FLASH!! AAaaAarghhh!!!

(Sorry...)

One of the things that puzzles non-photographers, and causes much apprehension amongst new photographers, is the deployment of a flashgun or two, even in "bright light". Watch the frowns and head-tilts as you put a Speedlight on your camera when "it's sunny, what's the problem?"

It's one of the things (I'm told) that isn't taught well, if at all, at colleges, and thus becomes a mountain to climb when faced with the real world and its frequent lack of "good" available light. There's often plenty of light washing about, sure, but if you are trying to make an image for a newspaper, the aim is always to think "tight and bright" first. (Even if we might mentally add "and sh*te!" to that...)

Luckily, the 'net can come to the rescue with a wealth of information now on-line, from people who have made a career from doing good lighting. I certainly owe pretty much all I know about Flash; Use Of, to the blogs of David Hobby and Joe McNally. You can do a lot worse, if you are new to the idea of lighting being something you need to manage, of reading Strobist's Lighting 101 and 102.

And you do need to manage it, as a jobbing pro, because you are expected to come back with something satisfactory from every job.

One of the greatest things to learn about flash is that there are always two exposures taking place; one for the flash itself, and one for whatever ambient may be about. Appreciate this for the first time, and you suddenly open up some creative doors...

A London Marathon runner, Jodie Allchin, photographed at The Leas, Minster. There are two exposures in operation here;

One, the ambient, was deliberately underexposed by one stop, which cut down the glare of the concrete and improved the detail in the sky. This left her face and t-shirt (important because of the charity element) a bit dark - though the bright concrete actually gave back some helpful fill-in through reflection - so an SB900 was deployed, feathered off so that it wasn't aimed straight at her, running at +1.0 EV (I think!). The feathering means the light that hits her isn't quite so harsh, as her face is lit by the more diffuse edges of the flash beam. It's only a small difference, but in the absence of, say, a softbox it does help a bit.

More after the break.

D4 Pondering, Part 2, and more...

(Even less sure, now...)

(Usual Disclaimer: No, I still haven't got hands-on with one. This further ramble is based on what I read from sensible pro-users and commentators around the 'net. I think I'd still like one, but...)

A bit more information has come to light since I wrote my first pondering on the new Nikon D4, though the actual launch date has been pushed back into March since I wrote the post. Nikon have possibly discovered something they want to correct when the pre-production samples were getting their work-out here, and here, for example. Or maybe they wish to build up launch stock availability. Either way, I don't think this is any big deal.

However, what seems to be clear (or becoming clearer) is that the overall image quality is a "D3s but with more pixels". I did ponder this and decided that it was a possibility (though I bottled it and plumped for "more like D3"...!!!!), though Nikon still don't say this outright. But various commentators who have seen images side by side from the D3s and D4 say they couldn't be more similar.

Which strongly suggests two things: one; that Nikon have managed to increase the resolution without increasing noise and other issues with their flagship sensor, and two; just how extraordinary the D3s sensor was at launch in 2009, and how good it remains.

Nikon D3s.
I've not much use for Nik Color Efex Pro 3; I have it because it was cheaper to buy the complete set of products than pick the ones I do use (Dfine, Sharpener and Silver Efex) but here I've had a play around to be a little creative with what is, really, a dull image to illustrate the page. Shot on my D3 with 60mm Micro, the raw is processed with the Polaroid Transfer preset, then the Pro Contrast preset, in Color Efex 3. There's a small levels adjustment to lift the whites slightly.

More after the break...