I make it a habit every June to buy myself a birthday present. This year, I included a sympathy gift for the last few months as well.

Of course, that means I spent too much. But it was for a good cause, honest 😉

During the July long weekend  I went into Photoexpert in Delta to price out the new Pocket Wizard flash controllers for Nikon .

I just went in to price them, honest…however I ended up purchasing a full set for one camera and two flashes. Of course if I buy a new flash, I’ll have to buy another one of the PW controllers too, but what the heck. I’ll worry about that when I get there.

 The system consists of:

TT5 Flex Controller – these send and receive radio signals from the flash or camera

MiniTT1 Controller – can be used in place of a TT5 on camera, but just transmits the signal

AC3 Zone Controller – lets you control the amount of flash in 1-3 zones, e.g. one full power, one at half and one off.

We’ve been waiting for the Nikon version of this for a year or so. They took some time to get the Nikon Creative Lighting System TTL settings to work like they should, but in the end, the system seems to be getting great reviews.

And…what’s a bunch of flashes without a softbox to modify the light? Ergo, the second part of my July extravaganza…a Strobez Softbox Mini/Max kit.

The kit includes an 18”x18” softbox for modifying the light, a flash mount, and a stand and case. The softbox is small, but I’m sure it will be useful at times to soften the harsh light from the flash.

Next step? I’m reading a book by flash guru Joe McNally called Hot Shoe Diaries. It’s about his use of Nikon flashes (usually in multiples), and I expect to learn some tricks from that.This is going to be fun.