Nikon SB-400 Flash Review

I recently bought the Nikon SB-400 flash for my Nikon D40.

 To be honest, I hate flash. I hate the cold look, the bright foreground, dark background and everything else. I hate the towering look of the classic standalone flashes, they look too big and too unnecessary, it looks like I am trying to look like a photojournalist.
 
As you can guess, I always try to get by without flash. If that means setting ISO 800 or 1600, so be it. But that was not always enough indoors to stop the motion and I was not wholly satisfied with the social photos indoors.
 
Looking around on the internet I saw the SB-400 mentioned quite a few times for its compact size and ease of use. Since I never intend to mess around with flash settings or something, this was immediately appealing.
 

Nikon ML-L3 Wireless Remote Control

The Nikon ML-L3 is a small remote control that works with the Nikon D40 and many other Nikon cameras.
 
I guess the main purpose for getting one would be to appear in photos that you take. It is also useful when you are shooting on a tripod and you do not want to introduce camera shake by touching the shutter button. Yes, it is also possible to set the timer function on the camera to 2 or 10 seconds to do this, but this remote control makes it somewhat easier. You can also capture exactly the moment you want, which you cannot do with a timer.
 

Gorillapod SLR

I hate carrying tripods around. It is such a hassle to carry it around, take only a couple of pictures and bring it back home.
 
In the last couple of years, I haven’t had a tripod. Whenever I needed one, I improvised with various things that fell to hand at that moment, a bench, wall, table, big rock, basically anything I could find. The trouble with using such an improvised support is adjusting the composition. This is especially difficult if the camera in question has no live view. You have to adjust where the camera is pointing by folding and tucking the camera strap under the camera. Basically it is very tedious and frustrating.

When I saw the GorillaPod, I thought that it could help. I liked the idea that I could place it easily on irregular surfaces or wrap it around poles and railings and things. I bought the GorillaPod SLR to use with my Nikon D40.