4

CHAPTER
NIGHT AND LOW-LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY / People and Places Indoors

Wizards. Keep in mind that the exposure

information is not transmitted to the flash,

and any adjustments need to be made on

the flash.

    ■   Slave mode. Some flashes can be set to fire

when they see a flash of light. This slave

mode just fires the flash when another flash is

fired. This allows you to trigger a second (or

third or fourth, and so on) flash from a flash

on your camera. This is also often referred to

as an optical trigger since the flash needs to

see the light to trigger.

■   Radio controlled. There are systems that

allow you to trigger the flash from your cam-
era using radio signals. The Pocket Wizard is
one of the most popular types. A radio trans-
mitter is attached to the camera hot shoe
while a receiver is attached to the flash, and
when you press the shutter release button, the
flash fires. This allows you to place the flash
pretty much anywhere and trigger it from the
camera. The downside to this system is that it
can be expensive because each flash needs its
own receiver. Triggering the off-camera flash
in Figure 4-10 was easy using a pair of Pocket

ABOUT THIS PHOTO Photographing after sunset requires longer shutter speeds and extra lights — in this case, a Nikon SB-800 speedlight
fired with a Pocket Wizard off to the camera’s left. The light was diffused using a Lastolite diffusion panel held by an assistant. Taken at 1/6 second,
f/7.1, and ISO 400.

4-10