Lighting meetup in January

In January, I held a meetup on lighting.   It wasn't a class or a workshop, but a chance for people to get together, exchange ideas and to test some things in a home studio.  A few models were kind enough to volunteer their time.  Keith and Reneicia (MM# 2622670).

We had people from a  number of different experience levels and had a lot of good conversation.

Here are a few shots from the session:

Lots of great interaction and collaboration.  I recommend everyone to seek out local photography groups and participate in something similar.

Post any comments below that you have about the first two images(the last image is just to give an idea of the space).   Feedback is always welcome.

I'm planning another meetup onMarch 21st, 2015.

Looking through some old film I had......

I was looking through some old film photos and came across a series of photos I took on 9/11.  I could see the towers burning from my apartment.  However, I grabbed my Nikon N80 camera and headed to the roof a floor above me to join some others from the building.  I only had 5 or 6 shots left on my camera and didn't have any extra film.  The series shows the World Trade Center towers burning. It was a surreal experience for everyone, as tragically, thousands of innocent people died that day.  At the time, taking this picture from my roof, my fear was that 10x more people than what came out in the official count had died (I am thankful I was wrong), most likely attributed to the fact that this occurred relatively early in the morning.   My sympathy goes out to all those that did lose loved ones.

I am not going to write about the days or years after, as many more eloquent that I am have already done so.  Taking this photo and being there to experience the aftermath of that day gave me a tremendous amount of respect for photojournalists (more than I already had for them).  Its something I am not sure I could do day in and day out.

The photo above was scanned using my old Nikon CoolScan IV using VueScan software.  It was nice to see that it still works.  I will need to continue to work with it to learn how to get the most out of it.

Yongnuo products to be offered at B&H Photo Video soon

Flashhavoc reported today that B&H was going to start to carry Yongnuo products: Flash Havoc Announcement

If you put "Yongnuo" into the search box on the B&H site, you'll get the following results: http://www.bhphotovideo.com

It one of my favorite and trusted retailers, so I'm excited that they will finally be carrying them.  So if you need any TN-622N transceivers or YN-622N-TX controllers, head on over to B&H.

On a side note, I also noticed that B&H has started to carry the Godox 360 manual flash, rebranding it  under the Bolt brand.  This is the same light sold my Cheetahstand as the Cheetahlight CL-360 that I have written about in the past (I still like Chetahstand for their customer service, but having multiple choices is also a good thing).

Happy Shooting!

HSS with the Cheetahlight CL-360 and Yongnuo YN622Ns

Several people have asked about High Speed Sync (also known as FP for Nikons).  High Speed Sync allows you to set a sync speed (and shutter speed) above your camera's regular maximum sync speed (which usually ranges somewhere between 1/60th sec to 1/250th sec depending on camera model).

The reasons for wanting to set a high sync speed aren't as intuitive as you would think.  Some people think they need a high speed sync to freeze action.  That usually isn't the case.  That is because the short duration of the flash (ranging from 1/1000 to1/10,000 sec) is usually sufficient to freeze action, at least where the flash is the main source of light.

So why would you need a high sync speed?  There are several 'use cases', but probably the most common is the desire to open up your aperture for shallow depth of field when using your flash outdoors during the day.  In those cases, in order to get to f4 or to say an f2.8, you usually have to set your shutter speed well above 1/250th of a second.

You have two choices in that case, use HSS to allow your sync and shutter speed to go above 1/250th sec, OR you could instead use a neutral density filter to bring down the ambient light so your shutter speed will be at your sync speed limit or less.  The issues with using neutral density filters are that it decreases the light your camera gets for focusing, and if using a really powerful neutral density filter, you can introduce a color cast into the image (as most are not 100% neutral).  So instead of carrying around neutral density filters, you can also use HSS to get your shutter speed up so you can use the aperture that you want.

One other use case, is if you are freezing action AND want to mix flash with ambient light.  When doing that, even though the flash freezes the action for the part of the exposure done by the flash, a long shutter speed with the ambient light could introduce some ghosting.  In those cases, you might want to use HSS to get your shutter speed up for freezing the ambient light action.

In this video, I show how to set up HSS on the Cheetahlight CL-360, the Cheetahstand CL-TX Trigger (used for remote power control of the CL-360) and my Yongnuo YN622Ns:

There are several possible set ups, some that work better than the others, and I walk through those in this video.  The CL-TX Trigger (also known as the ft16) does not directly support HSS (most of the image gets darkened by the shutter creeping into the exposure as seen in the image below),

so although you can still use that trigger to remotely control power, a different triggering system needs to be used to support HSS.  That is where the Yongnuo YN622N system (including the YN622N-TX) comes into play.

The YN-622N can recognize when your camera is set to FP mode, and automatically controls the HSS communication to the Flashes it controls.  In this case, the CL-360 has to manually be placed in HSS mode, but once that is done, it understands the communiction coming from the camera and the YN622N to properly control the flash so that you don't see the shutter mechanism in the image.

The CL-360 can also simulate HSS support in its normal mode at full power (1:1).  In this mode, the flash duration is long enough that it stays illuminated for the entire travel of the shutter so you get a properly exposed frame.  The interesting thing is, this method gives just a little more power for your exposure than using the HSS mode in full power.  I show that in the video, but also in the images below:

All three of the images below are shot at 1/8000 of a second and the CL-360 set at full power (1:1).  The first one is shot at f5.6 with the CL-360 set to 'on' on the flash.  The second one has HSS turned 'off' and is still at f5.6.  The third is with HSS  turned 'off with the aperture set to f6.3.

1) Shutter Speed 1/8000; Aperture f5.6; HSS set to 'on'

2) Shutter Speed 1/8000; Aperture f5.6; HSS set to 'off'

3) Shutter Speed 1/8000; Aperture f6.3; HSS set to 'off'

If you have any questions or comments, please post those in the comments section and I will try to respond.  Try HSS with your system and let me know how it works out.  In the meantime, Happy Shooting!

Updated pricing on the Cheetahlight CL-360

For those of you who have read or viewed my overview of the Cheetahlight CL-360, sometime over the past month it received a significant price decrease at Cheetahstand.com (something like a savings of $175 over the CL-360 combo I bought in the Spring that came with the battery pack and trigger).

So if you have been holding off on getting one due to the price, you may want to take another look.

Happy Shooting!

PS: I have no affiliation with Cheetahstand other than the fact that I have bought several of their products.

Yongnuo YN-622N-TX Firmware Upgrade Example

When I posted my earlier videos on the 622N and 622N-TX, one of the requests from a user on flashhavoc.com was to post a similar step-by-step video on upgrading the firmware on the 622N-TX. I have finally gotten around to it and posted it below.

Nikon version that is covered in this video:
http://www.hkyongnuo.com/e-detaily.php?ID=339

Although I have not tried it myself, it appears from the manual that the process for the Canon 622C-TX is similar to the process for the 622N-TX, so for you Canon owners, here is the link to the 622C-TX page: http://www.hkyongnuo.com/e-detaily.php?ID=348

Please post any questions you have below, or in the video comments section, and I'll do my best to answer them.

Happy Shooting!

Cheetahstand Cheetahlight CL-360

I recently purchased a Cheetahstand Cheetahlight CL-360.  This is a powerful (300 ws) flash in the form of a speed light, with several differences to a standard speed light:
1) It Powerful. At 300ws it is 4 to 6 times as powerful as most standard speed lights.
2) Its a bare bulb flash, so it has a different light spread than a standard speed light, that has a very directional fresnel lens.
3) It does not have an internal power source.  It does not hold its own batteries, so you have to supply it with an external power source through the external power port.

I've created a video that provides an overview of the CL-360 that you can view below:

Unfortunately I have a light artifact at the top of the screen impacting the grey background.  I'll have to fix that next time, as its distracting.

Anyway, overall I am quite impressed with this flash.  As stated in the video, its a manual flash, it has a flash foot as well as two different sync inputs for external triggers or to attach to your camera (a pc sync port and a 3.5mm port).

It supports 5 different firing modes:

1. Manual - supports full power (1:1) all the way down to 1/128th power.  That is 8 stops.  You can also set it in 1/3 stop increments in between any of those 8 stop settings.  This works for all the standard sync speeds your camera supports (generally up to 1/250th of a second)
2. S1 Mode - this is basically a standard optical slave mode.  It fires when it sees the flash of the master flash.
3. S2 Mode - this builds off of S1, by ignoring the first single flash it sees.  This is normally the TTL pre flash from many manufacturers flashes, so it tries to play nice in environments like Nikon's CLS, allowing you to optically trigger it.
4. RPT Mode - This allows you to fire off a set number of flashes in one exposure, giving a stroboscopic effect.
5. High Speed Sync Mode - This mode is used for sync speeds above your camera's standard sync speed, and allows you to sync up to 1/8000 sec.  In this mode, you have reduced power, and the range of the flash reduces to 1:1 to 1:8 (instead of down to 1:128).    You have to have a flash trigger that supports HSS.  The Cheetahlight CL-TX does not directly support HSS.  For Canon, the Cheetahlight Cells 2 trigger supports HSS.  Unfortunately, Cheetahstand does not sell a Nikon version of the Cells 2.  

However, there is hope.  Triggers such as the Yongnuo YN-622N DO support HSS and so if you use it with this flash, you can take advantage of the High Speed Trigger mode.  Here is an image of the flash when using it with the Yongnuo 622N:

You'll notice that I still have the CL-TX's receiver still attached to the CL-360.  With the setup above, I can still control the power levels of the CL-360 remotely with the CL-TX, and then actually fire the flash with the Yongnuo.   Unfortunately the CL-TX does not support toggling the High Speed Sync mode, so to go in and out of that mode still requires a physical touch on the flash.

I'm impressed that it is compatible with FP/HSS on Nikon Cameras (if using a compatible trigger).  I originally thought that would only be supported on Canon's, so was pleasantly surprised to see it work with my Nikon D300 (I have also tested it with a D600).

Here is shot of the back of the flash control panel without and with High Speed Sync engaged:

You engage it by pressing the 'Mode' and 'Set' buttons at the same time.  The other mode's can be engaged by simply pressing the 'Mode' button.  Power levels are set by using the scroll wheel.  'Buzz' toggles the beep for when the flash is recycled, and the 'MF' toggles the focus assist functionality.

In the video, I show the following image as an example of the extra power that can be achieved by the CL-360 vs. the SB910.

Some extra detail on this.  I would have added another 1/2 to full stop to it to get the exposure I wanted, but unfortunately the SB910 topped out at full power before I could get there, and I didn't want to change my camera settings.  But this does show you the 2 stop difference between the two.  Both of these shots were taken in a 43" Octabox with an internal baffle as well as an external diffuser, and with equal distance from the subject.  The SB910 had the 14mm diffuser flipped down on it to help get as good of a light spread as possible.

Conceptually, I could have removed the internal baffle of the Octabox when using the CL-360 in order to regain the 1/2 to 1 stop that eats up from the flash.  The  reason for that is that the CL-360 is a bare bulb flash so has a better light spread inside of the softbox than a speed light has with its fresnel lens (which is why you need the internal baffle for the speed lights.  However, I kept the internal baffle on for the CL-360 so that it could be an apples to apples comparison.

I also did a comparison of the two flashes in HSS mode:

The way I compared here was a bit different.  Here I used the CL-360 in SuperSync mode using the YongNuo 622N.  The Yongnuo SuperSync mode allows you to use the long duration of a flash at full power to get HSS like functionality out of it.   With that set up, I was able to get over 3 stops over the SB910 (which was firing in its normal FP high speed sync mode).  If I would have used the native High Speed Sync mode of the CL360, I probably would have lost somewhere between a 1/3 of the stop to 2/3 of a stop, so the overall difference between the two flashes would have been closer to 3 stops.

The thing I found interesting about this test was the color variation in the flashes.  I did not expect it to be that great, but the CL-360 is clearly cooler than the SB910 when comparing these two photos.  I have not done any additional testing to confirm the results shown from a white balance perspective, but something I may look at a little closer in future posts.

One thing I forgot to mention about the Cheetahstand Lithium 4500 battery pack is that it comes with that shoulder strap that I had attached to it.  It's a nice little extra.

Overall I am very happy with my purchase.  I wish it came with a hard carrying case like the Xenrgizer RS600P, but that is a minor quibble for such a good flash.

I'm working on additional materials for this page regarding the CL-360, as well as its FP/HSS capabilities on Nikons, and will be posting those updates over the next few days/weeks, so come back to see those.

By the way, for a detailed article on the Cheetahlight CL-180/360, you can visit FlashHavoc
.

Thank you, and Happy Shooting!

Matt Granger's 'Take Control of the Light' Workshop

At the end of May, I had the opportunity to attend Matt Granger's "Take Control of the Light" workshop in New York City.

I live in Pittsburgh, and travelled to New York for the weekend to attend the workshop.  I lived there in the 90's, and it was really nice to be back for the weekend.  I flew in Friday afternoon, and left on Sunday night.  The workshop itself consisted of a social Friday night, and then the actual workshop that ran from 9:00am to 6:00pm both Saturday and Sunday.

Since I was flying Sunday night, I had to leave at 5:00pm on Sunday, but I think the free shooting time with the models extended past 6:00pm, so if you travel to one of the workshops, I recommend you fly on Monday rather than Sunday.

There were about 15 students, Matt Granger, and an assistant from NY that Matt knew.  Unfortunately Matt's assistant on his site, Tina, didn't make it to this workshop, so we did not get to meet her.  However, Matt's assistant Mos was great.  On Saturday we had 3 models and on Sunday we had 4 models.   Everyone from Matt, his assistant, the students and the models were all great to work with.

The workshop itself took place in a great space.  Its a photography studio / event space called Fitography Studio - 550 Broadway.  It even had full length windows looking out over Broadway.  You can learn more about this great space here.   Matt had the entire space rented out.

We had one main studio area, but there was enough space and lighting equipment to split into 3 or 4 groups during the many breakout sessions to try out the concepts that Matt was teaching.  The format is that Matt would speak about a concept for 30 min to an hour, and then we would have a breakout to  try out the concepts.  It was a great way to experience the concepts in action.

At the end of each day, Matt would give us free shooting sessions to try out different lighting concepts with the models and to try to hone our skills.  I took a few that at first I thought were going to be mistakes, but I ended up liking some of the darker lit photos:

On the second day, two of the models from the first day returned, and two new models joined that we were able to shoot during our exercises.

On the second day, we did an fun exercise where Matt asked us to show some photos from photographs that we liked the lighting on.  He then talked about how they likely lit the photo, and then asked us to perform an exercise where we tried to replicate the style of lighting.  

The photo I submitted was one from Joel Grimes, who has a very distinct look: Joel Grimes.

My attempt at replicating the look wasn't fully successful, but I learned a lot while trying.

What the workshop didn't focus much on was light modifiers and how different light modifiers affect your photos differently.  That is not necessarily a bad thing, but given the name of the workshop being "Take Control of the Light", I assumed that there would be a focus on light modifiers (e.g. snoot vs. sofbox vs. gobo vs. octobox vs. beauty dish vs. ring light vs. bar doors, etc).   The overall workshop was heavy on the physics of light and how that impacts your photograph (in an easy to understand form).   And that is important, as after all, that is all a photograph is, is a recording of light.   And its important to have a strong base in that before worrying about one modifier vs another.

Overall, I think the workshop helped me better understand lighting and allowed me to hone my flash skills.  One thing that Matt did talk about during the workshop was his new video series of the same name: Take Control of the Light.  At the time of this writing, that is priced at $75 compared to the workshop cost of $700.  Matt provided the video series to us as a bonus for the workshop, and I have since watched the whole thing.

I highly recommend the video series.  It covers most of what we discussed at the workshop.  What it doesn't provide, is the interaction with Matt and other students where you work together in solving issues and gaining a better understanding in a way that a one way medium like a video series can't do.  I learned a ton from the other students.

However, if you have a good local photography club or Meetup group that allows for that interaction, then I would suggest buying the video series and skipping the workshop unless you want to ask Matt himself a lot of specific questions.  If you do not have access to other photographers in a format such as a Meetup group, then I would recommend the workshop over the video series (I think if you saw the video series first, and then attended the workshop, you may get frustrated by the repeat of material).

Overall a very fun weekend in a great city, with great people, and learning new things.  What more could you ask for?!?!

To see some additional photos from the workshop from me and the other students, you can check out the following Flickr group: https://www.flickr.com/groups/2633113@N25/

If you have any questions about the workshop, please post those in the comments section.

Thank you and happy shooting!

Working with Yongnuo YN-622N's in TTL

I usually work with my Yongnuo YN-622N-TX and 622N's in remote manual mode.  I love that I don't have to walk over to every flash individually just to change power settings.  I only use TTL when I am in fast moving situations where setting need to change dynamically and I don't have time to dial in the correct settings on top of the TX.

I usually don't run into problems when using TTL, but I have had several readers/viewers who have run into challenges, and they have reported that the order in which you turn things on matters.  Richard F and Larry C (thanks Richard and Larry) reported that you want to make sure that the flashes and 622Ns are turned on prior to the TX, and theorizing that on startup, the TX handshakes with each, so if its not the last one, there are speed lights not taken into the calculations.

I am going to be doing some experimentation in this regarding over the coming weeks/months, but in the meantime, this is the order I do things that seems to work (starting off with everything in the 'off' position:

1) I have put all flashes on the 622N hotshoes.
2) I turn on the flashes and confirm they are set to TTL
3) I turn on the 622Ns
4) I then turn on the 622-TX mounted on top of my camera
5) I then turn on the camera

I do tend to turn my TX off and on periodically to conserve power and to take shots without flash.  I am also one of those people that turns my camera off between shots to save power.  So often I will turn the camera off/on without turning the TX off/on.

As mentioned, I will test a few scenarios over the coming months so you can see results.  In the meantime, if you rely on TTL with the 622Ns, you may want to be careful about the order in which you turn things on and off, take note of what works for you, and go with what you find works best.

If you do find an order that works best for you, or if you have additional findings to contribute, please leave a note in the comments section.  Thank you.

Happy Shooting!

Cheetahstand Speed Pro S Flash Bracket

I recently purchased a bunch of products from Cheetahstand.  I am not affiliated with them at all, but do like the customer service they provide and the products that they have.

One of the products I purchased was the Cheetahstand Speed Pro S Bracket.  It allows you to have an easy mount for your flashes and light modifiers, supporting the Bowens S mount as well as just a standard speedlight mount for those softboxes and other modifiers that don't already have a speedring.

Below is my overview:

If you have any comments or questions, please leave them in the comments section.

Cheetahstand Speed Pro S: https://www.cheetahstand.com/product-p/bkts.htm

Over the next few months, I'll post some additional videos of the Cheetahlight CL-360 that I purchased, and using it with the Yongnuo 622N flash triggering system, so stay tuned.


Thank you and happy shooting!

MagMod Light Modification System for Speedlights

In late 2013, I saw a reference to a new kisckstarter project on FlashHavoc.com that interested me.  It was for a flash modification system called MagMod.

Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spencerboerup/magmod-magnetic-speedlite-modifiers-for-hot-shoe-f

It looked pretty interesting, so I supported it.  They started shipping to kickstarted supporters in January and February of 2014.  I've created a video overview of the product:

As I mention in the video, its a pretty good system, is easy to use, and quicker and more polished than say the Honl system (which I also use).  However, there are a few caveats such as if you have a Nikon SB900.

You can find out more at their official website: http://magnetmod.com 
However, I have found the best material on their kickstarter page.

If you have any questions, please post them in the comments section.  Thanks for watching and happy shooting!!

Additional Yongnuo YN-622N System Video - Detailed Tutorial

Some readers on flashhavoc.com viewed my YN-622N-TX review and requested some additional information.  So I created a new step-by-step video that covers channels, groups, modes, EV flash compensation in TTL and remote manual, and high speed sync settings.  This video does not cover camera shutter triggering which I already covered in the review.

If there are areas of the system that the video doesn't cover that you would like to see, post a comment with suggestions.

Thanks for watching.

Yongnuo YN-622N-TX Review

I just received my new YN-622N-TX this last week and am very impressed with it.  It creates a much better balance on the camera than a combination YN-622N Transceiver and a Flash, and provides additional functionality also, such as Camera Shutter Triggering and Super Sync.  

Let's back up a bit first, the YN-622N system from Yongnuo is a full featured radio flash trigger system for Nikon compatible cameras and flashes.  It supports full iTTL (think of it as a radio based version of the Creative Lighting System (CLS)) and remote manual control of speed lights across 3 different groups and selecting from 7 different channels.  It supports Auto FP (high speed sync), rear and front curtain sync and most of not all of the other Nikon Flash features (I am not aware of any it does not support).  The TX adds a new dedicated controller to the system.

This controller is nice in that it as an autofocus light, a usb interface for future firmware upgrades, Super Sync functionality (allowing you to adjust timing for use of studio lights with speed lights), and the logic embedded in it even corrects some of the issues that they had with earlier versions of the transceivers working in full iTTL with SB-800s.

My video below goes into some of the history of the YN-622N system as a whole, as well as the 622N-TX controller specifically.  Please post a comment if there was anything I missed.  Thank you.

For additional detail on the Yongnuo YN-622N-TX and other flash products, check out the information on Flashhavoc.com.  Its where I initially heard about the 622Ns and the site provides a ton of useful information (I am not affiliated with the site other than being a fan).

Next week, I should be getting my MagMod speed light system in, and plan to post a video review of that in the next few weeks.

Until then, happy shooting........

- David

Interesting new Kickstarter project for a speedlight system

MagMod is a new kickstarter project for a fairly innovative light modifier system:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spencerboerup/magmod-magnetic-speedlite-modifiers-for-hot-shoe-f

The innovation isn't in the light modification attributes, as its just a grid and a gel holder.  The innovation is in the delivery system.  Instead of messing with velcro and flimsy gels like you do on other systems like the Honl system you get an elegant, well thought out and implemented system that doesn't make you look like a DIYer.

By the way, I own and really like the Honl system, but it is not elegant and can sometimes be fussy to set up correctly etc.  It does the job, just not elegantly.

The MagMod, IF it fulfills on its promises, looks to be elegant, simple, easy to use AND useful all at the same time.  I contributed and am looking forward to testing it out when they start to ship in early 2014.  Click the link above to find out more and to support them towards their goals.  The campaign ends Dec 2, 2013…..

Yongnuo expected to come out with a transmitter for their YN-622 system of flash triggers

I read on Flash Havoc that Yongnuo is expected to announce a new flash transmitter for their YN-622Ns in October 2013.  

http://flashhavoc.com/yn-622-tx-transmitter-with-lcd-coming/

(if you follow flash equipment, this is a great site that I recommend bookmarking)

For anyone who's read up on the YN-622Ns, they are a cheap alternative to radio poppers or pocket wizards, offering full i-TTL control of Nikon flashes off-camera - effectively replicating CLS functionality over radio so it doesn't have to be line-of-sight.  

In order to transmit up to this point, you either had to learn an arcane system of button pushes, or you could mount an SU-800, SB-900/910 or SB-700 on top of a YN-622N mounted on the camera.  This works really well but is a bit bulky and does effectively take one of your flashes out of commission (you can fire it from on-camera, but this isn't ideal).  The new transmitter will provide an SU-800 like interface and will attached directly onto the hotshoe (rather than sitting on top of the YN-622N).  This will be more compact AND will free up another flash to use off camera!!

I'll write more once I see an official announcement from Yongnuo.........

until then....happy shooting!

My son Rowan has signed up for Basketball, so I thought I would try to represent that in a photo.  This is a three light setup.  Speedlights are on either side of him both in TTL (the one on the left is dialed into -1 EV in TTL).  I have a third set to manual on 1/2 power to highlight the goal (with a Honl grid on it).  I would have preferred a 4th speedlight to provide some rim lighting against Rowan, but I ran out of speedlights :-).

I see a few things I can improve on next time (in addition to the 4th speedlight),  such as dialing down and trying to more evenly spread the lighting on the basketball goal.  I may also try to bring in a little of the sky which was fairly dramatic at that time (it was dusk).  However, overall I am happy with with the image.  By the way, if you play Rowan in basketball, don't let him get within 4 to 5 feet of the goal.....he's a killer shot from that distance! :-).

A few new tidbits regarding my Yongnuo YN-622N post....

I've had some conversations with Yongnuo technical support on the TTL capabilities of the YN622Ns and here is what I found out:

• My SB-800 was throwing off the TTL.  The SB-800 has an issue with early YN-622N units.  Yongnuo claims that is fixed with newer units of the YN-622N.  They did not indicate a date when they started shipping the corrected unit, but I received that email on July 30, 2013.   I imagine they are selling briskly enough that if you buy the Yongnuo's after August, 2013, you should be good.  Note: the issue with the SB-800 affected TTL operation, but as far as I could tell, it did not impact manual control over the YN-622Ns.
• All of my other flashes work with the YN-622N in both TTL and manual.  That includes the SB-900, SB-910 and SB-600.  

Happy Shooting....

Monthly Group Shoot -- West End Overlook

So on Sunday I went to my first Meetup of the Pittsburgh's Model and Photographer Meetup.  They have a group shot at the West End Overlook on the first Sunday of each month.  I went, met some good people and captured some good shots.  There were about 10 of us while I was there.  I believe the model's name was Alexandra.  It rained during most of the shoot, but that didn't deter us.  Here are some samples of some of the shot's I was able to get:

So I took a few photos as I was trying out my new Yonguo YN-622N's.  Here are a few of my beautiful family (Giao, Maia, and Rowan):

I was super excited because my family NEVER sits for me when I have my studio equipment set up.  Once we took some serious poses, a few silly ones came out as well:

 It was a short but fun session.

Photos were taken at f/8 or f/6.3 and 1/60s.  Primary flash was off camera on the left in a diffuser, while a small fill flash was camera right for two of the photos with Rowan.  The photos of Rowan were taken with a Nikon 85mm F/1.8, while the photos of Giao and Maia were taken with a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC @ 45mm.

Yongnuo YN-622n flash triggers

I purchased Yongnuo YN-622N flash triggers recently.  They are a very cheap alternative to PocketWizards, costing something like $100 for two (I bought 4).  They are transceivers so you put one on the hotshoe on your camera and the other ones on the flashes you want to control.

They also have a passthrough so that you can still use your flash on top of your camera.  I am very impressed so far (but still have a lot of testing to do).  Here are some of my notes so far:
1) Controlling the other flashes from the transceiver itself is painful, as the controls are through a series of button pushes that are not intuitive.  The good thing is there are other options for controlling the other flashes.

2) I originally thought I would be able to use my camera's master controller menu for the built in flash to communicate with the camera mounted YN-622n, but that unfortunately does not work.

3) You CAN control the system from a flash mounted on top of the camera/YN-622n.  Controlling the system from a camera mounted SB-910 or SU-800 is super easy and what I am doing.  You can also use an SB-900 or SB-700 as a master controller (the SB-700 allows you to control 2 groups, the others let you control 3 groups).  Note, although you can use an SB-800 as a controlled remote flash using the YN-622n, the YN-622n is not compatible with using it as a Master.

4) I am still testing the pass through TTL.  I have had some inconsistent results in TTL mode but it could be me.

5) I usually set up for manual flash output.  This has worked flawlessly for me.  To do this you set all of your remotes as TTL, and in my case I set my SB-910 as Master.  I control all of the flash ratios for my groups from my SB-910 so without having to walk over to my remote flashes, or worrying about whether the infrared eye is pointing in the right direction, I can just fire and forget.  Very cool.

6) I thought that I might be able to mix and match with my SB-910 on camera with some remotes using the YN-622n and some still relying on the infrared CLS communication (since I was using the 910 as my Master).  Unless I did something wrong in my test, that mixed mode does not seem to be supported.

7) I have not tested it, but there is a 3rd party SU-800 available from Debao that is around $100.  That is significantly cheaper than Nikon's SU-800 (and it uses AA batteries instead of the CR123 that the Nikon uses).   If the Debao works well with the YN-622n system, it would be a very cost effective alternative.

All in all, if you want to experiment with off camera flash and don't mind doing manual flash control (all from your camera mounted flash, which is super easy), then I highly recommend the Yongnuo's.  If you want to shoot TTL, I would read a few more reviews to verify that TTL is working correctly for others (as I said, I may just be doing something wrong).

Happy Shooting....