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Workshop at the Ranch – August 2004 – Nikon SB-800 Speedlight WIRELESS TTL LIGHTING

0408-iconHi 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.