OK, so my plan was to write a couple of posts about the new kit I got at Christmas, but due to an error on my part I’ll only be writing one.

The reason for this is that the Yongnuo remote flash trigger YN-E3-RT and receivers YN-E3-RX, don’t work fully with my two flashes – oops!

I checked the two that I have and managed to make not one but two mistakes. I thought my Canon flash was a 430EXii but it turns out that it’s an earlier 430EX and is not compatible – in my defence the lettering has been painted over on the second hand unit that I bought. My Yongnuo speedlite was also wrong; YN560EXii (which is not compatible) versus a YN568EXii which is.

It’s not a total disaster in that both work fine using ETTL mode and will work manually by adjusting the settings on the speedlite itself, but I lose the ability to control the power from the trigger unit – the whole point of buying the new kit in the first place.

Anyhow, it gives me the excuse to order a new YN568EXii. And as I have three receivers but currently only two speedlites I needed another flash. So I’ll start off with the one flash controlled from camera and once I’ve got that down I’ll order myself a second YN568EXii – at around £65 they’re great value.

On the plus side, I love my new Canon 85mm f/1.8 lens. It’s really light and compact and takes shots with lovely bokeh backgrounds.

Being fast it also lets me work more in low light as the shot of our cat shows.

As well as camera gear, I also received three nice books – one on lighting techniques and a couple on food styling and photography – I’ll share my thoughts on these in a future episode.