Chapter 1. Exploring the Nikon Creative Lighting System

Like most sophisticated camera equipment, Nikon Speedlights are complicated devices with many different parts and features. To get the most out of your Speedlight or Speedlights, it helps to be familiar with all of the moving parts. In this chapter, I dissect each of the Speedlights and explain what each button, switch, dial, and lever does, as well as discuss some of the accessories and the different cameras that can be used. By the end of this chapter you should be familiar with all of the different accessories and terminology.

The Nikon Creative Lighting System, or CLS, mainly consists of a couple of different components: a CLS-compatible camera and a Speedlight. This is just the start, however, because CLS is a completely modular system that can comprise a camera and many different Speedlights functioning as commanders and/or remotes.

Exploring the Nikon Creative Lighting System

Knowing when and how to use such features as slow sync allows you to add creative aspects to your images.

Main Features and Functions

Nikon Speedlights offer many different features and functions, each of which is designed to make Nikon Speedlights a flexible and powerful tool for any photographer — from a complete newcomer to photography to a seasoned professional.

Once you understand what each of these features do and how to use them, you can unlock your creative abilities by utilizing them to ...

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