Nikon CLS (Master and Slave)...My First Studio Shot

This evening I was staying out of hubby's way.  He was working on his sermon for tomorrow's service.  I decided to pull out my Nikon flashes and try out the Nikon Creative Flash System or CLS.  I did an informal studio setup.  Nothing elaborate.

I had my SB-600 with a medium size softbox on a tripod.  My new SB-700, attached with my Gary Fong Lightsphere was perched on my camera on another tripod.  I placed the SB-600 (slave) to one side and turned the flash head/softbox up towards the ceiling.  My camera was turned sideways (portrait) and the SB-700 (master) flash head was turned up towards the ceiling as well.  

I had to program my SB-600 as a slave.  Not having any instruction book handy, I just played with a couple buttons.  Okay, not knowing what all the icons and symbols meant...I headed over to my buddy Google.com and found what I needed.  I made the change on my flash to slave and it gave me the default channel 3 and group A.  

I configured my SB-700 to master which entailed holding down a button and turning the flash on to Master on the dial.  That was way too simple.  I tried a test flash with the master flash and noticed my slave wasn't going off.  Hmmmmm.  I remembered the number 3 and the letter A from the slave flash default setting.  I looked at the settings again on the master and noticed it was on channel 1.  A quick change to channel 3 and I was all set.  

It took several shots before I finally got the hang of taking a self portrait using the two flashes.  Here's my first studio test shot.  

BTW, I also used my corded remote control to take the pictures.  All I had to do was plug it into my camera and it was ready to go.  

I'm just having way too much fun!

Gary Fong Lightsphere

See what happens when I have a day off from work? You get two blog posts from me today.

I've been itching to write a post about some of the equipment I use and carry in my bag. Here's my latest toy, the Gary Fong Universal Lightsphere (Cloud). When I first saw this contraption, I thought...who would carry something like this in public? Kind of geeky, if you ask me. I did some research and found that this gadget actually diffuses light 360 degrees. I imagined something like surround sound. Off I went to my local camera shop to check out this nifty toy. I took my camera and flash with me as Roger wanted to be sure the lightsphere would fit my SB-600. Because this version of the lightsphere is called "universal", it easily mounted on my flash and then got strapped with velcro. We tested the flash with and without the dome. Bounced the flash around the store. I was sold on this product.

Here's some pictures of this geeky gadget on my flash.

The frontside of the flash with the lightsphere and dome attached:





The backside of the flash:






Flash at an angle:





The rubber band that goes around the flash head (to hold the lightsphere in place):




The pieces (lightsphere and dome):




I'm glad I got this toy. I can now take my creativity to a new level and well...I get to spend more time with my camera. I plan on using this lightsphere for portrait photography as it reduces a lot of shadow. Personally, I think it's better than the Sto-Fen diffuser by a long shot.


In case you haven't noticed...I took all these pictures without a flash at ISO 1600.

In the next post you will see one of the results of using the lightsphere. Also if you look at my profile pic/avatar, that was taken with the lightsphere. Pretty cool stuff!

Camera: Nikon D5000
Lens: 18mm-200mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: None (I had to take it off the camera to take a pic of it)

Peonies & Lighting & Aperture

After working long hours this past week, taking a break yesterday to regroup and recover mentally, I was ready to get my creativity going today. I was out and about in our garden early this morning looking for some beautiful blooms to put in my vase. The peony blooms and buds are abundant this year thanks to the our snowstorm blizzard we had in early February. Right now, our gardens are looking lush and green.

I stumbled across three different varieties of peonies. Two are double flowers (white and pink):

(ISO 800) The only touch up I did with this photo is to auto adjust the colors. Typically, the image from the camera produces a dull white flower


The other is a single flower peony in a striking dark red color:

(ISO 1600) No touch up was done to this picture

Personally, I try to not to cut a peony stem if there is a blooming flower with buds attached. After the stem is cut, the tight buds will never open for me. I prefer not to waste a bud that could be blooming it's heart out in our garden later.

I wanted most of my flowers to be in focus with the background slightly blurred. I set my camera to Aperture Priority with an f/22 setting. Both pictures above were taken with this setting. I also used my SB-600 flash with a Gary Fong Universal Lightsphere attached (including its dome covering). I bounced the flash off my living room ceiling. I received a nice surprise.

I did take a few pictures with a smaller f-stop at 11. The center flower was in focus, but the rest of the flowers became slightly blurred.

After many years of working a hectic schedule, I'm learning to stop and smell the flowers. I'm learning to open my eyes and see God's creation and beauty around me. Photography is a great way to capture those moments. I'm glad I have the ability to do that.

Camera: Nikon D5000
Lens: 18mm-200mm
ISO: 800 & 1600
Flash: SB-600
Accessory: Gary Fong Lightsphere