Ambient Light Carries The Day

Oh Boy, Oh Boy! I get to photograph inside a real fire house! With real fire fighters. Dancing fire fighters!

Huh?

The photo was to be a pre-event for an upcoming Fireman's Ball and Fund Raiser. When I got the word, I went into high gear, hoping to do some Joe McNally, big room lighting.

All Keyed Up: I saw Zack Arias use a silver umbrella in a rather novel way: Instead of opening it fully, he'd open it half way so it looked more like a cone than a dome. He would then choke up on the umbrella shaft so that the flash was actually deep inside the cone. This gave a narrow cylinder of light, wider than a grid spot, but narrower than a soft box. This would allow me to aim the light directly at my subjects with minimal spill onto the background. In theory, this would give me full control over my foreground lighting, since there would be no spill to worry about. If I wanted something lit, I'd have to light it.

Photographers Plan. The Gods Laugh: For nearly two weeks, e-mails flew back and forth, trying and re-trying to secure a location and some willing subjects. I made the decision to run with a "Princess At The Ball" theme, and had intended to pose two firemen helping a firewoman, dressed to the nines, emerge from a fire engine. I thought the idea of a woman having two possible dance partners would provide some visual interest. I assumed it would be easier to get to off-duty firemen to pose in the shot, since there would be more of them available. I even went so far as to fax this concept sketch to my Fire Department liaison. Plans were made for a 10:00 am shoot so that Cissie could join me.

Days pass. Then the wheels started to fall off.

Pot Hole #1: "We can't find female firefighters. Can we do two men?" I respond, "Wives, sweethearts, almost anybody will do."

Pot Hole #2: "We located the fiancé of a firefighter. Unfortunately, she's a teacher and would only be available after 4:00."  I respond, "I'll move the date and the time to something more convenient."

Pot Hole #3: "We have two women, but only one man." I respond, "We can just reverse the roles illustrated in my sketch. Now we'll have two ladies helping a fireman out of the fire engine."

Pot Hole #4: "I am down to a single female, and we'll need to make the shot at the administration substation where she works. I can have an antique fire engine available for your use." I respond, "That will work. I'll see you there."

I arrived at 4:03 pm, planning to begin photographing at 5:00 sharp, for no more than ten minutes. it turns out that this is where the two antique fire truck are stored. My female subject, a fire inspector, is getting dressed. Two fire engines inside the station, some ambient light, but workable.

With nearly an hour to set up, I start putting my lighting solution together. Key Light is a Adorama Li-on radio control flash, set to Group A. A second Li-on, designated Group B, serves as an Accent Light to illuminate the Station Banner in the background. Two SB-800s are placed to serve as kicklights from behind. I wasn't happy with the direction the photo was taking until I dropped the shutter speed down to 1/30 of a second. The background came alive with a large highlight on the floor behind my dancers provided by the windows (not the flash) in the back wall.

Pot Hole #5: Since this was a regional effort, I was asked to avoid showing any references to a specific city in the photo. Because the  fire engine on the left was marked "Burlingame", I had to take a lower shooting angle so that it wouldn't show. Then the shooting schedule was moved up because my subject had to leave at 4:45. I could have used those additional minutes, but deadlines are deadline, so I started shooting.

It quickly became obvious that the banner light was a little too "hot", but when I lowered the output of this  Group B light, the image wasn't improved. Still, the brilliant hair light (camera right) manage to brighten up my dancers without causing an excessive amount of lens flair. I had a number of usable shots, but this one had good expression and my dancer's left leg clearly defined.

After I showed my subjects some of the preliminary images, I turned around to see that several of my subjects' office mates were happily recording the event on their iPhones. When I showed them our progress, they too were pleased with the results.

At the last minute, I decided to make a few shots without Group B, knowing that the overhead banner would be darkened and therefore, less recognizable. As it turned out, these photos were lit with only one light because the (camera right) hair light, configured as an optical slave, couldn't detect my key light. The shots did emphasize how much the ambient light was adding to the photo.

One might argue that the shot could have been made using only the ambient light. After all, I could have arranged for the garage doors behind me to be opened. But there is still one point to remember: Without that additional flash, I would lose my ability to create a shadow on my subject, which is necessary to give the face a three-dimensional quality. In this enlargement, you can sense from the shadows under my subject's chin and nose that I'm looking at a real face. This low contrast lighting is more flattering and nearly all faces, so if it makes your subjects look better, why do it? The image isn't as crisp as I would have liked, but it was made at 1/30 of a second, and the subjects were moving.

For me, the take-away from the assignment is to get the ambient lighting right before adding my flashes. I think I was a little too quick to place speedlights where I thought they would help the image. Maybe then I would have had  a better idea of what areas of the image need additional light, and which areas I should have left alone.

Update: When the photo was printed, nearly all of the background and foreground was cropped out to make room for two additional photos and their captions. Admittedly, most of the spirit was retained. Perhaps I was showing too much limb.

I would love to return to the station and attempt to right the wrongs made during my first attempt. More likely, I'll keep those lessons in mind for the next time I must make a photo under similar conditions.

Non-TTL Speedlights - Nikon

The Nikon SB-24, SB-25, and SB-26 Speedlights.

The closing of  Keeble and Shuchat last year was a blow to photographers on the San Francisco Peninsula. The true, full service stores like Kaufmann's, Brooks', and Gasser's are long gone, victims as much of the digital camera as the rush-rush mentality of today's users. Gone are the days when a dealer and a customer considered themselves friends, and would think nothing of debating the relative merits of one piece of equipment over another.

What I miss most is the assortment of used cameras, lenses, and yes, speedlights that were offered for sale. I appreciated the fact that K & S was very customer friendly when it came to purchasing used equipment. You were given a reasonable amount of time to test your purchase, and if returned within that grace period, you got a full refund.

SB 24 with a Wein Peanut Slave Mounted. Click here. for details.

Why Even Consider These Legacy Speedlights? Cost. It will take you $327 (MSRP) to secure a new SB-700, the entry level iTTL speedlight. (Forget about the SB-400 - It's basically useless). If price is an issue, a used, very serviceable but minimally featured, Nikon SB-24 can be had for a relative song. I purchased a pair of serviceable SB-24s for $50.00 a few years back. And while the price has gone up, reasonably priced specimens can be found on E-Bay.

The Nikon SB-26 - See it? Buy it!

Swiveling Head: Even though the listed Nikons have a head rotation of 180 degrees left / 90 degrees right, it sure beats the 0 degrees left / 0 degrees right of the Vivitar. One could purchase a special Vivitar anatomical flash handle/grip with a swiveling flash shoe, but you'll need a special adapter cable if you want the sensor to continue looking straight ahead.

Beam Angle Adjustment: The Nikon speedlights listed can adjust the flash beam angle automatically (adjusts automatically to match compatible Nikon lenses) or in a manual mode. . 

Build Quality: Put this into perspective: When the Nikon SB-24 was introduced, it cost nearly three times as much as the Vivitar 285. Granted, the Nikons were far more sophisticated in design and execution, but to Vivitar's credit, the 283 and the 285  units were similar in functionality, although not necessarily in sophistication or convenience. If you can find an original Ponder and Best unit, a Nikon user might find it perfectly usable, so long as we understand its limitations.

Supplementary Battery Packs:  Chinese knock-offs of the Nikon supplementary battery pack are available, cheap, and use AA batteries.The packs themselves are backwards compatible: The SD-8a, the designed to work with the SB-28 and newer units, will work on all of the listed speedlights, and will work with the SB-80DX, SB-800, and the SB-900/910. The original SD-8, compatible with the SB-24, SB-25, and SB-26, cannot be used with the SB-28 or anything later.

The Family Lineage: Holding the SB-24, 25, and 26 show a distinct family resemblance.

• All three share the same flash foot configuration, and left-right sliding power switch.
• When the wide angle panel and bounce flash panel were added to the SB-25, the head design was duplicated in the SB-26. This gives you an additional "wider than wide" setting*.
• The three share a similar control  button punch-out placements, but are identical in the SB-25 and 26. 
• All three have separate rotation and tilt lock buttons.
• All have PC (Pin Connector, not Personal Computer) flash interfaces. 

Model	Flash Angle	Output Levels	Button Type	Stofen Dome #	Bounce Fill Card	SU-Remote
SB-24	24-85mm	Full – 1/16	Raised Soft	OM-C	No	No
SB-25	24-85mm + 20*	Full – 1/64	Recessed Soft	OM-C	Yes	No
SB-26	24-85mm + 20*	Full – 1/64	Recessed Soft	OM-C	Yes	Yes

Non-TTL Automation: Seven F-stops are available. They are adjusted based on the ISO setting. Intermediate ISO settings are similarly scaled.
When using ISO 200, the F-Stops range from to 2.8 through 22
When using ISO 800, the F-Stops range from to 5.6 through 45

1. Turn the flash on.
2. Using the slider, set the flash to Aperture mode.
3. Press the [Select] until the ASA / ISO value begins to blink.
4. Use [arrow up] or [arrow down] until the desired ASA/ISO setting appears.
5. Press the [Select] until the current aperture value begins to blink.
6. Use [arrow up] or [arrow down] until the desired shooting aperture appears.
7. Press the select button to end.
8. Transfer the Aperture and ISO values to your camera manually.

Adjusting Output In The Manual Mode:

1. Turn the flash on.
2. Using the slider, set the flash to Manual mode.
3. Press the [M] and the output values will decrease in 1-stop increments. When you reach the lowest output value, the next press will advance you to Full power, or 1/1
4. If you need to adjust the output in 1/3 stop increments, press the [Sel] until on output level display appears in the upper right-hand corner of the LCD display.
5. Output can now be adjusted using the [up arrow] or [down arrow] buttons.

This trio of legacy speedlights are similar in appearance, handling and performance, and finding a reasonably price specimen is not as difficult as you might think. If you do manage to obtain one, click here for some tips on bringing an old speedlight "back to life" by reforming the capacitors.