Lastolight Hi-Lite first test with Nikon Flashes!

Finally got round to using the Lastolite Hi-Lite portable backdrop. It's the biggest size they do at 9 feet wide by 8 feet tall, unfolds like one of those kids tents, and is hollow inside. The idea is to create a high key white backdrop behind whoever you are photographing. The people can stand right in front of it without creating shadows.

So we took it to a sixteenth birthday party and were given the smallest room imaginable to work in! We set up with a Nikon SB-900 inside the lastolite on a tripod, facing the rear with the wide-angle deflector down and the white diffuser fitted. We had another Nikon SB-600 in front on a stand with a large 60cm softbox. The idea was to use the tiny flash on the Nikon D700 as the commander and work in Nikon CLS mode so we could control both light sources from the camera.

No-one online or in any forums could tell us if this would work, but amazingly the CLS system worked THROUGH the Hi-Lite background, and also triggered the softbox which was slightly behind the photographer! So thank you Nikon, just saved me about £1000 I was going to spend on pocket wizards:)

(we did borrow some in case it didn't work, but no need, always be prepared though)

We found the best settings were the SB-900 at 1/4 power as it was a huge area to fill with light, the SB-600 on 1/8th power and the camera set with the onboard flash as commander set on -- which only emits the signals the strobes needed. We shot mostly around F6 with shutter speeds between 100 and 200 depending on how active the people being shot were, and how many there were.

Using the focussing light on the Nikon is a great way to get people to smile on cue rather than shouting over the party din, we just tell them to grin when they see the light!

You can see examples of the shots at www.fullframeevents.co.uk under galleries, look for Jordans 16th. There is a direct link here

http://www.fullframeevents.co.uk/#/gallery/jordans-16th-birthday/

Feel free to ask any questions, thanks, Paul.