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"Action with the SB-900 Speedlights"Workshop at the Ranch Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch.
When I get excited about a piece of equipment that allows me
to make better pictures I want to tell everyone all about it
and how to use it. This long and detailed Workshop at the Ranch
article's purpose is to present to you both a valuable tool
for lighting and step by step instruction on how to use it.
For several years now the Nikon SB-800 Speedlight system has
been my trusty side kick for many assignments and photo shoots.
No other flash unit could compare to the technology, performance,
and reliability that the Nikon SB-800 offered, that is course
until the release of the Nikon SB-900 Speedlight. I hope this
months article not only conveys some of the new and improved
features of the Nikon SB-900 Speedlight, but also teaches you
how to use them when making action images.
Each of these three images have common ground.
In each case I start with a underexposed subject to the point
of the subject being black. For the ballerina I manually underexposed
the scene to the point of being a "black canvas."
For the golfer and motocross riders I underexposed the scene
to make them a SILHOUETTE against the background. All three
were then REVEALED with light from an off camera location. All
three made use of Auto FP High Speed Sync as well. These procedures
are fundamentals that I like to use for my portraits, and these
fundamentals are the same for lit action images. I'm just making
a lit portrait that is moving. The only real difference is the
size of the area your subject occupies.
Past Workshop at the Ranch Issues
May, 2010
April, 2010
March, 2010
February, 2009
December, 2009
November, 2009
October, 2009
September, 2009
August, 2009
July, 2009
June, 2009
May, 2009
April, 2009
March, 2009
February, 2009
January, 2009
November, 2008
October, 2008
September, 2008
August, 2008
July, 2008 |
Image
#1A Leap in Green
... In a controlled indoor environment like a studio,
or in this case a theater, the SB-900 Speedlights can
be used as a studio strobe setup. Many of you are already
familiar with the advantages of using Nikon Speedlights
in i-TTL as a Wireless Remote strobe. I can adjust the
power output of each unit individually via my Nikon SU-800
Commander connected to my cameras hotshoe, or even with
the in-camera commander that is available in some Nikon
cameras. Another notable Speedlight advantage is the units
portability. The Nikon Speedlight is a battery powered
unit which means no AC power cords are needed. When I
photograph athletes who are performing I want to eliminate
all obstacles that might interfere with their movement
across a floor, court, ice rink, or field of play. These
battery powered units keep the performance area clean
and obstacle free. I like to use a Manual Exposure mode
so as to have complete control of the picture. My manual
exposure setting of ISO500, 1/500 at f8 is about 3 stops
darker than the ambient light from the stage lights. In
other words, a picture taken without the use of the SB-900
Speedlights would be an underexposed image, completely
black. There is plenty of stage lighting for our ballerina
to be able to perform safely, but my manual exposure is
set to give me a picture that is underexposed to the point
of making a totally black image. I think of it as a "black
canvas" waiting for me to add light and REVEAL my
subject. I used three SB-900 Speedlights for this image.
One is placed inside a soft box and is in front of my
subject (main light source) which illuminates her face
and body with a soft wrap-around light. One SB-900 is
behind my subject with a LumiQuest Snoot that illuminates
only the back of her hair, shoulders and upper portions
of her costume (called a "back light" or "hair
light" or "separation light" ... all three
terms mean the same). The third SB-900 is located about
10 feet to the right of the soft box and about 10 inches
above the stage. It shoots a little light across the wood
stage to illuminate the stage, the ballerina's lower leg,
and her toe shoe. Its low angle gives a traditional "stage
light" feeling to the picture. Nikon D700, ISO500,
1/500 at f8 (NOTE: camera is set to Auto FP high speed
sync so I can use a shutter speed faster than 1/250 with
Speedlights), Nikon 70-200mm VR Zoom lens, WB 5880K, 3
SB-900 Speedlights all set in i-TTL mode; The main light
source SB-900 inside a Chimera Medium Soft Box and a power
output of +1.7 zoomed wide to 17mm, the "Separation
Light" SB-900 with a LumiQuest Snoot and a power
output of +1.3 zoomed to 200mm, and one SB-900 about 10
inches above the stage zoomed to 200mm with a power output
of -1.3, Nikon SU-800 Commander to trigger the Speedlights,
Bogen Lightstand with one Bogen 175F Clamp to hold the
Speedlight, Lexar 8G Flash Card. The bracket holding the
SB-900 Speedlight inside the soft box is somewhat of a
homemade rig. Sometimes I find it necessary to make my
own equipment adaptation until a company makes something
I like. Simply made, I use a Chimera Speedring that is
designed to hold a soft box and sandwich it (gaffer tape)
in between two pieces of foam core dividers from an old
camera backpack. I have cut a hole in the foam core for
the SB-900 to "snugly" fit into. It works well
and fits nicely into my carry-on luggage. 
Image
1B Leap in Green
(the Set-Up) ... Because our ballerina was going to
perform leaps and jumps for several of the pictures
we needed to make, and because we only had access to
her and the theater for a limited period of time, I
had my assistant Brad hand hold the SB-900 with soft
box rig so he could move with the ballerina if need
be. A sort of mobile soft box. For this leap image he
stood on a long bench for a little extra height and
was able to move a few feet left or right with the subject
and keep the angle of light perfect. The SB-900 Speedlight
that is the "separation light", as I call
it, is attached to a Bogen Lightstand with a Bogen 175
F Clamp (NOTE: the 175F clamp fits the standard hotshoe.
The new, slightly thicker SB-900 hotshoe is a tighter
fit into the Bogen 175F clamp.) The third Speedlight
is placed on top of my camera bag using the Speedlight
Stand that comes with each unit. It sits about 10 inches
above the stage. The SB-900 Speedlight is a very simple
to use, portable, compact lighting system that works
very well on location shoots especially when time is
of the essence and mobility a key eliminate to success.
Image
#2A The Drive (the
SILHOUETTE) ... Let's get outside the studio and see
what's possible with the Nikon SB-900 Speedlights in
bright daylight conditions. Three notable Speedlight
advantages are; 1. Once again, its portability, in this
case outdoors where there is no AC available. 2. The
Nikon Auto FP High Speed Sync mode that allows me to
use a shutter sync speed faster than a standard 1/250
of a second. 3. The additional power output and effective
concentration of light with the 200mm zoom really helps
when illuminating your subject during mid day sunshine.
This is especially valuable when lighting a moving subject
that requires much more space than a portrait. Auto
FP High Speed Sync is one of the revolutionary technology
breakthroughs that Nikon Speedlights and many Nikon
cameras offer. It gives the photographer the ability
to use shutter sync speeds faster than 1/250 of a second.
The Auto FP setting is found in the custom settings
menu under Bracketing/Flash, and by setting my Nikon
camera on Auto FP High Speed Sync I can use Nikon Speedlights
at shutter speeds faster than 1/250, in the case of
this image 1/8000 of a second. So when the challenge
came along to photograph a golfer driving a golf ball
the SB-900 Speedlights would be the the perfect choice.
I like to make a stylized picture that draws attention
to my subject using controlled light. Using Manual Exposure
I determine the exposure of the background (general
scene) to be ISO1000, 1/8000 at f4.5 by using the in-camera
meter and illuminating the 0 (zero) in the middle of
the exposure scale. I made a test shot without the Speedlights
and could see that the scene is exposed perfectly, but
I want more style to the picture so I choose to underexpose
the background by 1 stop using a manual exposure of
ISO1000, 1/8000 at f6.3. This underexposed scene will
leave my golfer in a dark SILHOUETTE. By adding my own
light with SB-900 Speedlights I can REVEAL my subject
from the dark SILHOUETTE. Although 4 SB-900 Speedlights
were used for the final published image, for teaching
purposes I have made this example picture that used
only two SB-900 Speedlights to REVEAL just the lower
half of his body from SILHOUETTE while his chest and
face remain in SILHOUETTE. 
Image
#2B The Drive (the
REVEAL)... I've heard that a golf ball leaves the club
face at about of 250 mph when hit by a good golfer with
better than average power as is certainly the ability
of this golfer. The Auto FP High Speed Sync allows me
to use a super fast shutter speed of 1/8000 to stop the
golf ball in flight while the SB-900 Speedlights illuminated
the subject. The golf ball is nearly frozen and the manufactures
name almost legible. Keep in mind that I underexposed
the background (the general scene) by 1 stop so my "lit"
subject becomes more prominent, but it also allows the
bright sunshine to still be visible on the left side of
the subjects face and shoulder. (NOTE: The natural sunshine
is acting similar to the "back light", "hair
light", "separation light" that we had
on our ballerina.) Nikon D3, ISO1000, 1/8000 at f6.3,
Nikon 24-70mm lens, WB 5880K, 4 SB-900 Speedlights set
in i-TTL mode, zoomed to 200 at a power output of +2.0,
Nikon SU-800 Commander with SC-29 cord, 3 Bogen Lightstands
and a Bogen 175F Clamp for each Speedlight, Gitzo Carbon
Fiber Tripod and Gitzo Ball Head with Kirk "L"
Bracket, Lexar 8G Flash Card. As far as timing the shot
to capture the golf ball just leaving the club face, that
is just me, no special timing device or sound trigger.
Each picture I took stopped the ball in various distances
from the club face. This was the 10th drive of the shoot
and was my favorite image. 
Image
#2C The Drive (the Set-Up)
... This image shows the arrangement of lights, camera and
subject. For teaching purposes I turned off the speedlights
so you can see the golfer in SILHOUETTE. Shooting a portrait
in bright sunlight conditions usually requires using supplemental
lighting to remove harsh unwanted shadows from the subject
and create some style to the overall picture. For this shoot
the sun is slightly back lighting the golfers back and left
shoulder which leaves his face and body in dark SILHOUETTE.
To over power the sunshine I used 4 Nikon SB-900 Speedlights
to REVEAL (fill flash) my subject from SILHOUETTE. I hate
to use the words "fill flash" because the term
brings to mind a flash unit attached to the hotshoe of the
camera and blasting the subject with unflattering, direct
flash. A direct blast of light will work, but it is an unimaginative
use of light and the potential stylized beauty of the image
is lost. I've located 3 SB-900 Speedlights off camera to
my right. By using the zoom feature of the SB-900 to 200mm
I can increase the amount of light hitting my subject. As
illustrated in this picture the SB-900 on the top of the
lightstand will illuminate the head, shoulders and chest
while the middle Speedlight will illuminate the central
body and upper legs. The lowest Speedlight on the lightstand
will illuminate the lower legs, grass and golf ball. These
3 Speedlights will easily illuminate my subject, but there
is also a 4th SB-900 Speedlight located to my left (I'm
blocking the view of it in this picture.) It adds some balance
to the lighting scheme and will illuminate the right side
of the golfers head, shoulders and chest. My Speedlights
are symmetrically positioned to my subject in an equilateral
triangle formation measuring about 12 feet on each side.
The Nikon SU-800 Commander is attached to a lightstand located
next to me, and is connected to my camera via a Nikon SC-29
cord. It is in direct line of sight to all 4 SB-900 Speedlights.
A power output of +2.0 was needed to over power the sunlight
which allowed me to underexpose the background which is
the sky and adjacent fairway. By underexposing the background
by 1 stop and then REVEALING my subject from SILHOUETTE
using 4 SB-900 Speedlights, along with the Nikon cameras
Auto FP setting which allows me to use a shutter sync speed
of 1/8000 of a second I was able to stop the golf ball just
after the impact of the club face.
Image
#3A Air Dueling (the
SILHOUETTE) ... A leaping subject on a stage can be challenging
enough to creatively light and photograph, so can a golfer
hitting a golf ball, but what about when the location is
outdoors, and the leap involves not one subject but two
subjects, and the leap is 15-20 feet high and covers a distance
of 50 feet. Our golfer was a good example of a simple formula
I like to use when lighting subjects outdoors, SILHOUETTE
and REVEAL. As with the golfer I first determine the exposure
for the background, in this case the late day overcast sky.
Using Manual Exposure and the in-camera meter I determined
an exposure of ISO640 1/500 at f5. I take a test shot and
take a look on the LCD monitor and see that the sky is exposed
well, so now, as with the golfer, I choose to UNDEREXPOSE
the sky by 1 stop. My new exposure is ISO640 1/1000 at f5.
Now my sky is darker and more dynamic looking, but it is
just various tones of gray clouds. By setting my White Balance
to the Kelvin Scale and choosing a very cool/blue WB of
3030K my sky becomes stylish tones of blue rather than drab
tones of gray. Also, by setting my shutter speed at 1/1000
I not only darkened the sky for added drama, but the fast
action will be stopped as well with this faster shutter
speed. The cameras Auto FP setting will again be a key advantage
when using a fast shutter speed to freeze the action and
Speedlights to light up my motocross riders. Remember that
Auto FP allows me to use my Nikon Speedlights at shutter
speeds faster than the standard 1/250. This image illustrates
the underexposed sky at a 3030K White Balance with my two
motocross riders flying through the air, SILHOUETTED and
frozen at a shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second. The next
time they fly by me they will be REVEALED with light from
4 SB-900 Speedlights.
Image
#3B Air Dueling (the
REVEAL) ... Here come the motocross riders again, this time
they are REVEALED with light from 4 SB-900 Speedlights.
Auto FP, improved power output, 200mm zoom feature along
with portability, and i-TTL power control in a Wireless
Remote unit all add up to the SB-900 Speedlight advantage
that makes this picture possible. With i-TTL mode set on
all 4 Speedlights the light remains consistent no mater
when I take the shot. Remember that I am using a cool/blue
Kelvin White Balance of 3030K. So why are my subjects not
also cool/blue? The answer is, I'm using the Warming Gel
(orange) that comes with each Speedlight. By placing the
warming gel over the front of each speedlight using the
easy clip-on gel holder that comes with each SB-900 I can
counter balance the cool/blue WB and REVEAL my subjects
with a warmer sunset light. Nikon ISO640, 1/1000 at f5,
Nikon 14-24mm lens, WB 3030K, 4 Nikon SB-900 Speedlights
each with a warming gel, set in i-TTL mode, and each with
a power output of +3.0, Nikon SU-800 Commander to trigger
the Speedlights, Lexar 8G Flash Card. The additional power
of the SB-900 and the new 200mm ZOOM capability, add perhaps
as much as 1 additional stop of power. Now I can use the
warming gels, still have enough light reach my subject,
and have Brad and Steve safely out of the way of the air
born motocross riders. (NOTE: I have spoken of this formula
several times in past Workshop at the Ranch articles, most
notable is the February 2006 Workshop at the Ranch article;
My Moody Blue Formula.)
Image
#3C Air Dueling (the
Set-Up) ... Our scene is much larger than the ballerina
or the golfer. These high speed athletes are jumping 15-20
feet high and spanning a distance of 50 feet or more while
traveling at 35-40 mph. Just as Brad became a mobile light
source with the SB-900 and soft box for the ballerina shoot,
he and Steve will each hand hold two SB-900 Speedlights
for the motocross riders. They're purpose is not to move
with the subject, but to track them with the Speedlights
as the fly by. While Steve and Brad follow their respective
subjects with the Speedlights I now have the freedom to
concentrate on taking the picture when the timing looks
right during the fly by. Steve is closest to me being about
5 feet behind and 15 feet up the hill to my right. He will
follow the closest rider with his two SB-900 Speedlights.
Brad is about 15-20 feet farther up the hill from Steve
and will follow the other rider. My shooting position slightly
in front of both Steve and Brad means the Nikon SU-800 Commander
will not be in direct line of sight to the Speedlights they
are holding. I mounted the SU-800 Commander to a Nikon SC-29
cord which allows me to freely face the SU-800 directly
at the Speedlights behind and up the hill from me. I make
sure that my Speedlights are located well off camera for
a defining use of light rather than illuminating my subjects
with a flattening direct fill flash from the camera location.
This is key when lighting whether you are in a studio or
outdoors. It is the use of off camera lighting that creates
defining shadows, depth and drama to the subject, and it
is the Nikon Speedlight system that makes creative lighting
action pictures like this possible. 
