Flash diffuser

[Bukitimah]

Hi, lately I have been doing some indoor shoot using my external flash gun. I tried using a cap diffuser and alternate with the flash gun's built in reflector card. I am not too pleased with the results of both.

I search the web sites and read a lot about the bounce card and lembency sphere cup. All say their method is the best as it gives the most even lighting effect.

I was watching a programme last evening and there is a big group of photographers shooting at a VIP coming out from his car, some use diffuser and others have their flash angled directly at the VIP!

May I know whether there is any different between the bounce card and lembency sphere diffuser? What would be consider an average acceptabe diffuser?

 

[catchlights]

in simple word, there is no one type of diffuser will works in all types of situation.
you need to find out the one you have now, work best in what type of situation, and test out another types to see it suit your taste or not.


FYI, shooting direct flash is not that bad, for the situation you mention, since there is nowhere to bounce the light, and photographers need to shoot in rapid fire, shooting direct flash is the way to go. is either choose between got shots or no shot.

 

[Mythmaker]

Welcome back to basic lighting 101 lol.

In those cases, firing flash directly at the VIP is the correct decision. catchlights have stated the reasons lol.

Always remember the fundamentals of lighting - the bigger the light source, the softer the shadows (said by Lumiquest). Lambency lightsphere works by the main light going upwards and bouncing down from the ceiling. The ceiling enlarges the light source, however it will cause shadows at the chin and bottom of the eyes.

The side lights will attempt to fill the shadows caused by the main light by bouncing the side walls and directly. However, the maggi cup is never close to optimal as there's alot of wastage of power (i.e you dont need light behind you, for starters). In comparison, the Lumiquest Quik Bounce can achieve the same result at a much lower power wastage.

Bounce card is much better in controlling power wastage, but is harder to control the harshness. There are implementations like quik bounce, and there are standard ones like ABBA. Which bounce card to use, depends on what you want to achieve and what you are shooting. Quik bounce is good for covering events, where you go indoor and outdoor all the time. For portraits (without off flash), I use something simple that I modified from ebay:

Works pretty well IMO. Sometimes I use a softbox, but that's only for very unique circumstances. Sometimes a chopping board will work better (ask the macro photographers). Sometimes the Soften Omnibounce (the cap) is the best (in a small room). Like catchlight say, there's no 1 diffuser to rule them all. Know the event, know where you are shooting, then decide which diffuser to bring.

 

[daredevil123]

I am using the rogue flash bender nowadays and it has been quite useful as well as flexible.

 

[photoart]

in some situations, the photographer may not be too concerned if the subject isn't "100% beautiful", they may just need photos for the event coverage. They may pass the photos to their colleague to do some post processing after the event. In some media/publications, there are photographers who just shoot while the designers do the rest of the work

In some cases(like paparazzi), they don't even bother if the photo isn't beautiful at all, they just want to catch female celebrities exposing their undies while they get out of the car :bsmilie::bsmilie::bsmilie:

 

[Bukitimah]

I am using the rogue flash bender nowadays and it has been quite useful as well as flexible.

I like this design because the theory sounds logical. I bought mine during lunch today and will try out this weekend. Thank you for sharing