The Wonders of CLS

At a recent SSBR workshop here in Denver, I tested the limits of using CLS outdoors in the shade. I was amazed at the distance I was able to use the build in commander on my Nikon D700. I was able to shoot at a final distance of about 60 or 65 feet from the strobes, just amazing.

You can see from the image above that I am pretty far from my subject and my lights. Erik is holding a Lastolite Tri-Grip with a one stop diffusion strength. The strobes are Nikon SB-800's they are powered with my Quantum Turbo SC batteries.

Here is another shot we did during the workshop. In this first shot I am establishing my ambient fill light. My white balance (WB) is set to Tungsten, this allows any daylight to shift to the cool spectrum and the scene is under exposed by about 2 stops, this is my fill light.


I than had Erik hold an SB-800 with 2 full cut CTO gels on the flash fitted with a grid. The reason for the two full cut CTO's; the first to bring the flash back in balance with the Tungsten WB and the second CTO for the warmth of the light.

Another demonstration during the day was, how to get a clean white for knock out. By using a globe attachment on my strobe, I was able to scatter the light evenly for a clean white. More about the globe attachment on a later post.


In this photo of Chris, I demonstrated the use of the Orbis Ring Flash.


While I'm thinking about the CLS system; For you Nikon users I'll be teaching a two day CLS Small Strobes, Big Results workshop in Downtown Philly for the Nikonians Org. The workshop will be held at the Power Plant Studios on Nov. 3rd & 4th. You will need to contact Nikonians to book a spot for you.

I might also mention that there is still space for the Philadelphia, PA Mentor Series "Master Lighting" Trek at the end of the month. Check the Mentor Series website for details. DT