STEP BY STEP / Getting your flash off-camera

1 Flash bounced on ceiling/wall

One way to make a bare flash more diffuse is to bounce it off a ceiling or wall. This is a vast improvement on direct flash, but can produce heavy shadows under the eyes if bounced off the ceiling, even when blocking direct light with a hand, so a wall provides a more flattering side light.

2 Flash off-camera direct

To get the SB-5000 off-camera, Joe plugged in the WR-R10 trigger into his D850. The WR-R10 uses radio frequency to communicate with the flashgun. From here it’s possible to adjust the flash settings in-camera with a CLS-compatible camera.

3 SU-800

For Nikon cameras without a compatible connector for the WR-R10, the SU-800 wireless Speedlight Commander sits in the camera hotshoe. While it does the same job, it’s bulkier and restricts the use of the hotshoe for another Speedlight mounted on-camera.

4 In-camera D850 flash settings

With the key (main) light camera-left set to Group A and firing via TTL, the second fill light was set to Group B and underexposed by -2 stops. This fill, or rim light was designed to accentuate the shape of the dancer’s figure, as she leapt facing towards the key light.

5 D850 settings

Joe set a rough aperture of f/5.6, 1/250 sec shutter speed to sync with the flash and ISO100 to reduce noise. He knew that it was quite dark outside because it was heavily overcast, so he suggested starting at f/5.6 and moving all the way down to f/2.8 if needed.

6 C-stands

C-stands are strong and sturdy, designed to take a heavy payload and remain upright in windy conditions when outside. Joe placed an SB-5000 in a softbox onto a C-stand and showed just how simply and effectively they can be used to aid you in a photo shoot.