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Bear Test - Interiors 104 and some conclusions
Change
of angle of the primary flash
(19)
Flash 1: off camera on SC-17, at left, with diffuser
Flash
head: almost straight forward
Flash
settings: TTL
Flash
compensation: none
Flash
2: at right on SU-4
Exposure:
1/60 sec, f/4
Result:
It simulates studio lighting at 45° from each side at
front. IMO the most evenly distributed soft lighting of the
whole test strips. |
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(20)
Exactly as above except for the primary flash head
changed angle: off camera at left, straight upwards from about
-15 from horizontal.
Result:
A small variation of the one above, when it is imperative
to illuminate under baggy eyes or with exaggerated dark makeup.
A
more subtle effect would have been obtained with a reflector. |
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SOME
CONCLUSIONS AROUND FLASH FOR INTERIORS
The
Nikon flash system managed to provide the best possible lighting
for the image on the frame, not of one bear over the other, but
for both. And that under various conditions: one flash, two flashes,
on hot shoe, on bracket, off camera, on SU-4, at various angles.
The more noticeable differences were created by the position of
the flash(es) to illuminate the wanted areas -like the chest of
the brown bear- and the use or not use of the diffuser or the
white card in interiors. These changed the quality of the light
and its placement, not the quantity as seen in the images presented.
Many
variations were tested, all equivalent in results, not presented
here for reasons of space, to avoid plenty of repetitive images
and profound lethargy:
a)
Switch from P program mode into A mode, selecting wider apertures
for shallower depth of field. This could be desirable on occasions.
However, if you want improved DOF it is always better to switch
lenses for one with a wider angle.
b)
Switch from P program mode into S mode, to insure apparent steadier
shooting, like from 1/60 sec to 1/125. If under dark lighting
conditions it serves no purpose, there is not enough light to
record backgrounds, the actual speed will be that of the speedlight
and you loose DOF.
c)
Switch from P program mode into full Manual was really useless
as it just duplicates the results obtained in A and S modes.
c)
Slow Sync. More illuminated backgrounds under the test conditions.
Perhaps useful if more surrounding light is available and there
is an interest in showing those backgrounds.
Obviously
no rule was broken in the tests, that is, shooting outside of
the flash range dictated by the Guide Number (GN). If you don't
break it, your images should always look well lit. If they don't,
ask your photo lab to redo your prints.
So,
unless you want to shoot at wider apertures, if you don't want
to be concerned about the above rule in interiors, just switch
to P mode and set the flash to TTL only, to use your speedlight(s)
as main light source. You may say " .. but that is not taking
advantage of my 3D Multi-sensor matrix balanced TTL capability
with my high end camera and D lenses". Well, in interiors you
may not want to since you don't need it as shown here, but you
better use it in exteriors where the surrounding light becomes
more important.
A
tribute note to the photojournalists first using a simple white
card attached to the flash with a rubber band. The results of
using the white card out were always best, whether the flash head
was at 90° (for not too tall ceilings) or at 45° (for
tall ceilings) and those are among my favorites. Next best thing
if you don't have a Sto-Fen®
Omni-Bounce® diffuser at hand.
Important
note: When using two speedlights and the second one is on
a SU-4
flash control unit, or is a flash with is own built-in slave capability,
you have to make certain pre-flashes do not pre-trigger the second
flash. An easy way to do that is -as in these tests- slightly
tilt or rotate the head of the main flash. When with two flashes,
triggering flash "straight forward" really means "almost
straight forward".
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