Thinking In A Flash

I have a D700 with the SB800. I know how to adjust the settings to get the right flash output after I've seen in my histogram, but in a wedding a lot of times the moment is gone and you can't take a second shot.

Please give advice on how to think through the settings? How far are your subjects when you use 1/4, 1/8 power, etc? Do you constantly change your flash or do you change your distance from the subject? Bride walking aisle?

Thank You!"

Thanks for writing. I too use the Nikon D700 and have myself the Nikon SB-800 and SB-900 speedlights. The one thing that stood out to me in your question was that you were mentioning stuff like 1/4 and 1/8 power. That is leading me to believe that you have your flash set to Manual mode and not TTL (Through The Lens). Manual mode was handled a certain way back in the film days. Guide numbers, distance to subject, blah blah blah. Technology has really advanced and TTL takes away "almost" all those complicated trig functions and stuff that film photographers had to do before. I do have an article about TTL Flash work that is worth looking at for a little more background on what it does. I moved to different hosting providers so some of the images in the article are MIA for the time being. I will get those back up as soon as possible because nothing beats visual examples of all this complicated terminology. Note, this article is in regards to the flash in TTL mode and OFF CAMERA and on a light stand. Not too many differences but just be aware that things are different than on-camera flash.

So to answer your question, I don't really think at all. You can too. Just set your flash to TTL mode and give that a whirl. End of story. What happens in TTL mode is that a pre-flash is fired just before the actual flash does. This pre-flash illuminates your subject and that information is recorded by the camera. The camera takes that, plus the focal length of your lens plus your current camera settings (shutter speed, aperture and ISO) and comes up with the proper "median" flash power that will correctly light your subject. Take a look at the image and if it is slightly too dark or too light then that is where the Flash Exposure Compensation comes in handy. Dial that up or down to tell your flash "Hey, whatever you are thinking, increase or decrease it some" and it will listen and do just that. Flashes are very obedient like that.

Great question! Keep them coming!

Take care.