ever scared of the dark, don't be! I've seen the light!
I've had a couple of Nikon SB800s for a while and sort-of-thought-I-knew-what-I-was-doing.
Then I got invited to photograph a wedding. Indoors. In February.
So - apart from dashing out for a camera with a low light sensor capability, I thought I'd get the old Nikon CLS going.
....only to find one of my Speedlights had corroded in the battery compartment and needed servicing!
So I scoured Fleabay for three more bargains and this last Thursday set out after a few practice shoots!
Well elsewhere, I mentioned lending a lens to an ex-paparazzo guy ("Bill") - well he had turned up with a D3 and was just doing available light. We had been tasked with "all candid" and "no formal shots"
I broke the rules straight away by setting up my portable studio. Posing the bride with her mother, her brother, the entrance to the ceremony room etc! And after the event my new photography buddy Bill says "we gotta have a group shot". "OK" says I. "Here have a couple of Speedlights - you know what you're doing".
Of course, it transpires that he knows NOTHING about how the Nikon CLS works! Why would he? You don't stalk celebrities with a studio kit?!!
So, for all of ten seconds, confidence came to me - and despite him barking at me what aperture to use (I hadn't asked for the advice and was pretty cross at this) he says "how are you going to trigger them flashguns?" "From a D800 built in flash as a commander, wirelessly," says I!
It's at that very moment, as I whisked up two stands, brollies and SB800s that I suddenly had that "Eureka Moment"!
I Do know something about photography, after all!i don't need to be scared of flash photography. I could teach a kid, a complete imbecile and a f
king-know-it-all-pap a thing or two about "stuff"...And my confidence came to me!
So, if you were ever scared of the dark, don't be! I've seen the light!
Not bad for 5 am !
596 RAW shots now.....Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff