Effectiveness of external Flash with with a simple white card

[digisheep]

Hi all,

At a wedding, I've observed that the wedding photographer didn't use any diffuser on his flash for outdoor shots (e.g. stofen bounce, lightsphere etc). What he did is basically tilt the flash at an angle (say 60deg) & fixed a simple white card (width of the flash) to act as a deflector. I was wondering if this is common among photographers taking shots in an outdoor environment where there is no wall or ceiling to bounce?

And is this way of using flash effectiveness? Cos I was wondering if this could work, why then do people still have to spend money to buy e.g. lightsphere for shots outdoor?

Hope you can share your experiences with me. Thanks.

 

[photoart]

I personally shot a couple of weddings. I like to carry two bodies, one with zoom lens and one with prime. I use a 580ex ii on my main body with grip.

Attaching the lightsphere to my heavy setup is a Really big burden. that device is just not practical at all due to it's size

 

[catchlights]

each light diffuser serve different purposes, and work best on certain situation, no hard and fast rules of which one that ones should use, he/she will chose any diffuser suit his purpose and deliver the results suit his/her taste.

 

[digisheep]

Hi, thanks for your sharing. Is it possible to share what type of diffuser do you normally setup on your flash for shooting in an outdoor environment (mobility required). Thanks.

 

[naheuy]

i personally use the lightsphere for a while, but have already been poisoned to get a rogue flashbender..

flash bounce cards like these are usually more preferred from what i observe from the light weight and relatively small volume. if youre interested in trying out you can do one from wacky hacks, i have 2 or 3 of these on standby anytime!

 

[Octarine]

Hi, thanks for your sharing. Is it possible to share what type of diffuser do you normally setup on your flash for shooting in an outdoor environment (mobility required). Thanks.

How about something like this:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/05/straddling-line-between-genius-and.html
Unfortunately the original postings on the website are no longer available. But the pictures shows the idea. The rest is a bit of DIY.

 

[catchlights]

Hi, thanks for your sharing. Is it possible to share what type of diffuser do you normally setup on your flash for shooting in an outdoor environment (mobility required). Thanks.

for outdoor I don't use flash unless there is no alternative.

shoot with direct flash mostly, only when the subject is too close up than use bounce card to cut down flash power.

 

[catchlights]

How about something like this:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/05/straddling-line-between-genius-and.html
Unfortunately the original postings on the website are no longer available. But the pictures shows the idea. The rest is a bit of DIY.

she is a Japanese photographer IIRC correctly.

 

[Octarine]

she is a Japanese photographer IIRC correctly.

The website belongs to a German guy (Juergen Specht, www.juergenspecht.com), I think the gal is his wife or a partner