TIP: Using your pop-up flash as a commander

I recently got to see Joe McNally and David the Strobist Hobby in action when the Flash Bus Tour stopped in Philadelphia. Man, they make things look so easy. It was an amazing time to see these two pros and living legends in action.

Joe McNally is a big proponent of Nikon CLS/i-TTL, so he's been using an SB-800/900 Speedlight or even the pop-up flash as a commander. No news here right? We all know as well that you can set your Speedlight so that it does NOT contribute to the exposure of your scene. But it will still produce some visible light via the pre-flash that can land you in a snafu because you've got a "blinker" on your hands. What's the alternative? Radio triggers? SU-800 since it's IR and not visible light? Remote cord so your commander is off-axis and not going to be in your subjects direct line of vision? All good options. But what about if you are using your pop-up flash as a commander and that's all you've got?

Electrical tape.

Just grab a small bit of electrical tape and cover up your pop-up flash, not entirely, but enough that it hides the direct visible light that would usually fire directly into your subjects eyes and thus cause them to blink. For me on my D700, the tape acts like a curtain and light spills out the sides and bottom from behind the tape and this is what allows you to still trigger your Speedlights. I've successfully tested this, indoors, in a variety of situations. Just as long as you get the sensor on the Speedlight to point towards you, it works.

I'm sure there are situations that this would inhibit things and outdoors could be out of the question for this but its a cheap alternative to the other more costly alternatives.