The Phottix Tetra wireless flash triggers are yet another low-cost photography accessory from the Asian Phottix, and are designed for triggering one or more off-camera flash units. The Tetra can also be used to trigger studio lights with the included PC sync cable.

Thanks to HK Supplies for providing a Phottix Tetra with two receivers for review purposes.



A wireless flash trigger is designed to trigger one or more flash units that are located away from the camera, without requiring a wired connection between the camera and the flash units.

Off-camera flash allows a photographer to get much more creative with lighting, and the Strobist website has served to educate many more photographers in the use of off-camera flash lighting.

Earlier this year, I reviewed the Phottix Cleon II. It's a wireless shutter release that operates on 433MHz, with a range of upto 100m, and uses a smart-code system with 16,000,000 combinations instead of DIP switches to set the channel.

Instead of the camera cable being hard-wired into the receiver, Phottix use a 3.5mm stereo socket on the receiver, and Phottix make cables to suit various cameras. This allows a Phottix Cleon II to be used with different types of cameras, providing you have cables available to suit the different cameras.

Refer to my review of the Cleon II for more details on functionality and features.

I was interested in taking a closer look at the circuitry inside the Cleon II, and after noticing something rattling inside the receiver, I decided to open up the Cleon II.

Here are the Cleon II transmitter and receiver before disassembly:

Cleon II transmitter

Cleon II receiver

Taken during an early morning photowalk in Fremantle on Saturday, I only noticed the sun reflecting off a puddle between Brad's legs afterwards...

the sun shines out of where?!

Victoria Quay, Fremantle, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm @10mm, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO100

Reflections in puddles can add an interesting element to a photo.
For this photo, I had the camera very low, and used the puddle to capture the reflection of the sky, cloud and building.

reflected symmetry

Victoria Quay, Fremantle, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm @22mm, 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO100

LiveView can be useful in situations like this, as it allowed me to compose the shot with the camera almost at ground level, without having to lie down on the wet ground in order to be able to look through the viewfinder.

RedBubble.com are taking 15% off framed and canvas prints for 7 days. The sale ends on 27 August, so if you've been considering a canvas print or a framed print, now is the time to order one (or more)!

Eternal Flame and State War Memorial, King Park

Perth City Skyline in Duotone

I've previously written a detailed review of a canvas print, and I can definitely recommend the RedBubble.com prints, as they are very good quality.

Note that RedBubble introduced a larger sized canvas print earlier this year. The largest size used to be 610mm on the longest side, but they now have an extra large size at 762mm long.

Have a look through the many canvas prints and framed prints available on RedBubble, and see if there's anything you would like to hang on your wall.

Many of my photos are also available as canvas prints and framed prints from RedBubble, and can be viewed in my RedBubble site.

red gerbera petals

This 30-second exposure captures the lights of Albany Port, and their reflection on the waters of Frenchman's Bay. In the foreground, the light streak shows the headlights of a car that crossed the frame during the exposure.

the lights of Albany Port, viewed across Frenchman's Bay

Albany, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @34mm, 30 sec, f/7.1, ISO100

A large clamp provides a very flexible method for mounting a flash, and certainly won't break the bank! Using a large plastic clamp from my local hardware store, along with a 1/4" bolt, a nut, and a wing nut, I made this flash clamp in just a few minutes, and it only cost me a few dollars.

The built-in flash on most cameras is quite limiting, and a dedicated flash can provide a lot more flexibility and control of the lighting. However, moving the dedicated flash off the camera hot-shoe, and having it remote from the camera provides a whole new range of lighting options. The popularity of David Hobby's Strobist blog, where he provides lots of useful information about flash photography, particularly off-camera flash photography, confirms that lots of people are getting interested in it.

Assuming you already have a flash unit, you need some way to trigger the flash remotely from your camera. I have a set of the cheap Cactus wireless flash triggers (from Gadget Infinity), as well as a set of Phottix Tetra wireless flash triggers.
Instead of using wireless flash triggers, I can also use the built-in infrared communications capabilities in Canon flashes, and mount a Canon 580EX flash on my camera, and use it to remotely trigger a Canon 430EX or 580EX flash.

As you won't always have the luxury of a voice-activated light stand (ie, a person to hold the flash), you'll often need some way of mounting the remote flash, and you may not (yet) have purpose-built light stands in your camera bag.

I came across these plastic clamps at my local hardware, and they were less than AUD$2 each.
The handles of the clamp already had a small hole, which I drilled out to fit the 1/4" bolt. After inserting the bolt from the inside of the handle, the nut was firmly tightened to hold the bolt in place.

I saw this little guy while walking along Johnston Canyon, in Banff National Park (Alberta, Canada).

chipmunk begging for food

Johnston Canyon, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @70mm, 1/400 sec, f/3.2, ISO320

He wasn't very shy of the tourists, and one tourist, ignoring the signs, managed to entice this chipmunk close enough for it to take a small piece of biscuit out of her hand.

enjoying a morsel begged from a tourist

Johnston Canyon, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @70mm, 1/640 sec, f/3.2, ISO320

Douglas-fir trees by the side of the road, somewhere between Banff and Lake Louise, in Alberta, Canada.
One of the great things about a roadtrip without specific deadlines is that you can stop on the side of the road whenever you want to take some photos, and I did that plenty of times during the few days I had to myself around Banff and Lake Louise.

Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir trees

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @43mm, 1/60 sec, f/4, ISO100