Flash and Bounce


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Flare

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Jan 24, 2002
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Bukit Batok West Avenue 2
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Right... the prom night is coming, my batteries are charged. Gotten my New flash unit (minolta 3600HS(D)), fresh cells inserted. Shirt and pants pressed. Striding into the grand hall, camera in hand, frsh tilted for bounce. THEN~ I notice the high and painted ceiling......... ArrRRrrrRRrggggggg...

The above is just a situation I don't want to find myself in. So, can anyone advice me how can I prevent the harsh lighting of direct flash in these situation? Will a bounce card help? What does it do? Will something I make surfice or should I get one of those available at CP? The price is WoW~ for one that comes with options of different surface (white, silver, gold and diffuser)...... The AF system of my flash seems to give good direct flash, But I still like the option of bouncing available.
 

I think a diffuser would help too to soften the light.

If the ceilig is high, you need to design the bounce card properly to make it work.
 

Hi,

In the situation of having high ceiling of more than about 3.5m, a coloured ceiling, no ceiling, black ceiling (as in some of those restaurants, etc without a false ceiling), your only option is either a flash diffuser like those $to-fen ones, a bounce device like the Lumiquest Pocket Bouncer or a bounce card designed like that (flash head 90° up, bounce card at 45° facing the front.

If subject distance is large, it's still better to use direct flash, whether a ceiling is available or not. Unless you have a very powerful flash, e.g. Metz 60CT4.

Regards
CK
 

would a flash at 45 degrees and a bounce card angled at 45 degrees to the flash head work?
 

Gadgets like the stofens and the mini-softboxes and such like have limited benefit. They do have some but the effect is not great.

In a situation like yours, my options would be

[1] Get hold of a powerful flash, pump the ISO, and bounce anyway (using custom WB to counter the ceiling colour)

[2] Shoot in ambient light only without flash. I'm not familiar with the Dimage 5 but it should have no problem achieving decent results without flash.

[3] Shoot with direct flash but allow as much ambient light to register as possible.

However, none of that is anything on my real solution:

:light: Leave the camera at home!
It's your prom for crying out loud, enjoy the evening, don't lug the camera around. There are times when even photography should take a back seat. Reality check!
 

Originally posted by mpenza
would a flash at 45 degrees and a bounce card angled at 45 degrees to the flash head work?

Not very well, you still lose a lot of light from the flash head which is not caught by the bounce card.

Regards
CK
 

Originally posted by Jed
However, none of that is anything on my real solution:

:light: Leave the camera at home!
It's your prom for crying out loud, enjoy the evening, don't lug the camera around. There are times when even photography should take a back seat. Reality check! [/B]

Was thinking about the same thing, and was wondering if digital camera's slow AF (My MF isn't much faster and it's kinda difficult to focus with the EVF eventhough I had goten some nice MF shots) can allow me to get anything sharp. But the other thing that is bugging me is that that night is likly the only time I can get photos of all my friends, classmates, lecturer dress up nice and pretty.... And perhaps some pretty lass would be available for my camera.....
 

Well, having a powerful flash isn't much of a problem... its more like my direct flash shots at short distances are kinda too strong... And lowering it 1-1.3 ev will catch the subject nicely, but the background is kinda lost end up with their dark hair lost into the background...
 

Originally posted by Flare
Well, having a powerful flash isn't much of a problem... its more like my direct flash shots at short distances are kinda too strong... And lowering it 1-1.3 ev will catch the subject nicely, but the background is kinda lost end up with their dark hair lost into the background...

One way to improve exposure for background is to use Aperture Priority mode (or manual mode with the exposure set appropriately).
 

IMG_9566.JPG

IMG_9567.JPG

IMG_9568.JPG
 

And WHAT, I hear you ask, is a super diffuser?

IMG_9573.JPG


It's a piece of cardboard taped around the bulb that was given out during last year's National Day celebration. Just cut off the bottom bit.
 

Oh my god....... THAT IS ONE GOOD DIFFUSER! So I guess a soft box or diffuser could work. And also I guess I should try the aperture settings suggested by mpenza. mpenza... So how should I do it? Widen up the aperture?
 

no lah. I had meant using the aperture priority mode. just realised that your flash is a dedicated one with probably TTL exposure checking. so, you might need to use the manual mode and set the right aperture and shutter speed in order to capture the background. The settings would depend on the environment I guess.

Using my camera at Orchard Road during Xmas countdown, I used F3.2 (the widest aperture :( ) and 1/4s to 1/10s with an external flash (only trigger, no TTL) to capture some of the dark background.
 

Hi,

Tip for good indoor flash shots : Make sure the ambient lighting is not more than 2 stops away from your flash exposure. Simplest way is to meter the ambient light, then stop down 2 stops from there via the shutter speed. If it's below 1/60 or 1/30 depending on what you can hand hold, open up aperture one stop, or increase ISO. Typically, you should be able to get good results at ISO 320/400 at a shutter speed of 1/60 at f/4 or f/5.6. This works well for the typical hotel ballroom with their chandelier lighting. Never failed me for my wedding dinner shoots.

Regards
CK
 

The only thing that counts is the size of the light source (relative to distance from subject).

The larger the light source the softer the light. Full Stop.

So instead of asking whether this or this wonder product works, all u have to do is apply basic principles: does this product increase the size of the light source?


Using a Stofen omni bounce without a surface to bounce off is ummm.... pointless. The stofen doesn't increase the size of the light source, the increase in the size of the light source is due to the bouncing. (the ceiling is a big light source)
 

Oh Thank you all..... Looks like I should find a way to widen up my light.... and check my shutter and sperture settings... I'lll try that.... Thanks One more thing... With shutter of 1/60... will rear sync flash helps?
 

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