karnage said:
Hmm... I'm hoping to get more even, diffused lighting, especially for close range shots & portrait shots. If I use direct flash, features and color always gets blown out and/or blown white. Bounce card is cool, save for the limitations of my puny DIY bounce card... haha!
Mind sharing what are the different uses? Just briefly will do...
Briefly(because I'm no expert), the first thing is that you should get a proper flash. Depending on the flash that you're using, the best would be to have a flash that you can adjust the aperature, distance and ISO to sync with your camera. This step is very important to prevent any pics from being blown out and over/under exposed. There are quite a few in the market that would be able to do that.
When using the fz20, your ISO will usually stick to 100/200. So the only thing you should be adjusting the distance & aperture.
You should consider the shutter speed as well. What I usually do is to set to shutter priority, and set it to about 1/25 or 1/15. Depending on how steady your hands are. The reason is to capture not just the subject but the background as well. Common problem of flash photography indoors is that the subject is well lit but the background is all black right?
Eg. 1/25 with diffuser 45 degrees
Then the second question would be do I put anything on the flash? The common things people use would be the diffuser or bounce card. I personally use a diffuser because it satisfies most of my needs very well. I ever saw a pro photographer covering a D&D just using a diffuser and the pics came out very well. Moreoever, having a bounce card is not the most convenient thing to carry around when you're shooting.
So what is bounce flash? This is when you tilt the flash head to about 45degrees (or more)facing the subject. So when the flash fires, it'll bounce off the ceiling and the subject will be illuminated quite nicely without having the "headlight-in-deer" eyes. This is usually used when you're indoors taking pictures of people. Highly recommended.
eg. 1/60 bounce with diffuser
Problem comes when the ceiling is too high or not suitable (eg. ceiling is blue in colour or very uneven). That is when some would recommend a bounce card. So by sticking the bounce card onto your flash, the bounce card will act like your ceiling and give a nice spread to the light.
But I don't do that. I'd just put on my diffuser and shoot. Usually it should be ok.
eg. 1/15s with diffuser 45 degrees
Practice bro...
Hope this helps a little.