It is so confusing!!!  I have just gotten to grips with proper metering and exposure and know I have to understand flash too???

Currently I have a Nikon D3300. It’s not a bad camera, in fact it is a lot better than the D40 (which is still a nice camera). It has a better dynamic range, full manual mode and it’s small and compact. 
Overall a quality camera that takes some lovely pictures. 

The only problem happens when you need more functionality. 

I have 2 flash units I purchased from amazon a while back. As such, decided it would be better to learn how to use them properly so I am taking Mike Hagen’s creative live class on outdoor flash photography. 

The class goes through the flash settings, different units and talks about different exposure for ambient light + flash, as well as other accessories (multicoloured gels and scrims for example.  Eh come again???).  Mike is an excellent teacher but I am still a bit confused 😐. 

Mike talks of building the exposure, taking a camera reading like normal. Setting ISO and Aperture then metering the scene on evaluative mode. 

This metering mode is important as gives more consistent analysis of the light in the scene which is important after all, it is the AMBIENT or natural light that is important. After which, follows setting the shutter speed ensuring it is below the sync speed for the camera (I soon figured out mine is 1/200s) otherwise you run the risk of a black line through the frame as the shutter is too fast for the flash. Adjust the setting for artistic need (light and airy or dark and moody). 

Then what follows is the need to set the flash level. This is the bit that is tricky as it seems to be a matter of adjusting power until the right affect is reached dependent on catchment in eyes and hot areas over the face. 

I think it is made more tricky that the flash units I have aren’t fully communicating no matter how hard I try with my camera as it is too basic and doesn’t have the right bits 😩😥

🙈🙉🙊🐒🙈🙉🙊🐒🙈🙉🙊🐒🙈🙉🙊

I can do TTL (through the lens) and manual mode but can’t do HSS (high speed sync) or fully OCF (off camera flash). 

Well I can do a bit of OCF since I have some wireless triggers but only at 1 setting at a time. It seems that unless you have the right camera that can do the right bits, the camera can’t tell the flash to adjust settings, only to flash on command (pardon the phrase, you lot do have a dirty mind 😜😜)

For a basic flash system that came with a wireless triggering system and some diffusers I guess it’s not a bad system to learn on. However, it does mean that I will have to manually adjust the flash settings which could be a pain in the …….

At least I can get to use my umbrellas 👍🏻 but not my soft box 👎🏻

Will at attempt to upload some pictures.. Once I figured it out (Oh and let you guys know what flash and triggers I have)

Bon Nuit 💤