Tommy_D wrote:
a flash bracket is becoming a thing of the past.
I guess I\'m a dinosaur, then, because I still occasionally use a bracket - mostly for grip-n-grin shoots (awards ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, table shots) and the occasional wedding. It depends on the size of the room, color of the walls, etc.
Jammy Straub wrote:
learn to shoot with your SB-800 ofF camera and controll it with your pop up commander.
Yup, absolutely! Here\'s how I\'d begin:
Let\'s say you\'re in a medium sized, fairly well-lit room with light colored walls and tungsten lighting, and want to shoot the general action of the party (not portraits, etc).
1. Set your D700 for manual exposure and mount your 24-70/2.8. Set shutter speed around 1/125 and aperture around f/5.6. Now raise your ISO until you have a good exposure for the ambient light.
2. Set your white balance for the room light (tungsten in this case).
3. Set your built-in flash to commander mode (custom function e3); the mode for built-in flash should be \"--\", mode for Group A should be TTL and Comp set to zero. Set it for Channel 1.
4. Put your SB-800 on the little stand that came with it. Put on the appropriate gel (tungsten in this case) that came with it and pull out the wide-angle adapter to hold the gel in place. Point the SB-800 straight up and put on the diffusion dome that came with it.
5. Go into the settings for the SB-800 and set it up as a remote flash. (Hint: RTFM.) Exit the settings menu and set the flash to operate on Channel 1 Group A.
6. Put the SB-800 in an unobstructed corner of the room, about head-high or higher - make sure it lights the entire room, is not obstructed by anything (ie - casts no shadows into the room from plants or ??) and its light is bounced off the walls and ceilings.
7. Pop up your built-in flash. Shoot away.
This setup should give you shots predominantly lit by the ambient room light with just a kiss of fill from the SB-800. You might want to practice a bit before your live shoot.
If you want more than a cookbook approach, read the D700 manual on using commander mode, and the SB-800 manual on Advanced Wireless Flash and using the SB-800 as remote flash. Your SB-800 should have also come with a \"suggested techniques\" booklet - but if you don\'t have it, here\'s a link to the pdf.
Tommy_D wrote:
a flash bracket is becoming a thing of the past.
I guess I\'m a dinosaur, then, because I still occasionally use a bracket - mostly for grip-n-grin shoots (awards ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, table shots) and the occasional wedding. It depends on the size of the room, color of the walls, etc.
Jammy Straub wrote:
learn to shoot with your SB-800 ofF camera and controll it with your pop up commander.
Yup, absolutely! Here\'s how I\'d begin:
Let\'s say you\'re in a medium sized, fairly well-lit room with light colored walls and tungsten lighting, and want to shoot the general action of the party (not portraits, etc).
1. Set your D700 for manual exposure and mount your 24-70/2.8. Set shutter speed around 1/125 and aperture around f/5.6. Now raise your ISO until you have a good exposure for the ambient light.
2. Set your white balance for the room light (tungsten in this case).
3. Set your built-in flash to commander mode (custom function e3); the mode for built-in flash should be \"--\", mode for Group A should be TTL and Comp set to zero. Set it for Channel 1.
4. Put your SB-800 on the little stand that came with it. Put on the appropriate gel (tungsten in this case) that came with it and pull out the wide-angle adapter to hold the gel in place. Point the SB-800 straight up and put on the diffusion dome that came with it.
5. Go into the settings for the SB-800 and set it up as a remote flash. (Hint: RTFM.) Exit the settings menu and set the flash to operate on Channel 1 Group A.
6. Put the SB-800 in an unobstructed corner of the room, about head-high or higher - make sure it lights the entire room, is not obstructed by anything (ie - casts no shadows into the room from plants or ??) and its light is bounced off the walls and ceilings.
7. Pop up your built-in flash. Shoot away.
This setup should give you shots predominantly lit by the ambient room light with just a kiss of fill from the SB-800. You might want to practice a bit before your live shoot.
Tommy_D wrote:
a flash bracket is becoming a thing of the past.
I guess I\'m a dinosaur, then, because I still occasionally use a bracket - mostly for grip-n-grin shoots (awards ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, table shots) and the occasional wedding. It depends on the size of the room, color of the walls, etc.
Jammy Straub wrote:
learn to shoot with your SB-800 ofF camera and controll it with your pop up commander.
Yup, absolutely! Here\'s how I\'d begin:
Let\'s say you\'re in a medium sized, fairly well-lit room with light colored walls and tungsten lighting, and want to shoot the general action of the party (not portraits, etc).
1. Set your D700 for manual exposure and mount your 24-70/2.8. Set shutter speed around 1/125 and aperture around f/5.6. Now raise your ISO until you have a good exposure for the ambient light.
2. Set your white balance for the room light (tungsten in this case).
3. Set your built-in flash to commander mode (custom function e3); the mode for built-in flash should be \"--\", mode for Group A should be TTL and Comp set to zero. Set it for Channel 1.
4. Put your SB-800 on the little stand that came with it. Put on the appropriate gel (tungsten in this case) that came with it and pull out the wide-angle adapter to hold the gel in place. Point the SB-800 straight up and put on the diffusion dome that came with it.
5. Go into the settings for the SB-800 and set it up as a remote flash. (Hint: RTFM.) Exit the settings menu and set the flash to operatate on Channel 1 Group A.
6. Put the SB-800 in an unobstructed corner of the room, about head-high or higher - make sure it lights the entire room, is not obstructed by anything (ie - casts no shadows into the room from plants or ??) and its light is bounced off the walls and ceilings.
7. Pop up your built-in flash. Shoot away.
This setup should give you shots predominantly lit by the ambient room light with just a kiss of fill from the SB-800. You might want to practice a bit before your live shoot.
Tommy_D wrote:
a flash bracket is becoming a thing of the past.
I guess I\'m a dinosaur, then, because I still occasionally use a bracket - mostly for grip-n-grin shoots (awards ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, table shots) and the occasional wedding. It depends on the size of the room, color of the walls, etc.
Jammy Straub wrote:
learn to shoot with your SB-800 ofF camera and controll it with your pop up commander.
Yup! Here\'s how I\'d begin:
Let\'s say you\'re in a medium sized, fairly well-lit room with light colored walls and tungsten lighting, and want to shoot the general action of the party (not portraits, etc).
1. Set your D700 for manual exposure and mount your 24-70/2.8. Set shutter speed around 1/125 and aperture around f/5.6. Now raise your ISO until you have a good exposure for the ambient light.
2. Set your white balance for the room light (tungsten in this case).
3. Set your built-in flash to commander mode (custom function e3); the mode for built-in flash should be \"--\", mode for Group A should be TTL and Comp set to zero. Set it for Channel 1.
4. Put your SB-800 on the little stand that came with it. Put on the appropriate gel (tungsten in this case) that came with it and pull out the wide-angle adapter to hold the gel in place. Point the SB-800 straight up and put on the diffusion dome that came with it.
5. Go into the settings for the SB-800 and set it up as a remote flash. Exit the settings menu and set the flash to operatate on Channel 1 Group A.
6. Put the SB-800 in an unobstructed corner of the room, about head-high or higher - make sure it lights the entire room, is not obstructed by anything (ie - casts no shadows into the room from plants or ??) and its light is bounced off the walls and ceilings.
7. Pop up your built-in flash. Shoot away.
This setup should give you shots predominantly lit by the ambient room light with just a kiss of fill from the SB-800. You might want to practice a bit before your live shoot.
Tommy_D wrote:
a flash bracket is becoming a thing of the past.
I guess I\'m a dinosaur, then, because I still occasionally use a bracket - mostly for grip-n-grin shoots (awards ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, table shots) and the occasional wedding. It depends on the size of the room, color of the walls, etc.
Jammy Straub wrote:
learn to shoot with your SB-800 ofF camera and controll it with your pop up commander.
Yup! Here\'s how I\'d begin:
Let\'s say you\'re in a medium sized, fairly well-lit room with light colored walls and tungsten lighting, and want to shoot the general action of the party (not portraits, etc).
1. Set your D700 for manual exposure and mount your 24-70/2.8. Set shutter speed around 1/125 and aperture around f/5.6. Now raise your ISO until you have a good exposure for the ambient light.
2. Set your white balance for the room light (tungsten in this case).
3. Set your built-in flash to commander mode (custom function e3); the mode for built-in flash should be \"--\", mode for Group A should be TTL and Comp set to zero. Set it for Channel 1.
4. Put your SB-800 on the little stand that came with it. Put on the appropriate gel (tungsten in this case) that came with it and pull out the wide-angle adapter to hold the gel in place. Point the SB-800 straight up and put on the diffusion dome that came with it.
5. Go into the settings for the SB-800 and set it up as a remote flash, Channel 1 Group A. (Hint: RTFM.) Exit the settings menu and set the flash for TTL or TTL-BL (in this case you\'re going to be using the flash to supplement room light, so I\'d choose TTL-BL).
6. Put the SB-800 in an unobstructed corner of the room, about head-high or higher - make sure it lights the entire room, is not obstructed by anything (ie - casts no shadows into the room from plants or ??) and its light is bounced off the walls and ceilings.
7. Pop up your built-in flash. Shoot away.
This setup should give you shots predominantly lit by the ambient room light with just a kiss of fill from the SB-800. You might want to practice a bit before your live shoot.
Mike
Aug 10, 2010 at 02:52 PM
Previous versions of MikeLandry's message #8739439 « D700 and sb800 Help please, first gig »
I guess I\'m a dinosaur, then, because I still occasionally use a bracket - mostly for grip-n-grin shoots (awards ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, table shots) and the occasional wedding. It depends on the size of the room, color of the walls, etc.