Learning Nikon CLS system

avoid shadows if possible
 
yea the shadows annoyed me too
but I did tried an extra flash on the other side, however the shadows still exist and new shadows from the other direction TOO
What went wrong? do I need proper lighting or a shoot through umbrella?
 
I've tried CLS with my D300 using the pop up as a commander. Never really took to it. Also found it very flaky at times deciding when and when it wouldn't fire. To be honest it's far easier putting it on manual and shooting with some radio triggers. Much easier to control what light you want where.

I think it's fine for what it's intended (although not really sure what that is) but it's very limiting I found
 
mrtoad said:
avoid shadows if possible
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Disagree totally. In general, shadow is what's going to give the image depth.

Maybe in this case the shadows need to be thought out more and used for better effect.... I don't like the shadow over the 'K'of 'keep out'.

Also, I'm not sure if the light loss towards the lower half of the frame works for me. The guys' legs are not lit as well as their top halves.

Did you shoot in full TTL using CLS? How did you find it?....
 
actually I prefer having shadows than nothing, how ever I found the shadows in the photo too harsh.

@spcialman I will try to do some adjustments in lightroom and see whether it will help.
I used manual in CLS, is actually ok but the control on the camera is too inconvenient as I have to go through a few pages to adjust the power of the flash.
It is a lot easier when you attach a SB900 on the camera as a commander as that will give you quicker access to the CLS menu. However I only have a SB900 and temporary SB800 borrowed from a friend.
 
yangjason said:
actually I prefer having shadows than nothing, how ever I found the shadows in the photo too harsh.

@spcialman I will try to do some adjustments in lightroom and see whether it will help.
I used manual in CLS, is actually ok but the control on the camera is too inconvenient as I have to go through a few pages to adjust the power of the flash.
It is a lot easier when you attach a SB900 on the camera as a commander as that will give you quicker access to the CLS menu. However I only have a SB900 and temporary SB800 borrowed from a friend.
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Just do what I do and put the commander menu on to the top of the my menu. You can then set a function button to that option. On my D700, the CLS menu is one click away.
 
The shadows are a tad distracting.
 
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yangjason said:
actually I prefer having shadows than nothing, how ever I found the shadows in the photo too harsh.

@spcialman I will try to do some adjustments in lightroom and see whether it will help.
I used manual in CLS, is actually ok but the control on the camera is too inconvenient as I have to go through a few pages to adjust the power of the flash.
It is a lot easier when you attach a SB900 on the camera as a commander as that will give you quicker access to the CLS menu. However I only have a SB900 and temporary SB800 borrowed from a friend.
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Exactly the reason why I'm getting an SU-800 unit to control my CLS flashes. Having a flash on the hotshot as a commander (and maybe acting as fill) is all good and well but I can't justify spending £200+ on another unit that will probably be used as a commander 99% of the time and fill the remaining one per cent.
 
specialman said:
Exactly the reason why I'm getting an SU-800 unit to control my CLS flashes. Having a flash on the hotshot as a commander (and maybe acting as fill) is all good and well but I can't justify spending £200+ on another unit that will probably be used as a commander 99% of the time and fill the remaining one per cent.
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I have the same thoughts as well...
 
yangjason said:
I have the same thoughts as well...
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Just ordered one from MPB - £160 plus £8 postage is a pretty fair price (watched several on flea bay go for £155+) so looking forward to seeing how things will work with the SB700 and SB800. If this looks like a system I can use all the time then the SB28s will have to go and at least one other CLS-compatible flash will have to be purchased....
 
specialman said:
Disagree totally. In general, shadow is what's going to give the image depth.

Maybe in this case the shadows need to be thought out more and used for better effect.... I don't like the shadow over the 'K'of 'keep out'.

Also, I'm not sure if the light loss towards the lower half of the frame works for me. The guys' legs are not lit as well as their top halves.

Did you shoot in full TTL using CLS? How did you find it?....
Click to expand...

Im sure by avoiding shadows its meant to avoid harsh shadows, you do need shadows but soft ones just to give the image depth. Good way to get soft shadows certainly is using soft boxes or umbrellas because direct light will cause hard shadows. The bigger the light source the softer the shadows will get...
 
Creaxel_photo said:
Im sure by avoiding shadows its meant to avoid harsh shadows, you do need shadows but soft ones just to give the image depth. Good way to get soft shadows certainly is using soft boxes or umbrellas because direct light will cause hard shadows. The bigger the light source the softer the shadows will get...
Click to expand...

I like hard shadows.
 
Hard, soft, it's a personal view of course but that's something that needs to be engineered into the shot to gain a look that the photographer wants. I suspect these were bare flashes set at least 7-8ft away (so they were well out of shot), which means small apparent light size and hard shadows.

One way to keep the shadows for depth, but add a little kick to the shot would be to have something like a large soft box on one side to act as the main light, resulting in much softer shadows, but with a hard light (bare flash) coming in from the other side to give a highlight along the edge of their bodies.
 
specialman said:
Hard, soft, it's a personal view of course but that's something that needs to be engineered into the shot to gain a look that the photographer wants. I suspect these were bare flashes set at least 7-8ft away (so they were well out of shot), which means small apparent light size and hard shadows.

One way to keep the shadows for depth, but add a little kick to the shot would be to have something like a large soft box on one side to act as the main light, resulting in much softer shadows, but with a hard light (bare flash) coming in from the other side to give a highlight along the edge of their bodies.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your suggestions, now I know what I want for Christmas lol!(y)(y)
 
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