Another Flash question re D80 and remote flash

[abitfishy]

Hi all,

I have been asked my a friend if I would like to take some glamour shots but I think they have more faith in my ability than I do. I know the general theory behind what I am thinking of doing but not sure how to pull it off. I'll give as much detail as I can on what I am thinking.

I have a D80, and so far no external flash. Yet.

I am thinking of using my 18-70mm Tamron 2.8 I have on its way to me.

The shots will be posed in a room the size of an average bedroom.

Am I correct in assuming I could use a SB600 (or 800) off camera in remote mode using the D80 as a commander? Can this be done with OR without the onboard flash itself being used?

I'm also concerned about the flash being a bit harsh, so wondering is there some sort of good diffuser that would be suitable to soften it suitable for the Speedlights - not sure if theres a clip on diffuser included with it or a 3rd party one available. I'm also concerned about shadows though, so not sure if a 2nd remote on the other side of me would be required/better/possible to just lessen the shadow or if using the built in for fill flash would solve this problem.

Oh, I'm really also hoping I can do it all successfully TTL.

Thanks in advance.

[I @ M]

Fishy, the D80 will fire a 600 or 800 in commander mode using i-TTL

The onboard flash must be used to trigger the slaves but when setting it in the menu of the camera it can be left to only fire the pre flashes necessary to trigger the slave and not contribute to the overall light input. Having said that, the onboard flash set at a low level can be used to good effect to put catch lights in the subjects eyes when the slave is bounced off a ceiling or wall.

Read your manual.

Experiment heaps before you try to get serious.

Wherever possible, use a ceiling or a wall to bounce the flash off to light the subject, your average sized room shouldn't present too many problems there.

[old dog]

why don`t you make use of available light thru a window as well as using off camera flash. Andrew gave you good advice and maybe you could drape a white hanky over the flash to diffuse it. I`ve done this and it works well.

[abitfishy]

Thanks guys for the responses, some good tips.

I will absolutely be doing lots of testing if my wife will lets me use her as a subject, she's a strange shy woman, she already said no! May have to dress up (or down!) her dressmaking dummy.

Great idea about the hanky in particular (just the thing I was hoping for) and available light.