I finally received my SB-900 back from the repair shop, after $200 and four weeks later, and figured I had to get more practice in with the Pocket Wizard Flex System. The local photography group decided to have a mini-group shoot and I invited along new member, model Angie.
Prior to the group shoot, Angie and I discussed what I wanted as far as wardrobe and "look", we met Downtown at 5:30 PM along with five other photogs and five models from our group. I find it important to discuss ahead of time what my vision is with the model to help set a mood or theme.
As the others photos and models were discussing what to do, Angie and I left and started shooting. I brought my SB-900, 43" Brolly and Heavy-Duty light stand with a 10 lb. weight.
The weather was cool and windy, mistake!!! During our shoot, the wind gusted and knocked over my light stand sending everything to the ground, again. As luck would have it, only the brolly got damaged and the foot of the Flex TT5 cracked. I hate umbrellas!!! We continued to shoot without incident and ended up getting some nice images.
On Memorial Day, a friend of the family wanted to have his Senior Portraits done and asked if we could shoot downtown. He wanted something different, so based on the images he shared we did some with mixed light and some Available. Can you tell which was which?
At times I really like the Flex system, and at others, I find it frustrating, even more frustrating than Nikon CLS. I try to control what's in the viewfinder, but the TTL exposure is all over the place. I usually end up switching back to Manual Mode on the camera and when controlling the remote flash.
So why do I keep the Flex system when I could sell it and get 6 Pocket Wizard IIIs? I've said it before, I like the ability to shoot around Noon and get decent results. That means shooting above normal sync speeds such as 1/500th to 1/4000th at f/2.8 and no ND filter.
Another opportunity to test my Flex system arose when we went to Raleigh, North Carolina in June to visit a family friend's daughter graduate from Middle school. I packed the SB900, D700, Westcott collapsible umbrella, Manfrotto Nano stand and two lenses; my 24mm-70mm f/2.8 and the 85mm f/1.4.
Unfortunately by the time the girls were ready it was basically noon and a partly cloudy day, which really messes with light meters. We went between shooting in the shade and full sun, when about half way through the shoot, I realized I left the ISO at 1600. Oh well, at least I caught my mistake before the end.
I'm giving the Flex system at least a full year of use before I make any rash decisions.
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