need advice on how to control flash in outdoor night shoot

[noobphotog]

hi... i've met with situations where i shoot photos of friends outdoors when its nighttime. i'm using a 430ex as my flash, with the tamron 17-50 2.8 as my lens. i usually try to go low on my ISO as well. i've tried using the "plastic cap-like cover" to diffuse my flash, but the effects on my subject's skintones still appear harsh. is there anyway i can shoot under such conditions (outdoors with no walls/ceilings to bounce, dark surroundings) and still obtain natural skin tones? pls advice me on whether the usage of diffusers like the lightspheres will help me achieve a natural skintone. thanks!

 

[tjhan]

The cap is the omnibounce, which is more a light spreader, as its name suggests. It's supposed to be best used indoors.

Normally, I'll just use the flash pointed direct in situations like yours. Try a longer shutter speed in manual mode, like 1/20s, and your flash in ETTL mode. Though that won't directly solve your problem, but should get you a nicer nighttime picture.

 

[catchlights]

as long the flash it is still a small pointed light source and not bouncing off from ceiling or walls, it will be harsh and direct lighting.
you can add tissue paper or dial the flash compensation slightly lower, it won't really soften the lighting, but will make the results more pleasing.

 

[Dream Merchant]

What Catchlights said.

Regardless of what the material is made of, what you should try to do is increase the surface area of the light source as much as you possibly can.

One OK looking diffuser is: http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=439107&highlight=diffuser I've seen a larger one that actually looks like you have a mini-soft-box sitting on top of your lense.

Why do you keep your ISO low? Do your photos come out with dark or very dark backgrounds?

 

[davel]

related question..
will slow-sync flash help? you get more ambient light in?

 

[catchlights]

related question..
will slow-sync flash help? you get more ambient light in?

simple answer is yes, but it depends how much ambient light or background is available, the shutter speed it might be to low to shoot with handheld, or the subject to hold still.

 

[catchlights]

yes, to get softness of the light, you need increase the surface area of the light source as much possibly, comparing a bare flash tube to a lightspheres, it maybe a few hundred percent increase in term of areas, but it is still far far away comparing the areas of ceiling and walls.