Going off-camera

I was honoured to asked to do a demonstration of off-camera flash for Bluff Camera Club this week. At the talk, I promised to post links to some of the websites and equipment I talked about.

The shot on the left was lit with one umbrella-ed flash, from camera right, the middle one was shot with the same setup but with a reflector on the left. The last shot was taken with the flash above the camera and a reflector putting light under the chin.

First, why not take a look at a post I did some time ago on getting started. It contains a link to the Strobist website and the sections I suggest you read first.

Equipment

Of course, there is no requirement to source equipment from the same places I did, but at least it will give a starting point when starting to shop. I have a public wishlist at B&H Photovideo, which lists the equipment I bought from them.

MY ORIGINAL COMMENTS ON THE RADIO TRIGGERS I USE HAVE BEEN REMOVED. THE FOLLOWING INFO IS MORE UP TO DATE.

I originally bought two sets of cheapie RF-616 radio triggers and am still using them happily but they are not really high quality and totally reliable. There is now a much better alternative in the form of the Yongnuo RF-602. They cost about $56 per trigger/receiver set (postage included) and can not only be used for triggering a flashes from a distance of 100m, but can also be used to trigger the camera itself. There is a review of the RF602 here, and they are available from this Ebay shop, among many other places on the web. Make sure you order the set appropriate for your camera. The units are also available from this Ebay store, which also has 10m dedicated flash sync cords for various camera. The Nikon model number is:  SC-28 C

Late-breaking news: The wireless off-camera TTL capability of Nikon and Canon cameras, which I demonstrated at the talk, depends on light signals which limits its use more or less to line-of-sight. Radio triggers which give you the full functionality of TTL flash have been available for a little while but they are quite expensive. Now, it seems, there are cheaper altternatives on the way, see here for discussion on the subject.

How to use Nikon CLS

Two of my previous posts discuss Nikon CLS and how I started the learning process. In the first, I discuss a great DVD on the subject and,  in the second, a great book.

In this post, I discussed a shoot in which I used CLS.

Important

Nikon CLS and the Canon equivalent system is very convenient and allows you to control the output of your flashes from your camera but it IS NOT ESSENTIAL. Incredibly good work is done every day with cheapie manual flash guns and the simplest radio triggers.

The important thing is to get that flash off of your camera.

Getting the exposure right.

By means post your questions in the comments section below, and I’ll do my best to answer.