Do you have some frustrations with your flash?

This is directly copied and pasted, at the end she says "Please pass this on to your camera friends. I hope it helps."


Do you have some frustrations with your flash?

As far as I can tell, the guy who wrote this book knows nothing about how to teach any body anything! I read it cover to cover...twice. I went on line and watched videos...lots of videos. Everyone was talking about how to set the buttons. No one was talking about WHY. What kind of photos will I get with this thing if I use that mode or push that button twelve times? 

Can I be the only person who is having trouble with this stuff???

I bought the top of the line flash unit for my top of the budget camera and thought I was getting something that was going to be fantastic.

What I got was a big pain in my neck, an amazing learning curve and in the end, I am still not sure the photographs are any better than my REALLY easy to use auto Metz flash that I used for 30 years. Yes, 30 years and it is still kicking. I always understood what I could do with it and predict what I would get. I can not say the same for the SB900 but felt it was time that someone took a stab at explaining how to set, use and predict what you will get. Here goes.

First thing you need to know is that the camera is controlling everything that the flash is doing. They call it TTL or 'through the lens'. Before, my old flash was out there doing its own thing and you set the camera f stop to match the flash setting....done. 

Now, the flash goes off, hits the subject, bounces back to the camera and the camera tells the flash when to shut off having calculated the duration of the light with what it considers the proper exposure.

Ok, I get that. Now what about all these buttons? I studied it all and came up with a crib sheet to keep in my camera bag. Wait a minute, I didn't need to do that before. Well, I sure as heck need to do it now. I would be happy to send you the crib sheet if you contact me.

I was doing all of this to prepare myself to shoot a job so that I would feel comfortable with how it all worked. My concern revolved around the fact that I had to be sure that I had detail in the shadows for my beautiful 50th anniversary couple, their whole family and guests. They were black and I had plans for outdoor and indoor group shots, the ceremony in a glass room and general event coverage throughout the rest of the day. I needed the flash everywhere. Put a dark skinned person in a black suit and the reflectance can be an issue especially with how involved the camera computer is with exposure measurements. 

Basically, here is what I did:

1. When you are working in the direct sun you will need to use the flash to fill in those dark shadows that have been created by such a bright light source. It might be best to get into the habit of setting the camera first. On the camera I am using a  

• Polarizing Filter,  
• Go into the camera menu and reset the shutter flash sync to 320+. The light is very bright and in order to be able to sync the flash with the camera shutter, you need to pay attention to what is going on. If you don't, only part of the photo will receive the flash illumination. It will now allow you to have more options visible on the flash mode settings. (You will now be able to find the TTLBLFP) 
• I set my ISO to L1, which is as far down as it goes. 
• I shoot in Aperture Priority generally at a minus 1.3 on the exposure compensation so my highlights are not washed out. Are you starting to get a feel for my angst? Check the playback as best you can to be sure things are looking ok. You will need a Hoodman $89 for this or my Quick, Cheap and Easy version at $1.99. I will have a new website coming up soon with a Quick, Cheap and Easy section. Stay tuned for that. 

On the flash unit: 

• I use the Stoffen to diffuse and soften the light which is snapped over the end of the flash with it facing directly at the subject.  
• I set the mode on the flash to: TTL BL FP. TTL we get, BL means balanced and I am thinking that FP means focal plane but not sure about that. If you cannot find this mode as an option, you need to check the camera menu again. The FP needs to know that you have dramatically upped the shutter speed before it reveals that option to you. Remember, you are working in really bright light.  
• I used a +.7 compensation on the flash unit. That compensation is part of the balancing act and is a variable. You need to look at your shadows to be sure they are not too blasted. You do not want the flash to become the main light source and overpower the photo. It is generally not good if you can really tell that someone used a flash. Remember, it is supposed to only fill in the shadows. 

In this image there was no flash used. You can see how the sun was streaming in through the ceiling of the glass room and creating dark shadows. If I was outside it would be the same problem. The sun kept popping in and out. Yikes.
It wasn't too bad when it was diffused and behind the clouds but when it came out, I had some dark shadows to contend with and possibly some dark shadows on the faces looking down.
I am still in Aperture Priority with a minus exposure compensation because of the bright sun. That worked quite nicely at holding detail in the bright areas.
In post, I used the shadow/highlights sliders to bring out as much as I could. I couldn't lighten it any further because I was already losing detail in his jacket.

In this image, I used the flash as a fill light and I think it worked better than the available light image above. I still have room to lighten the dark areas even a bit more than I already have. There is still lots of detail in both the highlights and shadows.
I shot this according to the instructions in #1 for sunny situations.
There was a slight shift in white balance between this one and the one without the flash. I usually shoot in auto white balance and can fix it easily enough in post. In auto that makes for at least ONE thing I don't have to reset or worry about. It always gets me close enough.
Amazing after 50 years, don't you think? They were so cute together and a great looking couple. That always makes my job a little easier.












2. In Shade, I would say cut to the chase and try available light first and see if you even need the flash. 

This photo to the right is with available light. Not too bad but in post I had to lighten the dark parts with a global change that I could only take so far before they started to lose contrast and get a little washed out. This one looks a little dead compared to the others.
In the next image, I used the flash as a fill light as I describe below. It helped to maintain a good contrast range and light them both evenly.

On the camera:

• I removed the Polarizer from when I was working outside where it was even brighter,  
• I still set the shutter flash sync in the menu to 320+ because it was a bright space and I wanted a shallow depth of field which still required a faster shutter. 
• set the ISO to the lowest position.  
• In Aperture Priority I am watching for blinkies so my +/- becomes a variable on the compensation. I use the Highlight Warning (that is what Nikon calls it) all the time for all my shooting. I find it much more reliable and faster to use than the histogram. Most call them Blinkies because of how the overexposed highlights will blink kind of violently in the playback. It is really helpful. 

Again, on the flash unit is:

• the Stoffen Direct on TTL BL FP.  
• The flash was set to a +.7 compensation. This number will vary depending on the darkness of the surrounding scene and the relationship to the brightness you require for the background. Checking playback all the time. 

3. Indoors with Bounce  

Set the camera: 

• without Polarizer,  
• set whatever f stop you prefer for depth of field   
• change the flash sync back to 250. This will automatically remove the FP from the flash options.  
• I use the flash in the bounce position with the Stoffen to eliminate any harsh shadows under the chin and sometimes I tilt it a little forward to push a little more light forward but don't tilt it too much or it starts looking like direct flash.  
• Set the flash to TTL with no compensation. 

If all else fails....try the pop up flash and see what it is capable of doing. I use mine quite a bit outside especially in the forest if I am doing nature photography and can plus or minus it. I always use it with the Puffer to diffuse and soften the light. This is a gadget I recommend in my classes that fits over the pop up.

Please pass this on to your camera friends. I hope it helps. You will have to sit with your flash, camera and instruction booklet in your lap until you can find these things on your camera. Your brand or model might be different. In some cases it may call things by a different name if it is not a Nikon and in some cases you may not be able to go as far as I can with my camera in terms of the exposure or flash compensations. Good luck. Feel free to drop me a note about this if you have an easier solution. I would be happy to hear it!

Contact me for the crib sheet