Need Flash help

[Tailgunner]

Up until now I have shot almost exclusively cityscapes and landscapes. Well the family wants me to shoot some Thanksgiving photos this holiday and I have absolutely no clue as to how to shoot people.

Anyhow, I'm not sure what will happen this holiday but I want to come prepared. So I would like to buy a Flash and spend some time practicing with it. Now I don't shoot models for a living and thus I'm limiting my flash budget to around $200-300. I have also read that camera systems has changed and that some flash units want work with older camera systems but there are some exceptions. If possible, I would like a flash that will work with both my D7100 and D300….I maybe trading the D7100 in on a D610 or D800 in the near future as well.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[OrionsByte]

If you plan on shooting with the flash on the camera's hotshoe, virtually anything you buy will work just fine. Make sure you get something with a tilt/swivel head, so you can aim it at a wall or ceiling instead of directly at your subject, and then you're good to go (at least for starters). If you wanted to go off-camera, well that's a different story, and it limits your options a bit.

You could pick up an SB-700 for under a few hundred bucks and that would be a great first flash for you, in my opinion. I've never used a third-party flash so I'll let someone else chip in regarding those.

 

[hirejn]

I'd recommend an older used unit like the SB-800, which is still a good pro flash that will enable you to do fantastic lighting if you know how. It will be within your budget. It should work with any current Nikon DSLR, including the D300 (which is what I use). Even the built-in remote functions will work so you could use the D300 as a commander. If you want to save even more money, the SB-600 can serve you well, but it lacks a battery pack connector and some of the power of the 800. Having the flash doesn't mean you'll take great flash pictures. That requires understanding of good portrait photography and lighting techniques.

 

[Tailgunner]

I'd recommend an older used unit like the SB-800, which is still a good pro flash that will enable you to do fantastic lighting if you know how. It will be within your budget. It should work with any current Nikon DSLR, including the D300 (which is what I use). Even the built-in remote functions will work so you could use the D300 as a commander. If you want to save even more money, the SB-600 can serve you well, but it lacks a battery pack connector and some of the power of the 800. Having the flash doesn't mean you'll take great flash pictures. That requires understanding of good portrait photography and lighting techniques.

Thanks.

One thing I have learned from photography is having a good camera set up doesn't automatically equate to outstanding photographs.

 

[Mach0]

+1 for the sb800. On KEH you can find them within your budget.

 

[astroNikon]

Keep a consistent strategy with your flashes.

For instance, my first flash was a SB-700. Then I bought a SB-600. They were not balanced with each other in output.
a 1/64 on the 700 was 1/32 on the 600 (something like that). so I had to keep that in mind with the 2 flashes.

So if you get a 3 flash setup at one time (one for background) or grow your flashes, make sure you primaries are the same type, just to make it a little easier.

I love my SB-800s and SB-700.
I haven't tried any of the Yungnuo 568ex but they were on my short list.

I also use a SU-800 to control them.

 

[Tailgunner]

Keep a consistent strategy with your flashes.

For instance, my first flash was a SB-700. Then I bought a SB-600. They were not balanced with each other in output.
a 1/64 on the 700 was 1/32 on the 600 (something like that). so I had to keep that in mind with the 2 flashes.

So if you get a 3 flash setup at one time (one for background) or grow your flashes, make sure you primaries are the same type, just to make it a little easier.

I love my SB-800s and SB-700.
I haven't tried any of the Yungnuo 568ex but they were on my short list.

I also use a SU-800 to control them.

I'm a long ways from trying to combine Flashes…I'll be lucky if I figure one out lol

Anyhow, I picked up an SB 700. I'm busy now but hopefully I'll get some time to play with it tonight.

 

[Tailgunner]

I finally got some time to play with my new SB700 and all I have to say…why haven't I done this sooner!!! This is so much fun! I was out shooting the wife's car in the garage and what a difference. I took one with and without the flash. The shot with the flash (bounced off the ceiling) was really sharp and had awesome colors. I was afraid it would show some flash reflection in the paint but nada.

Anyhow, I'm not sure what setting is best for the camera but I've been using the Aperture priority with good results. The flash on the other hand is still set on the factory settings.

 

[OrionsByte]

Aperture priority is a good choice for starters, especially since you don't have a lot of time to figure stuff out before Thanksgiving. Also make sure you're well aquatinted with the flash exposure compensation (FEV) controls on your camera and/or flash. After that though, there is so much to learn about flash, especially the way you can control ambient and flash exposure separately (changing your aperture affects flash and ambient, but shutter speed only affects ambient).

For practicing before Thanksgiving, I'd recommend taking some test shots bounced off of various surfaces (walls, ceilings, someone holding a white towel) and see how it looks. The larger the light is when it hits whatever you're bouncing off of, the softer the light will be on your subject (less defined edges on the shadows).

If you're planning to shoot portraits, try bouncing off a wall (or something else to the side) rather than the ceiling, as the light coming from above will give your subjects "raccoon eyes." Also use the SB-700's integrated bounce card to add a little catchlight to their eyes.

For large group shots, I usually use the diffusion dome (the SB-700 comes with one, right?). What that does is kinda throw light everywhere and it will bounce off of everything and help reduce shadows, while most of the light still goes where the flash is pointed (usually the ceiling). Not always a great technique for portraits, but great for candids.

Flash photography is a whole new ball game. Enjoy!

 

[Tailgunner]

Aperture priority is a good choice for starters, especially since you don't have a lot of time to figure stuff out before Thanksgiving. Also make sure you're well aquatinted with the flash exposure compensation (FEV) controls on your camera and/or flash. After that though, there is so much to learn about flash, especially the way you can control ambient and flash exposure separately (changing your aperture affects flash and ambient, but shutter speed only affects ambient).

For practicing before Thanksgiving, I'd recommend taking some test shots bounced off of various surfaces (walls, ceilings, someone holding a white towel) and see how it looks. The larger the light is when it hits whatever you're bouncing off of, the softer the light will be on your subject (less defined edges on the shadows).

If you're planning to shoot portraits, try bouncing off a wall (or something else to the side) rather than the ceiling, as the light coming from above will give your subjects "raccoon eyes." Also use the SB-700's integrated bounce card to add a little catchlight to their eyes.

For large group shots, I usually use the diffusion dome (the SB-700 comes with one, right?). What that does is kinda throw light everywhere and it will bounce off of everything and help reduce shadows, while most of the light still goes where the flash is pointed (usually the ceiling). Not always a great technique for portraits, but great for candids.

Flash photography is a whole new ball game. Enjoy!

Thanks!

I probably should print this out and take it with me :mrgreen:

Anyhow, yes, the SB700 comes with a defuser and a couple filters…more than enough to keep me busy learning for a while.

 

[OrionsByte]

After Thanksgiving, I highly recommend going through the Strobist 101 stuff. Very informative, and fun.

Strobist: Lighting 101 - Understanding Your Flash

His style is primarily setting the flash manually, but there's no reason you have to do it that way - TTL is also a perfectly valid choice. However, I don't think I'd have the understanding of light and flash that I do if I hadn't gone through the Strobist stuff and learned how to do it manually.

 

[astroNikon]

If you have time to experiment
Just sit down and put the flash in manual
and the camera in manual

Take a picture of something with the flash at it's various exposure levels 1/128 up to 1/1 and look at the differences.
Then retake the picture and find the correct setting for the exposure that you want.

Then start varying your camera settings and find the correct flash exposure for the picture.

I spent some time doing this to understand everything better.
Now I get the (close to) correct exposure in about 3 attempts for setting something up. Then you deal with angles, height, yada yada yada ... and in the end, you find out your basement ceiling height is too low.

but it's a fun journey

 

[Tailgunner]

After Thanksgiving, I highly recommend going through the Strobist 101 stuff. Very informative, and fun.

Strobist: Lighting 101 - Understanding Your Flash

His style is primarily setting the flash manually, but there's no reason you have to do it that way - TTL is also a perfectly valid choice. However, I don't think I'd have the understanding of light and flash that I do if I hadn't gone through the Strobist stuff and learned how to do it manually.

I will certainly check it out!

If you have time to experiment
Just sit down and put the flash in manual
and the camera in manual

Take a picture of something with the flash at it's various exposure levels 1/128 up to 1/1 and look at the differences.
Then retake the picture and find the correct setting for the exposure that you want.

Then start varying your camera settings and find the correct flash exposure for the picture.

I spent some time doing this to understand everything better.
Now I get the (close to) correct exposure in about 3 attempts for setting something up. Then you deal with angles, height, yada yada yada ... and in the end, you find out your basement ceiling height is too low.

but it's a fun journey

Thats a good idea. Hopefully I can get some extra time this weekend before we leave.

 

[kundalini]

Can't remember if it was the D300 or D700, probably the 24-70mm lens and definitely the SB-800 hot shoe mounted. Flash bounced off a lower ceiling out of frame. 30 some heads in the shot.

 

[D-B-J]

Used SB600 and some yongnuo's. That should get you started. And a stand, umbrella, and adapter. Check out strobist.com for some really good material. His lighting 101 section is pretty solid, and helped me out greatly when I first started off camera flash photography.

Jake