adi arifin

It was frustrating to see the whole-day sunny bright gone away without even a single chance to press the shutter. Sunrise should have been magnificent, daylight with surfers riding the wave should have been great, and the sunset should have been fabulous, no mention the light of golder hours in between. Starring at my camera when the night fell completely, I started to remember the article I read about someone who - contrary to most - has almost never taken a shoot in daylight. He concisely explained reasons behind his preference. Whilst I do not fully agree to what he was saying, a few things sound quite appealing. Something that may fit me, who only see the sun at home on weekends.

Part of his suggestions reminded me to my buddy 21win who kept on telling me about how fun Nikon CLS is. I was in two sides of thought, really. Firstly I avoided flash. I always believed that flash light is harsh. I bought many things which were believed to be able to soften flash light, in addition to the diffuser coming along with my flash purchase. From small and simple solution from Garry Fong to bulky umbrella on a dedicated light stand. On the other side, among other reasons behind my decision to upgrade my camera body was CLS ability, I was keen to have a camera body which is able to manage wireless flashes.

While this kind of night shoot is not the one which needs a super-fast lens, I mounted a small 50mm f/1.4 lens into the camera body. Went out to the garden I started to look for objects. Unfortunately most flowers were morning risers. The only one I found was quite high on the tree. So I took a ladder, climbed up, and started the session. Obviously in this position did not allow me to include stable stand for the flash. So I either held it in my left hand - thanks to very light lens - or just put it somewhere on the tree branches.

It was fun. Exactly as 21win said, I can control the light almost completely. Even better, because at night the flash was the only light source available. So there was no need to think about getting proper combination with ambient light. Whilst I only use diffuser, harshness was not really visible. I compensated the flash down by somewhere between 1-2 stops, maybe that was the reason. But maybe because of the object I took as well. The cool thing was getting the object stands out off solid back background. The trick was on taking angle. Avoid anything in the background which are reachable by the flash light, because the flash would lit them and get them visible as distracting background.

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