anyway, got my new stuff the SU-800 flash commander and the SB-900 speedlight...... they combine with the earlier SB-600 that used to satisfy me up to some time last year.... SU-800 replaced the camera's built-in flash as the remote trigger...... but it uses the same technique, IR; thus has the same limitations...... so far, I haven't found any fault with it shooting indoors...... and its been 100% success up to now.... well, I've shot no more than 30/40 shots with this combination since getting the SU-800 on the 22nd September...... but the SB-900/SB-600 combination has been shooting with the help of the camera's built-in flash since the 18th September......
still haven't got some light modifiers that should improve shooting by some margin....... but for now at least, the need for more power has been reduced..... further addition to overall flash power has to be achieved with studio flash.... camera flashes are way too expensive..... though their portability is a great plus....... but use of studio flash brings to the original problem that I had faced -- flash triggers..... I looked for radio triggers for more than a month, but in vain...... I didn't rely on small brands as I don't have an intention of replacing them within several days....... looked for Pocketwizard Plus II, which is the industry standard........ and it was nowhere to be found.... all the suppliers failed........ and then I had to be content with SU-800, which was also difficult to find..... found it just before I was again giving up on it.....
now, SU-800 is not compatible with anything other than Nikon's latest flashes..... so, if I need more lights, I would have to go for radio triggers....... and need for more power isn't too far..... any kind of light modifier would eat up light and would reduce the available power of the flash units...... and when using flash with light modifiers for group portraits, thats when the need for more powerful flashes would come up......
anyway, I've successfully become a strobist by shooting multiple remote flashes....... lets see, where I can go with this....... here are some examples from the recent shootings...... these were shot using SB-900+SB-600 triggered by camera's built-in flash or SU-800......
Strobist info: Nikon D90 + Nikkor AF 85mm f1.8D (@f4, 1/160, ISO200) + SB-900 (on right; on the floor; indirect; TTL fill-flash) + SB-600 (on left; direct; @1/32) (all triggered by camera's built-in flash)
Strobist info: Nikon D90 + Nikkor AF 85mm f1.8D (@f4, 1/160, ISO200) + SB-900 (on right; on the floor; indirect; TTL fill-flash) + SB-600 (on left; direct; @1/32) (all triggered by camera's built-in flash)
Strobist info: Nikon D90 + Nikkor AF 85mm f1.8D (@f4, 1/160, ISO200) + SB-900 (on left front; on the ground; indirect; TTL fill-flash) + SB-600 (on right firing on white wall; direct; @1/16) (all triggered by camera's built-in flash)
Strobist info: Nikon D700 + Nikkor AF 50mm f1.4D (@f11, 1/100, ISO200) + SB-900 (beside camera's left on stand ; indirect; TTL fill-flash) + SB-600 (behind subject firing on white wall; direct; @1/4) (all triggered by Nikon SU-800)
