Off Road Action Using A NiceFoto TTL 680 Strobe
My friend Brent mentioned he was going riding on his vintage motorcycle, namely a Suzuki PE (Pure Enduro) 250cc. I thought. “Now that presents the perfect opportunity to try out some strobe action photography”. Recently I purchased a NiceFoto TTL 680 portable strobe. Online research did not reveal many reviews for this model. I spotted it on eBay at nearly half price. So, I decided to just go for it. When it arrived, I was impressed by the look of it.
After using the NiceFoto TTL 680 strobe a few times, I really like how it performs. It seems to be reliable and can be controlled from the camera with it’s wireless transmitter (shown fitted to the camera in the image above). The strobe body is quite tough too, I know that because I dropped it on rocks. Oops, yes, it hit the deck when my 2 meter stand toppled over during a location shoot at the Lost City rock formations in Litchfield National Park. nt.gov.au/litchfield-national-park.
The Photo I Envisaged Capturing with the NiceFoto TTL 680
My plan was to freeze the off road sports action, but with a hint of motion blur. To do that in bright sunlight, I knew I would have to underexpose the surrounding bush land and use the full 600 watt of strobe power to pop the rider in action. I envisaged a motorcycle magazine center spread with the vintage Suzuki PE 250 resplendent in it’s yellow livery. The rider and machine vividly standing out from the background of the Northern Territory bush. To top it off, I could see a dramatic wet season sky with a huge dark thunder head looming. Oh and of course, dust would feature largely too! Read on to discover what I learnt about using a strobe in full sun on this stonking hot day in the tropics.
Location – Hidden Valley Darwin
I met Brent on location near Hidden Valley. This area has a few rocky hill climbs and a spattering of various obstacles including a 110 cm diameter concrete drainage pipe. There are some open tracks as well as single track trails, basically almost everything a trail rider loves. There is also a a pub not too far away! As I arrived where Brent was parked, three other riders turned up on late model Husqvarna Enduro machines. I thought. “The more the merrier “, and after a chin wag, I set up the strobe and a speed-light near some branches which laid across the trail.
Setting up the shot
It was now 10:30 am. and the sun was already scorching hot. I think the heat affected my thought process, as my first shots were not ideal. Thinking I needed full power from the strobe, I did not want to raise the shutter speed above my camera “sync speed”. Using a fast shutter speed enables underexposure of the background scenery. In contrast, the strobe highlights the subject in the foreground. This set up should give a photo rich in colour with a dark background and well defined clouds, the rider and bike will really stand out from the background.
The camera I use has a sync speed of 1/200th of a second. If I set the shutter faster than 1/200th, the strobe must be set to “high speed sync” otherwise I will not get a fully exposed image. In high speed sync mode the strobe will not deliver full power as it fires a series of lower powered flashes. I needed as much power as possible to outdo the bright sunlight, that is why I kept shutter speed on or below 1/200th sec.
Only One Chance Per Pass With the NiceFoto TTL 680 on Full Power
Set to full power the strobe has a recharge lag before a second shot can be fired. This means, I must nail the exact moment of action. The riders lined up and rode towards me to hop over the logs one by one. Crouching down, I only had one chance to shoot the strobe action. Admittedly, I seem to possess good shutter finger timing skill, but I still missed a few.
The guys didn’t mind me asking for more attempts as I played with settings and light positioning. Still not happy with the outcomes, I really needed to darken the background more. However, I persevered with keeping to 1/200th and around f7.1 to f10 aperture setting. After a while we moved to a rocky hill climb which had some shading from surrounding trees. I thought this might yield better results. The problem of timing the shot perfectly still existed. Setting the NiceFoto TTL 680 strobe in a good position and asking the guys to pop a wheelie at a specific spot on the climb meant many factors must align to get a good photograph. Bear in mind, I only had one chance per pass and the riders only had one chance at timing the wheel stand. The rocky climb also made it hard for the bikes to stay on line. We stuck at it despite a couple of crashes. It was good fun, but all the while, the day was heating up. I was soaked in sweat and the camera gear was getting a good dust coat.
Do Not Head Out All Day in The Hot Sun Without Water!
I tend to get a carried away with the moment and I lose track of time. Couple this with the heat and not having enough water with me…. Result, I was not thinking too clearly. All the riders were looking forward to some great shots, I was struggling to deliver my vision. I decided to try and get closer with a wider angle which meant having the strobe fire over my shoulder. Crouching down in the shrubbery, on the edge of a trail where riders could bounce of rocks and head in any direction, kept me busy. Getting the shot now requires keeping a wary eye on the body language of the approaching rider. A safety plan consists of having some idea about which way to dive that would inflict the least damage to camera and body!
The three Husqvarna riders eventually became overheated and headed off to the pub. I decide to get a few more shots of Brent on the PE 250. It was at this point that the strobe started to play up. It only fired at random times. I messed around with the settings but the heat was fuzzing my brain. I tried to use the flash optical trigger instead of the radio trigger mode, but still had no joy, partly because I could not focus on working out the settings. Maybe the heat was causing the strobe to malfunction? Maybe I did damage when I dropped it in Litchfield National Park a few weeks ago? (see below to find what the problem was). I switched to my speed-light for a few more shots and we headed back to the cars.
What I learnt About Using the NiceFoto TTL 680 Strobe for Midday Action Photography
General Do’s and Dont’s
- Don’t head out after 9:30 am in the build up season. Instead get an early start, it gets way too hot, too quickly.
- Do plan to take plenty of water and carry it with you at all times.
- Do Check that Camera and strobe are communicating by radio transmission before heading out.
Using the NiceFoto TTL 680 Strobe
Looking at the photos on the computer, I achieved my aim on a couple of the images. However, upon reflection I should have used high speed sync and moved the light a lot closer to the subject. Because the scene was very bright the camera picked up a little too much motion blur. When the NiceFoto TTL 680 strobe fired at full power from a distance the light was not enough to pop the rider and freeze the action in comparison to the background. Although I dont mind a few of the images, it did not turn out as hoped.
With the strobe on a stand it is quite risky placing it close to riders passing at speed. To enable close strobe action without endangering the equipment, an assistant could hold the light on a pole. Having an assistant manipulate the strobe like this also means they could follow the rider with the light. Panning the light with the camera gives more opportunity to capture the action moment.
Found the Solution as to Why the Strobe Stopped Working
Now for the Strobe problem. It took me a while to work it out. When I got home, I discovered the strobe was only firing in optical trigger mode. The wireless function was not working. I read the booklet and checked out the transmitter. When I pressed the “Test” button on the transmitter the strobe worked by radio signal. However, the camera would not activate the strobe.
I almost gave in thinking that the NiceFoto transmitter had an issue. But, I decided to try another camera… Whallaaaaa. The different camera worked fine? So it was my camera that was the problem. I remembered that I had carried out a firmware upgrade a few weeks before, maybe it was that. I looked up reverting to an older firmware but decided it was not that easy. So I tried resetting my camera to factory settings. Ha, that did it, the strobe worked fine. So something had been set in camera that prevented the radio transmitter from sending a signal to the strobe. I had used the strobe only a few weeks prior and it functioned perfectly so I am a bit puzzled.
Update to The Solution
The problem turned out to be the camera setting on the Canon 5D Mk IV, namely – “silent shutter mode”. For some reason this deactivates the camera wireless transmission.
Anyway, the Motto is :- check your gear before leaving for a shoot, preferably the day before!