Omni Bounce

[45R]

Hey guys when would a newbie use a light diffuser to take pictures vs. shoot the flash at the ceiling.

[robertwgross]

Noting the obvious, I don't think you want to try to do bounce flash when you have a high ceiling room. And you probably don't want to bounce flash when the ceiling is painted some off-color.

---Bob Gross---

[toddb]

I don't know if it's right or not, but on my 550EX I keep my OmniBounce defuser on all the time. In my apartment, I have 9 foot ceilings and I point the flash up and slightly forward. I get the good bounce lighting that illuminates the background good and keep those ugly shadows from appearing, and the OmniBounce Difuser will throw the light forward as well. So it seems like it light the subject better. I've heard you can use an index card taped to the back to do the same kind of effect.

[JoeTampa]

When doing ceiling bounces, I always prefer having a diffuser as some of the light will do directly to the subject, while most of it will go up for the bounce. And, of course, angle *is* important.

[msvadi]

Use the omni bounce ONLY when you BOUNCE flash from some surface. All it does is to send light in more directions. Don't use it if you don't bounce the flash, you just waste the batteries.

[maderito]

Use the omni bounce ONLY when you BOUNCE flash from some surface. All it does is to send light in more directions. Don't use it if you don't bounce the flash, you just waste the batteries.

Right. I would guess that many have the misconception that the Omni Bounce throws more diffuse light to the subject. It doesn't. If used properly, it disperses light to sufaces in the room which then gets reflected to the subject. The net effect is to increase the apparent size of the light source (as does a large light box) and thus soften it.

[yenoram]

Right. I would guess that many have the misconception that the Omni Bounce throws more diffuse light to the subject. It doesn't. If used properly, it disperses light to sufaces in the room which then gets reflected to the subject. The net effect is to increase the apparent size of the light source (as does a large light box) and thus soften it.

That's always been my understanding and the method I've used. Then I turn on the TV and see all the PJs with Omni-Bouncers pointed straight at the subject. I don't get it?

[DaveG]

Right. I would guess that many have the misconception that the Omni Bounce throws more diffuse light to the subject. It doesn't. If used properly, it disperses light to sufaces in the room which then gets reflected to the subject. The net effect is to increase the apparent size of the light source (as does a large light box) and thus soften it.

That's always been my understanding and the method I've used. Then I turn on the TV and see all the PJs with Omni-Bouncers pointed straight at the subject. I don't get it?

The Omni bounce will also throw a WIDER cone of light than the regular diffuser built into the 550. I used a Stofen a lot with my old F3, a Vivitar 283, and (frequently) a 20 mm lens. And I thought that the 283's wide angle diffuser (even if I could have gotten my hands on one) would still throw too narrow a beam of light. With the 550 and its auxilliary 17 mm wide angle diffuser this approach may well be redundent. But it worked fine with the 20mm and the 283, so I may have been one of those guys who were "trying" to bounce in a room where there was no chance of this actually happening.

When I used the 283 and the Stofen, I HAD to have the flash at a 45 degree angle. Otherwise the "eye" built into the flash would have seen the flash pop and shut it down prematurely. But I actually would have preferred to have the 283's flash head pointed at the subject since it would mean more light would have gotten to the subject

[timmyquest]

Typically what i do is this:

The left image is me taking the image on the right: (take note of his arms and hands as the rest of his body was actually in another room and much of the light didnt make it in there due to the doorway)
http://www.antiwall.com/omni-bounce.jpg

I really dont use it all that often, i almost always try to bounce the flash off the ceiling as i feel it gives the most natural lighting. I think this is my best example of this:

http://www.antiwall.com/May2004/What-about-me.jpg

This of course really depends on the color of the room, which is when i contemplate using the omni. If there a lot of people in the room (such as the first image) i find that bouncing the flash around too much can cause some odd shadows (Due to the people). And if the room is an odd color, red for example...then bouncing the light often doesnt work for me. In both cases, i use the omni bounce and most the time it helps.