Hi Chris,

I am excited by your use of the Nikon flash system. I am a Canon user and have been using their wireless flash system for some time. I have been using it with mixed success at weddings for the last couple of years. Specifically, as long as I am within perfect line of site (i.e. between the master flash and the slave flash), everything works great. However, when things are not perfectly within line of site, I start having difficulties (I hope that this has been addressed with the 580 EX).

I do have a couple of questions though, if you do not mind:
"I used Nikon SB-800 and SB-600 Speedlights, some on softboxes, one clamped to the chair's back and shooting with an orange gel against a black velvet backdrop. "

(1) What system are you using for softbox?
(2) Are you doing anything special in order to get the speedlight clamed to the back of the chair to give you the backlight?

Thanks
James