Hagen - The Nikon Creative Lighting System Using the SB-600, SB-700, SB-800, SB-900, SB-910 and R1C1 Flashes

2nd Edition

Mike Hagen is an avid adventurer who combines his passion for the outdoors with excellence in photography. He is a skilled digital photography instructor, location photographer, class leader, and editorial writer.

He started Out There Images (OTI) in 1998 as a way to share his passion for photography with the rest of the world. Mike is well known for his intensity, energy, and enthusiasm. If you participate in a workshop with him, you will be pleasantly surprised by his generosity and infectious enthusiasm for imparting his knowledge to all participants.

Based in Washington State, USA, Mike has traveled extensively throughout the American West as well as the rest of the world. Travel and adventure are his passion, so youll frequently find him somewhere far away from civilization, camera in hand, having a ball in the outdoors.

Mike Hagen - Author

Mike Hagen has worn many hats in his short lifetime. He graduated from college with a Mechanical Engineering degree and worked in Semiconductor Manufacturing for 10 years. He is currently a small business owner, a freelance writer, and a professional photographer. His passions are traveling, creating, writing, photography, and teaching. He is happily married and the father of two beautiful children.

Mike aspires to live life to the fullest and to help others do the same. His enthusiasm and zest for life are infectious. His devotion to God and family guides everything he does.

Mike can be reached at:
Out There Images, Inc.
PO Box 1966
Gig Harbor, WA 98335
www.outthereimages.com

Out There Images, Inc. Get Out And Learn!

2nd Edition

Mike Hagen

Mike Hagen (www.outthereimages.com)

Editor: Joan Dixon
Copy Editor: Judy Flynn
Proofreader: James Johnson
Layout and Type: Jan Mart, Command Z
Cover Design: Helmut Kraus, www.exclam.de
Printer: Friesens Corporation
Printed in Canada

ISBN: 978-1-933952-99-4

2nd Edition 2012
2012 Mike Hagen
Rocky Nook, Inc.
802 East Cota St., 3rd Floor
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
www.rockynook.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hagen, Mike.
The Nikon creative lighting system : using the SB-600, SB-700, SB-800, SB-900, SB-910, and
R1C1 flashes / by Mike Hagen. -- 2nd ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-933952-99-4 (soft cover : alk. paper)
1. Electronic flash photography--Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Nikon camera--Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.
TR606.H34 2011
778.72--dc23
2011038055

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All product names and services identified throughout this book are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. They are used throughout this book in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies. No such uses, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with the book. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner. While reasonable care has been exercised in the preparation of this book, the publisher and authors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

It is a great pleasure to present this book, another publication in the Nikonians Press series. These volumes are easy-to-read reference books aimed to reinforce what the Nikonians Academy Workshops teaches throughout North America (soon expanding to Europe).

The author, Mike Hagen, is an avid adventurer who combines his passion for the outdoors with excellence in photography. He is a skilled digital photography instructor, location photographer, workshop leader, and editorial writer. He started Out There Images in 1998 as a way to share his passion for photography with others.

Powered by nikonians.org, the worldwide home for Nikon Photographers of all skill levels, the Nikonians Academy was created to extend into a small classroom setting an even more intense sharing, learning, and inspiring experience than is found in the Nikonians community forums.

In early 2005, Mike was appointed Director of the Nikonians Academy and he has been giving such sharing, learning, and inspiring experiences to over 10,000 students since then. All of the students are raving about it, whether taking a class with Mike as well as with other instructors. Mikes skills as an excellent teacher have helped him become very successful in engaging instructors for the Academy who share and live the same academic values.

Mike is well known for his intensity, energy, and enthusiasm. If you have the opportunity to participate in a workshop with him, you will be pleasantly surprised by his patience, generosity, and infectious enthusiasm for imparting his knowledge to all participants. Those same virtues, along with his thorough knowledge of the subject matter, are obvious in the pages of this volume we present.

For many years, the use of flash was confined to the professionals. The taking of flash pictures was a dreaded nightmare and seemed reserved for the few professionals who made their living with it. Efficient handling of a slide rule and measuring tape seemed indispensable. It was not until 1988 when the Nikon flash system took a quantum leap forward with the introduction of the SB-24, opening the doors to us common mortals, and even to the occasional snap shooterwith cameras such as the N8008s or F4sallowing for full fledged, natural looking TTL (Through The Lens) auto flash.

Nikon engineers later surprised us further with i-TTL, where the i, which was meant for intelligent, became an i for incredible. This innovation opened the door for the use of multiple flashes, and the simple slave units were no longer needed. Such capability was not only integrated into the new Speedlights, but it also allowed for several groups of flash units and communication with them through several channels. And so the amazing Creative Lighting System was born.

How it works and how to make the best of it for individual conditions is what this book is all about, made easy by Mike Hagen.

Nikonians is very proud of this joint venture with Rocky Nook, and we continue to work together to present more volumes to the world of Nikon users, hungry for yet more knowledge of Nikon photographic systems.

We do hope you enjoy it.

Bo Stahlbrandt and J. Ramon Palacios
Founders and Administrators
www.nikonians.org

In Nikons terminology, CLS and iTTL both frequently refer to the same thing. The two terms are often used interchangeably, even though they stand for different words.