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Need Advice Using Speedlight
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Dec 24, 2011 11:09:29   #
rpavich Loc: West Virginia
 
He says that it reflects too much into the room; his foamie is only one sided...hence it absorbs not reflects.

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Dec 24, 2011 14:25:38   #
Robeng Loc: California
 
RTR wrote:
I am new to UHH and really learning a lot reading the boards. I need some useful advice for using a speedlight. I have a Nikon D5100 and I just bought the SB700 speedlight.

I am going to be taking some photos at the family Christmas dinner and gift exchange tomorrow night(all adults) and I don't have any experience using a nice flash unit like this. This will be at my sister in law's house with standard white, 8ft ceilings. I am using a borrowed 17-55 f/2.8 AF-S DX IF-ED lens.

My idea is to use the camera on Aperture Priority, aperture 2.8, and set the flash to Slow-Sync. Then use the built in wide panel and diffusion dome on the flash and bounce the ceiling. The speedlight will be camera mounted.

By doing this I think I can capture some of the ambient lighting, minimize flash induced shadows and have nicely blurred backgrounds.

Am I on the right track?
I am new to UHH and really learning a lot reading ... (show quote)


Hi RTR,
I noticed the gang at UHH are giving you some great info. A while back I spent a weekend training with Nikon photographer David Tejada. Check out his website, he does a lot of shooting with speedlights. David breaks down all his techniques so it's easy to understand.

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Dec 24, 2011 17:40:06   #
coco1964 Loc: Winsted Mn
 
RTR wrote:
rpavich wrote:
I'm going to suggest you go to this site and follow the directions.

If you do that, you will be able to take pictures with a flash and you would be hard pressed to tell if there was a flash in the room at the time.

You will be amazed at what you can do with 49 cents worth of craft foam.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/11/21/the-black-foamie-thing/

Trust me...your speedlight will thank you...your guests will thank you....and after it's all over....you will thank Neil.

I guarantee it.
I'm going to suggest you go to this site and follo... (show quote)


Thanks for the link. I like his approach. I think I will try the black foamie thing and not use the 'tupperware' diffuser. Maybe I can practice a little bit tomorrow before the event.

I appreciate all of the suggestions. If I get any decent shots I will post a few but be forewarned this is not going to be a room full of models ;)
quote=rpavich I'm going to suggest you go to this... (show quote)
Check in your speedlight box---your flash should have come with a defuser that clamps right on the front of your flash, no need for tupperware..............

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Check out Bridge Camera Show Case section of our forum.
Dec 24, 2011 17:55:35   #
rpavich Loc: West Virginia
 
.
Quote:

Check in your speedlight box---your flash should have come with a defuser that clamps right on the front of your flash, no need for tupperware..............


The problem is that the little plastic diffuser is just as bad or worse than the tupperware.

What the black foamie thing does is more than diffuse the flash...it's based on the idea of providing light that is DIRECTIONAL and soft mimicking good studio lighting.

What Neil says is to bounce the flash where you'd normally position a soft box or other studio light on the subject...the bounce becomes this light and the ambient becomes the fill...it's truly amazing to see what his results are.

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Dec 24, 2011 18:39:47   #
coco1964 Loc: Winsted Mn
 
Sorry I forgot you were shooting with the speedlight mounted on the camera...........

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Dec 24, 2011 20:03:20   #
MtnMan Loc: ID
 
I have the same setup (camera and flash) for a few months now and feel you are on exactly the right track.

Awesome machines!

RTR wrote:
I am new to UHH and really learning a lot reading the boards. I need some useful advice for using a speedlight. I have a Nikon D5100 and I just bought the SB700 speedlight.

I am going to be taking some photos at the family Christmas dinner and gift exchange tomorrow night(all adults) and I don't have any experience using a nice flash unit like this. This will be at my sister in law's house with standard white, 8ft ceilings. I am using a borrowed 17-55 f/2.8 AF-S DX IF-ED lens.

My idea is to use the camera on Aperture Priority, aperture 2.8, and set the flash to Slow-Sync. Then use the built in wide panel and diffusion dome on the flash and bounce the ceiling. The speedlight will be camera mounted.

By doing this I think I can capture some of the ambient lighting, minimize flash induced shadows and have nicely blurred backgrounds.

Am I on the right track?
I am new to UHH and really learning a lot reading ... (show quote)

Reply
Dec 24, 2011 20:07:37   #
MtnMan Loc: ID
 
I have found the diffuser that comes with the SB 700 works quite well.

A more light option is to pull out and flip down the diffuser cover. I haven't used it as much.

A third option is to set your flash off to the side on its stand. You're on-camera flash will drive it. I am still experimenting with that but early results look very nice.

One other thought. If doing people and you have the flash on your camera even with bounce you might want to turn the red eye on. Of course you can fix this later.

RTR wrote:
rpavich wrote:
I'm going to suggest you go to this site and follow the directions.

If you do that, you will be able to take pictures with a flash and you would be hard pressed to tell if there was a flash in the room at the time.

You will be amazed at what you can do with 49 cents worth of craft foam.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/11/21/the-black-foamie-thing/

Trust me...your speedlight will thank you...your guests will thank you....and after it's all over....you will thank Neil.

I guarantee it.
I'm going to suggest you go to this site and follo... (show quote)


Thanks for the link. I like his approach. I think I will try the black foamie thing and not use the 'tupperware' diffuser. Maybe I can practice a little bit tomorrow before the event.

I appreciate all of the suggestions. If I get any decent shots I will post a few but be forewarned this is not going to be a room full of models ;)
quote=rpavich I'm going to suggest you go to this... (show quote)

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Dec 24, 2011 20:47:52   #
AvailableLight Loc: NYC skyline out my window...
 
The "tupperware" thingy is a great tool in my bag of tricks... Gary Fong makes one... I got a china clone of it with 6 different colour caps... like $20 bucks... Even has a chrome attachment... There's a cloudy and a clear version... I use it with Nikon Cam and Speedlight... I love it... With "direct" flash the yellowish cap give nice warm fleshtones, while the clear part fills the room with surround "bounced" light... I also use the lower photo thingy on the cam with the built-in flash... The white attachment softens the direct flash... Also gets rid of the "shadow" of your lens with closeups using camera mounted flash... That cost all of $3 American bucks... with free shipping from China...

PS... Got em on E-Bay...

Happy Holidays...
jim





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Dec 24, 2011 22:43:18   #
TimothyBuss Loc: Virginia/West Virginia
 
Hey Jim:

Great info!! Is there a link or a name so I could buy them??

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Dec 24, 2011 23:18:38   #
AvailableLight Loc: NYC skyline out my window...
 
TimothyBuss wrote:
Hey Jim:

Great info!! Is there a link or a name so I could buy them??


Hey Tim!...
Hope it's ok to post links here... This is where I got them...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Color-Pop-up-Flash-Diffuser-Digital-Camera-Panasonic-Canon-Nikon-Sony-DSLR-/310348576539?pt=Camera_Flash_Accessories&hash=item484237771b

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lambency-Flash-Diffuser-Nikon-SB600-SB800-6-Dome-/170601170358?pt=Camera_Flash_Accessories&hash=item27b89f45b6

Takes a while to get them from across the pond... But well worth the wait!... There are some on E-Bay that go on with a velcro strap... Avoid them... I got that and it's a very stiff plastic... The link is a better one that stays on better... I learned the hard way... Tossed that one with the strap in the trash... Some of the language is "Chinglish" on the link...

Happy Holidays!

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Dec 28, 2011 01:08:28   #
RTR Loc: West Central Alabama
 
Well Christmas has come and gone and with it the family Christmas dinner. Thanks to all for the great advice. The photos I took are nothing to be proud of but are a decent 'record' of the event.

I tried the flash with and without the black foamie thing and the photos WITH the bft are surely better. I can't wait to practice this some more. All of the shots were done bouncing the light.

I am also very interested in using the SB700 off camera but need to learn more how that works with the on camera flash triggering it.

If I can find a shot or two that are presentable (both from behind AND in front of the lens I will post them.

Thank you all again for the input. Your suggestions did result in higher quality snapshots (as I do not yet possess the skills required to call them photographs).

Happy New Year to all.

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Dec 28, 2011 03:47:19   #
rpavich Loc: West Virginia
 
RTR,
that's great to hear! I'm glad you got through it with some decent photos.

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Dec 28, 2011 11:28:31   #
MtnMan Loc: ID
 
One last suggestion. Scot Kelby shows a picture of himself using the speedlight off camera by holding it in his left hand with the camera in his right. He suggests that is enough to remove red eye.

With the SB700 all you have to do is turn off/on the dial to remote and use the popup flash on your camera for it to work. The machines figure it all out.

rpavich wrote:
RTR,
that's great to hear! I'm glad you got through it with some decent photos.

Reply
Jan 3, 2012 23:29:39   #
RTR Loc: West Central Alabama
 
I ordered the Nikon SG-3IR IR which is a little gadget that fits into the hot shoe and reaches over to block the built in flash from hitting the subject but still lets light out to trigger the SB 700. Looking forward to playing with off camera flash when it arrives.

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Jan 4, 2012 02:01:23   #
MtnMan Loc: ID
 
I'll check that thing out. Thanks!

RTR wrote:
I ordered the Nikon SG-3IR IR which is a little gadget that fits into the hot shoe and reaches over to block the built in flash from hitting the subject but still lets light out to trigger the SB 700. Looking forward to playing with off camera flash when it arrives.

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