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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Geoffc" data-source="post: 224793" data-attributes="member: 8705">I've read this thread with interest as I decided to teach myself how to use flash and studio lights about two years ago. I've spent a lot of time reading and practicing so I am far from a novice. I've done a wedding, engagement and two "Important" family group photos for my wife's dad's 90th this year where I had to use flash. The groups only had about 15 or 16 people on them. In the small spaces with a low roof to bounce off it wasn't too bad but the fall off to the edges is significant and I was using and SB900. I now have two SB900s and I don't think they would light your group well.I'm not going to go into the merits of wireless triggers and manual metering rather than TTL as I think others have provided comprehensive technical responses. Where I'm leading to with this is that the whole conversation makes me feel uncomfortable on your behalf. If this is your mum's 90th I wouldn't use it as a learning experience unless you and you family are prepared to be disappointed with the results. You will almost certainly get something, but I suspect you will have horrible shadows and uneven lighting across the group due to fall off. For me a picture like that would be unacceptable, but different people have different benchmarks. With a modern camera like my D800 I can recover some of the shadows due to the dynamic range of the sensor but it's not something I would do as part of the initial plan.In your position I would seriously think about hiring a pro to get some good photos of an event that will not be repeated. It will allow you to enjoy the evening, rather than the stress and potential for disappointment. This is just my thoughts on the matter and if you do go ahead I wish you every success and I will be as happy as anyone if you get results you are happy with.</blockquote>

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