I’d been considering getting a separate flash for my camera. I’ve been reading up on the benefits, the basics of flash photography, etc. It’s not as if the built-in flash on my camera is bad at all, but there’s a lot more you can do when you have a separate flash that you attach to the hot shoe of a camera. Yes, a separate flash is more powerful. You can adjust the power of the flash to get the right exposure level. The other big benefit is being able to aim the flash away from your subject, so that you can bounce the light off the ceiling or use a diffuser (material that diffuses the light from the flash.) This helps to soften the light, and help reduce shadows.
Recently at my mother-in-law’s retirement dinner, I was plagued by shadows and funny lighting in the ceiling. I didn’t like the shadows behind my subjects. I didn’t like being unable to counteract the orange-yellow light in the room. I was recently asked to help take photos at someone’s event coming up in a week, and I didn’t want to have this problem anymore. Not at this dinner thing coming up, or going forward, especially with Christmas coming up too.
So I bought the Nikon SB-700 speedlight, which is what Nikon calls them. It’s a bit expensive, so I had to use up all of my Amex points to bring the cost down. The kit comes with speedlight itself, three diffusers (for use in different lighting), what I think is an attachment for a tripod, and the large case. I had to rejigger my camera case, but I was able to find a way to fit this, a camera, and three lenses in the same bag.
I took a few practice shots, but I need to continue practicing during the next few weeks.
