Thanks Peter

Its actually great fun Mike, well worth the effort! I didn't have far to carry the softbox anyway, which was already made up ready to go. The car was just outside on the road, and my gear was all in the backpack which doubled as a cushion for the flash and to support the softbox. I didn't bother with a light stand as the flowers were all low down. If needing to walk further then the softbox folds flat for carrying and its very light.

I'd say that the extra control over the natural light, and the subtle balancing of natural and flash light that becomes possible, makes this an ideal solution to garden photography. You can of course pick where to place the softbox in order to bring light into shadowed areas of the flowers and to create a strong sidelit effect, which creates nice 'modelling' across the flower. Unfortunately natural sunlight so often does not provide this, and if its harsh then the high contrast created can render flower photography fairly pointless.

Using the High Speed Sync technique to knock down the natural light significantly while still illuminating the flower with the 'softer' directional flash light seems to work well, and I must say is great fun to do in practice. Having automatic P-TTL control just makes it all the more quick and efficient.

Thanks also Philip and Bill .... Bill, I find I really like to photograph the buds, they make great subjects in their own right, even the hairy ones!

Thanks Rob.... The P-TTL automatic flash makes it nice and easy to get the light balanced, very quick really. I'm not sure that a reflector would make it "easier" .... Would it make the photos look any better or worse....?

Thanks also Chris!

A lovely sunny Sept morning saw me take a chance to grab some flower shots in the nearby Wettern Tree Garden in Purley. High contrast caused me to use off camera flash in a softbox for nice light across the flowers, with camera exposure settings reducing the natural light.

I used P-TTL automatic flash mode, plus High Speed Sync when the sun was very bright. Where possible I mixed the natural and flash light (eg some sun backlight in No6). There was a 1/4 CTO (orange) gel on the flash head….. here's an example of the arrangement ….




The roses were taken with the D FA28-105mm, and the others with the Tamron AF70-300 Di LD on its macro setting.


Pentax K7 / Cactus V6II transmitter/ Cactus RF60x flash / Camera M mode / Flash TTL mode …… ISO 100-400 / F5.6-11/ 1/180th-1/750th

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I hope you enjoy this little taster of the Wettern Tree Garden!

Wow, that's just about every colour on the palette! You've gone for bright and bold which is all very striking. I'm assuming there were no motorcycle books in that last shop!

Well , bits of my abstract pyramids were cut off as well, you no doubt remember, so I can hardly speak anyway! I will try and think about this more with some city/street shots and try showing more limited elements of the subjects, as an experiment inspired by your style here.

Yes, and the level of direct user engagement they have on their forum is excellent. They have come through with so many improvements and fixes in response to user feedback.

I just hope they can continue with the RQ250 development. Otherwise we are likely to he swamped with Godox.

Great stuff! Very neat and all ready to go. I'm amazed how much you have packed in there. Having the flashes already on the brackets is great ......I spend at least double the amount of time setting up the flashes than I do on the actual shooting.

I certainly will keep on shooting and learning ... And unpacking, packing, unpacking, packing .........

I thought the very hot summer might have killed off a lot of the heather this year (I love it all down at Studland) .Glad to see it looking vibrant at Ringwood. I like the colours in your shot, the purple, greens and blue sky in behind are all nice.

I wonder if you are considering a new lens for your K1? I just wonder if the old F28-80 is doing you many favours, as the shot here looks a little soft. I like my F35-70 for sharpness but it is a but erratic at times with focusing.

(I a assuming you used your F28-80 here, I don't know for sure of course).

Fascinating cars and even more so that they're out doing their thing. Car racing holds no interest for me but your photography makes it look interesting!

Very effective! I like how you've retained deep blacks on the tribute and the low exposure value has brought out the best of the orange tone in the sky.