Night Visitor.

[jiro]

Pardon the title because it is really misleading. This image was shot still in daylight (very late afternoon but still bright), I used an off camera flash on this one. A very fine gentleman from another forum (DGrin to be exact) took notice on the improvement of my posted images there that he decided to donate an almost unused Nikon SB-24 flash to me. He said that he wants me to play with it and see what I can do with flash photography. It has been months since I received the flash but I wasn't able to use it because I don't have a flash sync cord or a remote flash trigger device. Luckily, I was able to find one (the sync cord) on a yard sale recently. Woohoo!

So, upon connecting the sync cord to the camera body and the flash to the sync cord it's time for some experimentation again and learning! The SB-24 won't work in TTL mode so I can only use it in Manual Flash Mode which is great. I always want to have full control of what I do so I can understand how it behaves when I control it. I set the camera to Manual Mode. My Nikon D70 can sync as high as 1/500 second. Nice! First try - I set the aperture at f/5.6 and at ISO 400. Flash was set at about 28" away from the subject. and at 1/16 power (the lowest power it can fire). The result?... blown exposure! I have no assistant here so I am the one shooting with the camera on my right hand and my left hand holding the flash. I have no choice but to adjust the aperture. The shutter speed does not have any effect in the flash output, the aperture does, so this means that at f/5.6 the camera sensor is receiving too much light. I adjusted it to f/8. Still a bit bright. How about f/11?... Nice!!! I kept the exposure at this setting. The funny thing that happened was that even though I shot this image on a still bright late afternoon now it looks as if it was shot at night. This is something that I want to explore further as soon as I can get hold of a remote flash triggering device so I can position the flash farther than what my hand can extend it to.

Thank you very much for viewing.



Nikon D70, Nikon 18-70mm lens set at 70mm, Exposure at ISO 400, f/11 at 1/500 second. Spot Metering in Manual Mode. Nikon SB-24 flash used in Manual Flash Mode. Jpeg file processed in LR 3.

[jupiterlush]

I love it.

[jiro]

I'm glad you love it, AL. Thanks!

[wommby]

Jiro,

Beautiful - once again. I am new to this forum but absolutely adore what you achieve. I think this little critter was on one of your last shots. Are you sure he is not plastic and you bring him out just for these shots? hehe Only joking. This is lovely. I hope you don't mind but I am going to try and create similar images once spring comes.
Deb

[Bobobird]

It is an excellent shot.

[ktuli]

Willie,

What is causing the dark background is the 1/500 shutter speed. The sensor is not having enough time to pick up enough ambient light from back there, so it is basically "under-exposed". The flash is doing a great job of illuminating your main subject, but if you want the background brighter (I'm not saying that you do, or even that you should) you just need to pull down the shutter speed to something a little slower. Now that you know that, you can go experiment... I'm sure both styles will look nice, so it is just up to you as to what effect you want in your shots.

- Bill

[jiro]

Willie,

What is causing the dark background is the 1/500 shutter speed. The sensor is not having enough time to pick up enough ambient light from back there, so it is basically "under-exposed". The flash is doing a great job of illuminating your main subject, but if you want the background brighter (I'm not saying that you do, or even that you should) you just need to pull down the shutter speed to something a little slower. Now that you know that, you can go experiment... I'm sure both styles will look nice, so it is just up to you as to what effect you want in your shots.

- Bill

Yes, basically that's the reason why I did this experiment. I know the theory I just need to confirm it through personal experimentation or experience. As soon as I can buy a remote flash trigger I can start practicing some daytime portraiture but with night time effect. Hehehe.

[jiro]

Jiro,

Beautiful - once again. I am new to this forum but absolutely adore what you achieve. I think this little critter was on one of your last shots. Are you sure he is not plastic and you bring him out just for these shots? hehe Only joking. This is lovely. I hope you don't mind but I am going to try and create similar images once spring comes.
Deb

Thank you very much for the compliment, Deb. Its summer here on our side of the globe and its really hot! Average temp everyday is about 95 - 99 deg F. I need to water the sunflower one in the morning and one in the afternoon to keep them in good condition for the photo sessions. You can try this technique even if it is not spring yet, any subject will do. Good luck.

[jiro]

It is an excellent shot.

Thank you very much, Bobo.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Willie,

I'm confused why you didn't just reduce the iso if you wanted to stay at f/5.6 (for narrow DoF presummably)?

That said, I think it looks fine at f/11, the only reason I see to go for a narrower DoF would be to bring greater viewer attention to bear on the insect.

Cheers,