DIY Omnibounce

[4walls]

First the bad news... total cost for this little project was a whopping $3.01 Cdn.

OK, here is my do-it-yourself OmniBounce...

http://s94309565.onlinehome.us/albums/album04/IMG_0586.thumb.jpg http://s94309565.onlinehome.us/albums/album04/IMG_0585.thumb.jpg

Larger Image #1 (http://s94309565.onlinehome.us/albums/album04/IMG_0586.jpg)
Larger Image #2 (http://s94309565.onlinehome.us/albums/album04/IMG_0585.jpg)

[Nightcrawler]

So how did you make it?

[4walls]

1. Traced head of flash onto cardboard.
2. Expanded that area by 1cm and squared it off.
3. Draw tabs to overlap flash.
4. Cut out of milk jug and staple together.

I will show you my template... I just need to take a picture of it.

[SWPhotoImaging]

So, milk is $3.01 there, eh?

[Scottes]

Hmmm... I was just thinking about making a mini-softbox... This gives me ideas. Thanks!

[4walls]

I am also thinking about making one like the one from www.garyfong.com that looks like this...
http://secure.mycart.net/product_images/catalog13406/canonshortVicon.jpg
http://www.garyfongestore.com/

Here is my template...
- I traced the front part of the flash to the cardboard
- expanded the area around the flash head
- added tabs to secure
- cut it out
- folded it on the yellow lines

http://s94309565.onlinehome.us/albums/album04/IMG_0588.jpg

[4walls]

So, milk is $3.01 there, eh?
Ummm, ya. That's what my wife tells me anyway. That's Cdn $ too.
Can I send you some?

[Scottes]

4walls, what is that garyfong thing? Looks interesting, but I couldn't find it on the site.

[4walls]

He calls it a Lightsphere.
Try this link...

http://secure.mycart.net/catalogs/catalog.asp?prodid=3354218&showprevnext=1

[4walls]

Trials with the homemade OmniB...

shot in RAW mode
same post processing done to both files
slight difference in White Balance
also notice reduction of shadows around eyes, mouth and nose

[Andy_T]

He calls it a Lightsphere.
Try this link...

http://secure.mycart.net/catalogs/catalog.asp?prodid=3354218&showprevnext=1

Very interesting.
You'll need a milk bottle instead of a milk carton for that one :lol:

Best regards,
Andy

[Huckaback Photo]

Hi 4 Walls
Very comendable what you have achieved in making up this diffuser.
I use a omni bounce and if modified and set up properly its really great, like all things theres often a trade off. put a flash meter in front of it, take readings with and without you soon realise.
with omni bounce = loss of nearly 1 f stop so the effective working distances are less.
any diffuser material will obviously cut down the transmission of light, according on the density of material used.
My observations re your images.
right image.
your info says bounced at 90 deg so flash head straight up to ceiling yes? hence no catch light in eye and all shadow below nose etc. white of eye is also lost.
Left image.
with your diffuser gives an appearance diffused light , this time from the front as it appears to have no real modelling (creating some nice soft shadows etc) i say direct as there is shadow behind the ear.
the small catch light in eye is good ( just adds that bit extra in my view) indeed the white of eye is also much better.
Is this shot also with flash head pointed at ceiling or pointed at the face ?
you mention dif in white balance, yes i agree. The left picture is picking up colour bounced back from the wall , girl is possibly to near side wall (also yellow i guess).
Now i see your diffuser has part open sides it would be better to totally enclose like the omni as quite a strong directional light is fired out to each side. thus picking up some colour cast from wall in this instance.
if you don't own an omni bounce you may not realise the correct way to to set it.
with flash on hot shoe. set at 45 degrees and yes we all try different things but its recomended this way.
if any on here have not come across this neat trick before here goes, try this mod.
Find some black sticky tape and some silver foil sticky tape or even normal cooking foil and apply as my picture shows. the black stops any spill coming back though the diffuser material towards photographers face.
the foil gives slightly more forward punch and can pick up 1/3 f stop extra light output.
Martin (Huckaback Photo)

[4walls]

Martin,

Thanks for the great post and the critique.

Yes both pics were taken with the flash pointed straight up. I did some shots at 45 degrees as well. My daughter was very patient with me as I took all these pics. :)

I am not sure about the best way to close up the sides of my bouncer. I will play with it and see if I can find a better design... milk is on sale this week!

[Cash--]

huckaback....thats great info....TY!

[Huckaback Photo]

Cheers I sense you seem to like this info.so a bit more for you to try.
if your shooting in any room with coloured walls the use of bounce will usually pick up some colour right.
so forget the omni or your own made diffuser above buy yourself a inexpensive silver brolly and off camera lead a stand is useful. & just fire flash into brolly . use at approx 45 deg to model & above head. a second light can simply be a sheet of white card used as reflector to one side, check a book for detail re lighting setups
hey presto the cheapest lighting you could find and all controlled with camera ttl or ettl.
I often use a 550 and a 580 in this way.
my finest achievment with flash was doing a demo of high speed flash to a group of 45 people
and all in the room got the exact same image exposed at 1/25000 of a second.
a mate had perfected it so we did practical evenings.
all had cameras on tripods lights turned off with cable releases and bulb /time set on cameras ..open the shutters ..we then dropped a dart into a balloon which burst and fired the 2 flash by means of a home made sound sensor etc. all closed shutter job done and huge applause.
tell me of any other way for all photographers to record exact same picture at 1/25000 of second.
Martin