Decades ago, when I bough my Nikon F4, a Nikon SB-800 electronic flash came with it. It is big, and heavy, and has old technology, but the diffuser has been damaged, so for several months I’ve been trying to find a small and light replacement flash. My D780 doesn’t have a flash, which I missed on my last trip to India. I wanted to photograph some people in front of a colorful sunset, but while the sunset came out fine, the faces were way too dark…
I called B&H, and they suggested a “Godox TT350n” (“n” is for "Nikon), a model I had never heard of. It was also only $85, and takes two standard AA batteries. Other than for a very confusing user manual (useless), I loved the small size and light weight.
I wanted it for two purposes - indoor photos, and back-lit photos. Generally speaking, I don’t like “flash photos” with the flash on top of the camera, but there are ways around that.
I thought I ought to pass on the information here, in case others are interested.
But, seriously, you will get better results of backlit subjects just by getting the exposure right without flash, just by processing it to extract the shadow detail
So, you find a video that shows it could take the best part of your trip to try and find out how to use yet another complicated bit of kit. And yet, the most important accessory you could ever need never got a mention - a bounce reflector…
Better still, for indoor pictures without flash, pose the subject side-on to a window and get someone to hold a big white card on the other side - perfect, classic, studio lighting.
This is built into the flash - pull out when needed.
In India, most of the time, I can’t do this - either shoot them with flash, or not take a photo at all. I do NOT like using flash, but when I am asked to take a group photo, no flash = wasted photo.
Understood - but not with people. With my D750 the flash was built in. I hardly ever used it, certainly not for photos I cared about. For “news” stuff, the flash was indispensable, but I rarely do that now.
I love that first photo!!! I’ve seen night time photos of steam locomotives, with dozens and dozens of lights all over.
For the examples you showed, I completely, 100% agree. But if Helen were standing there, and you wanted her in the photo, in front of this beautiful scene, I suspect you’d have used a “fill flash” to light her up a little. With my D750, or my Fuji, I’d have used the built-in flash. For my D780, not. This new little flash I bought is so small and light, I can keep it in my pocket “just in case”. But for the shots you posted here, what you captured is already perfect.
For my last trip to India, my Df didn’t have a flash, and I had to adjust accordingly. I told myself that on my next trip, I would have one with me, just in case.
O Winston Link did an incredible job or recording the steam locomotives as they were vanishing. Along with them, the people, the towns, and so much more
