Microglobe

I've added Microglobe to my list of recommended sellers, as I've used them a couple of times recently for cables and bits & pieces. They're predominantly an online retailer, but actually do have a small shop off Bury Place near the British Museum. Microglobe have seemed very competitive in their pricing to me, and aren't in the business of grey imports. However, they do believe in piling it high and selling it cheap. This is good, if you know what you want.

The shop is quite funny - boxes literally piled from floor to ceiling - and it's so crammed, there's about 6ft of space for customers and not much more for the two staff (there is no separate stockroom). I don't suggest it as a model for all businesses, but it lets me purchase a remote cable for £12.50 instead of £25 that everyone else is charging, and £47 for a sync cable that others wanted £85 for. Don't go there for technical support, advice on shooting photos or to peruse the latest kit - just use them for bits & bobs at a reasonable price.

Playing with Flash

I've been playing around a bit more with my SB600 since doing the RPS Studio Lighting course. It's a far cry from a studio setup, but now I understand a lot more about flash, I'm finding that I'm learning a whole lot more about photography overall.

I purchased an SC-28 Sync Cable this week from http://www.microglobe.co.uk in London so that I could start experimenting with off-camera flash. The cable isn't cheap (though Microglobe were pretty good, having it for £45), but worth the money for the flexibility it gives you. I also have a free reflector from a Practical Photography subscription I had last year - it's pretty good and sturdy, considering it cost me absolutely nothing.

I haven't got any results I'd like to show off just yet, but to anybody just starting out with flash I'd recommend purchasing a sync cable. Chris Burfoot said, "The problem with on-camera flash is that you need to get it off the camera". From my little bit of experimentation so far, I'd say he's absolutely right.