Using the Nikon R1C1 Close-up Speedlight Commander Kit

A few months ago I was fortunate to pick up a second hand Nikon R1C1 Close-up Speedlight Commander Kit from Harrison Camera. I’d always wanted this kit for macro work but the price at £550+ is prohibitive.  However buying second hand brought the kit within my budget.

The kit comes complete in a carry case and contains;

2 x SB200 speedlights

1 x SU800 Speedlight commander

1 x Selection of adapter rings.

1 x Holder

Plus a selection of accessories.

The beauty of the R1C1 system is that it can be as simple or as complex as the user wants to make it.

For the purpose of this blog post I used the system in its simplest configuration as follows.

A suitable adapter ring was selected from the kit and attached to my 105mm f2.8 macro lens.

The SX-1 attachment ring was attached to the adapter and the two SB200 speedlights were attached to the attachment ring in a 9 o’clock 3 o’clock configuration.

The SU800 was placed in the hot shoe of my D800 and set to TTL. The SB200’s were switched on with one set to Ch1 Group A and the other set to Ch1 Group B.

In this configuration the camera looks after the exposure whilst the controls on the SU800 allows for the ratio between the two SB200’s to be adjusted by the simple press of a button. 

I’d got a few bedding plants in bloom in the garden so I decided that these would be good as a subject to try out the system. 

I set up my D800 on a tripod with my Nikon 105mm f2.8 macro lens. Although this lens is equipped with Virbration Reduction (VR) I knew from past exxperience that it is almost impossible to take sharp macro images using the camera hand held especiall when the R1C1 is fastnened to the front of the lens. 

Nikon D800 equipped with the R1C1 Close-Up flash system

 

 

 

 

 

 As I was using flash in TTL mode and the camera was on a solid tripod I knew I would be able to use a small aperture to gain a reasonable depth of field. I set the lens to f20 and the shutter speed to 1/200th sec. Using a cable release I took the images below. 

 

All in all I was extremely pleased with the performance of the entire system especially the way in which the individual speedlights could be controlled to either emilinate or introduce shadows. 

I'm looking forward to trying more macro photography as I get more involved with the R1C1 set up.

 

Shooting Through Stone

 Hi All,

Some years ago, during a visit to Tintagel, my son Ben picked up a sliver of polished stone which was on the path leading to the castle. The stone was quite small in size (approximately 1” wide and 2.5” long).

That piece of stone has lived with us for the last 10 years, sitting on the lounge windowsill occasionally getting dusted. In all that time I’d never noticed that the stone was actually transparent until one particular afternoon when the sun hit it and I was in a position to see a beautiful blue colour through its centre.

Now having seen the colour through the stone, how was I going to create photograph that would bring out the best of the colour?

Initially I thought I’d try to shoot it against the window with the natural light of the sun. I set up the camera and balanced the stone with a piece of blu-tack but I found I couldn’t control the light sufficiently to get a satisfactory image.  

Next my thoughts turned to using a strobe. At least with a strobe I can control the power either directly on the unit itself or remotely. I have a few different triggers available so I decided this was the way to go. 

I decided that I would use the strobe to illuminate the stone from beneath, mount the camera on the tripod using the 90 degree boom so that it was looking directly down on to the stone. The only problem I could foresee was how to stop the excess light from the strobe entering the lens. 

I resolved this by using a piece of A4 black card. I traced the outline of the stone onto the card with pencil then using a sharp craft knife I carefully cut the shape making sure I remained inboard of the lines ensuring that no direct strobe light would reach the sensor.

The final set up comprised a piece of A4 sized clear Perspex clamped to the dining room table. The black card was placed onto the Perspex and the stone placed flat on to the card over the cut-out.  

My SB-910 speed light was placed on top of a small box under the Perspex and positioned directly under the cut-out. The speed light was set to iTTL remote and a Nikon SU800 commander used to trigger it.

The first exposure was made using a flash set at ½ power which resulted in a very over exposed image with little or no detail in the stone. Four subsequent exposures were made decreasing the power of the flash until I achieved an exposure I was happy with. The final settings were 1 second @ f22 

Next time we're shooting macro shots of bedding plants with the Nikon R1C1 wireless close-up flash system.

Norbury Church in HDR

Hi All,

I've finally managed to get back out and about with my camera again.

This time I decided to visit The Old Manor House at Norbury near Ashbourne. This is a beautiful National Trust property. 

The Old Manor House

During my visit I took several photographs but at the time there was no access to the inside of the house which was disappointing. However in the grounds of the house was a fabulous church which was open to the public. 

 

Norbury Church

I wandered around the church looking for a shot and finally settled on a shot looking towards the alter taking in the stunning stained glass windows on either side and at the end. As you would expect it was incredibly dark inside the church depsite a few lights burning. Luckily I had bought my tripod with me so it was an ideal situation to shoot for HDR. 

The beaurty of HDR images is that they can capture all of the detail in the shadows and the highlights by combining three or more images taken at different exposures. For my HDR's I always use three images spaced 1 stop apart. To do this I take an initial exposure from which I decide where my starting point is going to be. Then I use the bracketing function to take three images. The first is at the correct exposure. Then I shoot 1 stop over exposed and 1 stop under exposed. (See Below).

1 Stop Under

Just Right

1 Stop Over

As you can see, the images above progress from too dark to too light. These are ideal to combine together to make an HDR image. There is no hard and fast rule for the spacing. Some photogbraphers combine many images 7,8,9 spaced 1, 2, or even 3 stops apart. Ultimately you have to do what's best for you. In my case it's 3 spaced at 1 stop.

Once I had got the images into to PC I then used a piece of software called Photomatix Essentials 4.0 to combine the images and edit them into an HDR image that suits me. 

The Final Image

As you can see the final combined HDR has detail in both the shadows and the highlights and brings out the quality of the spectacular stained glass windows. HDR's a great fun to create but it is incredibly easy to go too far and create an unreal and false looking image, However if that's the look you're going for then more power to you !!

On the next blog we're going to be shooting through stone.