Knowing where to start when you’re interested in incorporating off-camera flash to your photography can be a daunting prospect for the uninitiated. There are so many brands, so many modifiers, and so many techniques that it can seem downright dizzying. My advice is always to start with just one light. Even seasoned multi-strobe owners are consistently surprised at how much can be accomplished using just one light.
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Back at the beginning of February this year, I had just returned from a month in Shropshire, U.K., where I was on holiday after the busiest three months I’d ever had shooting three different TV series. Much to my delight, I had a call from Sarah Murphy-Dyson, a dancer I’d never met, who said she liked my work and wanted to get together to do a photo session and was open to ideas. I new little of her past experience until I read her CV.
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I was recently traveling through Atlanta with an extra day on my hands, so I decided to visit one...
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If I counted the times I’ve used my Elinchrom Ranger RX packs on shoots, I’d need a calculator. I’ve hauled these packs around the globe, through the forest, over glaciers—they never fail. But flash and battery technology have evolved, and carrying a 17 lb. strobe pack into the backcountry took some effort. Rumors had started to fly about a new Ranger, and it has arrived. Enter the ELB1200.
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When Nikon introduced the SB-5000 early 2016, I almost spilled my coffee. The speedlight I was dreaming about had arrived. Most importantly, the SB-5000 used a radio signal instead of an optical signal. This meant I didn’t need line-of-sight to trigger the light, and I could fire my flashes almost 100′ away. Combined with faster recycling, more power, and a built-in cooling fan, this flash wasn’t just a bump in features; it was a speedlight overhaul. And Nikon wasn’t the only company to improve their speedlights. Canon and others had introduced radio-controlled speedlights. With these new speedlight capabilities, I needed to put the SB-5000 to the test. I wanted to see how well the new radio signal worked. How far could I trigger the flash? How many flashes could I get before the batteries started to struggle? To get some answers, I loaded up my trailer and headed to Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado.
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