Out of the box...

Nearly a month ago, I ordered  portable flash kit (Nissin Di700A).  And for nearly a month it has sat in its box, mocking me.  I should back up a moment and say that I am not a photographer who has ever been comfortable shooting with "artificial" light.  In fact, I've prided myself (foolishly) for being a purist by shooting in natural light.  But I have known for some time that I need to learn how to use a flash.

Which brings me to this morning.  It was a dark and gloomy day (a precursor to the pouring rain that I am now looking out at) and it seemed the ideal moment to open the box, mount the big flash unit on the D850 and take the whole thing for a spin in the garden.  Well, first of all, it adds some weight to the camera, along with a certain amount of awkwardness.  But that aside, it is pretty cool how shooting with light works on birds (yes, I knew that, of course, but still...).  

I chose this photo, not because it is especially good, but because I used the flash unit on it, with the shutter set at 1/250.  I would normally never shoot with my 300 lens at that speed, and certainly not something that moves as quickly as a hummer.  But it was interesting to me that the camera managed to do two things - it froze the wings and, at the same time, gave the distinct shadow of where the wings had just been. It's an interesting ghosting effect.  

I'll put another shot in Extra, a more traditional pose.  No edits other than a crop.  

So, I have a lot to learn and I plan to fire up some tutorials on YouTube later.  But my initial reaction is that this is something I'll enjoy using under certain conditions.  It comes with a "commander" so that I can mount the flash on a tripod rather than the camera and have it fire automatically when the shutter releases - that could be very handy, I think.  

I have a wireless "booster" coming in the mail tomorrow.  Turns out that my new office has a very weak signal from our wifi so my internet kind of randomly comes and goes - very frustrating.  Hoping the booster will solve the problem.  

Heading into a 3-day weekend, and also our 18th wedding anniversary on Sunday.  The time has sure gone fast!

xo
Debbi