I think I've mentioned "The Strobist" before. If I haven't, well, click the link over on the right. I've never been a big fan of flash photography - maybe because I never really understood how to use it properly. Well, reading the information provided on that site has gotten me curious. Damn. I hate that, 'cause it means I'm going to have to spend money. But, if you're nervous about off-camera flash and want to learn how to use it (and you do want to learn, even if you don't know it yet), this is definitely the place to go.

Not that it's not without stress. I've got a Nikon D50. Nikon says, over and over again, "Oooooh, boy! Don't ever, ever, ever use anybody else's flash but ours! Oh no, oh no, oh no - you could totally fry your camera if you do!". But, Nikon's flashes cost pretty much as much as a new camera! Sooooooo, having read that Vivitar 285 HVs work fine (and, since I've got an old 283 that was fantastic on my old FM), I decided to buy a 285 and see what happened. I bought it last Saturday. And stared at it for the rest of the day. And half of Sunday. What if it fried my camera? Did I really want to replace it if things went hellishly wrong? I'd have to buy either a D40x or a D80. The former is affordable, the latter not so much (not that that would have stopped me). I finally gathered my courage Sunday afternoon. I hooked everything up. I tripped the shutter. And, as you've probably guessed by now, everything worked fine. Very big sigh of relief. And now you can look forward to "interesting" flash photos. Maybe. We'll see.

But, do check out "The Strobist". Darn good stuff.