Nikon SB-800 Speedlight
WIRELESS TTL LIGHTING
Workshop at the Ranch
August, 2004 Edition
Hi again, And welcome to the August
issue of Workshop at the Ranch. By the time this article is posted
I will already be in Athens, Greece working for Newsweek at the
Summer Olympics. I am still practicing / learning how to best
use the Nikon SB-800 Speedlights as I believe they are a perfect
solution for potential on location cover shoots at an event like
the Olympics. Last month I demonstrated the step by step portrait.
This month let's really break instruction down as many of the
emails that came in during July requested set up explanation of
the Nikon SB-800 Speedlight WIRELESS TTL LIGHTING.
MASTER.....
1. Mount the SB-800 to the HOTSHOE
of the camera. Turn on the camera. Turn on the SB-800 and press
the MODE button until the unit displays TTL BL FP....(plenty
of additional information will also appear...but let's not concern
ourselves with that).....you are now in TTL mode.
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| Nikon's SB-800 Speedlight |
2. Press and HOLD DOWN the SEL (select)
button for 2 seconds and the display changes to 4 boxes (1 box
is black, 1 box is clear, 1 box has two flash units and 1 box
has A / AA Press and release the single pine tree icon button
(it is next to the SEL (select) button... and a list appears reading
OFF, MASTER, MASTER(R P T), REMOTE, SU-4
3. Press and release the SEL button
and it Highlights (in black) the word OFF in the list. You are
now active in that list and ready to choose this SB-800's function
by pressing the + or - button to scroll up or down the list. Press
+ or - until the MASTER is highlighted in black.
4. Now Press and HOLD DOWN the SEL
button and the display changes to a list M TTL, A TTL, B TTL,
C TTL on the left side of the screen. The right side of the screen
has information too, but for our immediate purposes let's concentrate
with the list on the left side.
5. Press and release the SEL button
and the M TTL is highlighted (in black). This is the MASTER SB-800
Power Flash Output. Press the + or - to power up or power down
the flash output in 1/3 increments. This is the MASTER SB-800
that is attached to the hotshoe of the camera. I power down the
MASTER to -3.0 so that very little light hits the subject. I want
my subject lit from SB-800's that are OFF CAMERA , NOT a DIRECT
FLASH from the on camera MASTER.
REMOTE.....
1. Take another SB-800. Turn it on
and Press MODE button until TTL appears. Press and HOLD DOWN the
SEL button and the display changes and highlights (in black) the
box with 2flashes. Press and release the SEL button to highlight
the list. Now Press the + or - button to scroll the past MASTER
and highlight REMOTE. This SB-800 is now a WIRELESS REMOTE Speedlight.
2. Now Press and HOLD DOWN the SEL
button and the display changes to REMOTE. Also displayed are CH
1234 (channels 1,2,3, and 4) and GROUP A B C. By Pressing and
releasing the SEL button I can select the CHANNEL BOX or the GROUP
BOX. Once I highlight either of these boxes I can press the +
or - to choose the channel or group I want the REMOTE SB-800 to
be assigned to. For our purposes I assign CH 1 and GROUP A for
the REMOTE SB-800. This SB-800 is now a REMOTE (off camera and
wireless) that I control the power output from the MASTER.
3. Look at the MASTER display and
you see the A TTL. That is your GROUP A SB-800. Press and release
the SEL button on the MASTER until A TTL is highlighted. Now power
up or down with + or - buttons to increase or decrease to flash
power output of the REMOTE GROUP A SB-800.
4. I can now set up more REMOTE
SB-800's and control the power output from each of them wirelessly
from the MASTER. Simply, there are 3 GROUPS (A B C) I can have
multiple SB-800's assigned to each GROUP A, B or C and control
the flash power output of the SB-800's that are assigned to each
GROUP from the Master.
All the REMOTE SB-800 Speedlights can be controlled
from the MASTER. The convenience of powering up or down from the
MASTER on the camera is fantastic. I can shoot, look and power
up or down the Group A SB-800, shoot, look and power up or down
the GROUP B SB-800, and shoot, look and power up or down he GROUP
C SB-800 until I have the desired lighting look I want to create
the mood I want.
Now that we know how to set up the
MASTER and REMOTES let's find some subjects.......Anyone will
do........Yes, anyone.........If I wait for an assignment to try
something new I am asking for trouble........so.......let's practice
with...this guy..................
Here is my older brother Ward. He is
a gifted sports writer and a bit comical in his writing
style. I used a Nikon D2H, 12-24mm lens with a close-up
filter to distort the edges of the image, ISO200, Aperture
Priority, EV-1, WB Cloudy, Lexar 1G flash card. With 1
SB-800 as my MASTER (on camera) powered down-3.0 2 REMOTE
SB-800's (off camera profile to the subjects right) assigned
GROUP A (powered up +1.0) and GROUP B (powered up +1.0).
And 1 more REMOTE SB-800 assigned GROUP C (powered up
+2.7). All the REMOTES are located only 2 feet away from
my subject and are clamped to Bogen Lightstands with Bogen
175F Clamps designed to hold the Speedlight. I am using
the Diffusion Domes that came with the SB-800's on each
unit. I shoot and look at the image on the LCD Screen
and power up + or power down - each of the SB-800's individually
from the MASTER on the camera. Within a few shots I can
adjust the flash output from each REMOTE SB-800 and begin
composing the image.
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Self Portrait...Yes, choose
anyone...and if no one is available then use yourself
to learn. This time I am using 7 SB-800 Speedlights (and
yes, I own all 7 of them.) 1 is the MASTER -3.0 GROUP
A is assigned 2 REMOTES +2.3 gives light to my face and
chest. GROUP B is assigned 2 REMOTES +2.0 and give light
to the golf bag. GROUP C has 2 REMOTES +1.0 and are directed
at the golf club head from above and below. I set the
White Balance on 3300 K to blue the sky and used the Warming
Gels that came with the SB-800's inside the Diffusion
Domes to warm me to a sunset look. Nikon D2H, 12-24mm
lens, Aperture Priority EV-2 Bogen Lightstands, 175F Clamps
and Tripod, Lexar 1G Flash Card.
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My daughter Haley and her friend Lizzie
cowgirled-up for my next practice shoot. Again I used
7 SB-800's. 1 MASTER on camera set to -3.0. 2 Bogen Lightstands
are set up to profile each subject just out of the frame.
I positioned the SB-800's in GROUPS A, B, and C on each
lightstand with GROUP A+2.3 positioned slightly higher
than the subject, GROUP B +2.0 positioned level with their
face, and GROUP C +0.3 positioned at the subjects waist.
The fall off of light from the upper torso area down to
the ground was about 1 1/3 stops darker than the subjects
faces. I did this so I could LIGHTPAINT the guns, chaps,boots
and ground with a 2 million candle VECTOR SPORT SPOT LIGHT
and a 10% grid. The 8 second exposure gave me time to
lightpaint these elements while the SB-800's froze the
subjects face. Nikon D2H, 12-24mm lens, ISO200, Aperture
Priority at f5.6 gave a shutter time of 8 seconds. EV-1,
WB 2700K to blue the sky, Bogen Lightstands, Clamps and
Tripod, Nikon Warming Gels and Diffusion Domes, Lexar
1G Flash Cards. Captured about 30 minutes after sunset.
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Well............An in depth Workshop at the Ranch
but I hope this helps explain the basic functions of these little
giants. REMOTE Wireless TTL Lighting with control from the MASTER
made possible with the Nikon SB-800 Speedlights. See you after
the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.