Avoiding Direct flash

Hi,

I ahve come across several even halld where ceiling is very high and/or black so there seems no point in bouncing your flash off it. Also, side-walls are not that close to make much different either.

How do you go about using your flash and not getting harsh shadows or hot spots? I am using 580EX. This is for indoor, evening events.

Thanks a bunch.

Baadil wrote in post #12957864
Hi,

I ahve come across several even halld where ceiling is very high and/or black so there seems no point in bouncing your flash off it. Also, side-walls are not that close to make much different either.

How do you go about using your flash and not getting harsh shadows or hot spots? I am using 580EX. This is for indoor, evening events.

Thanks a bunch.

Bring your own bounce surface. Something like a rogue flashbender, demb flipit, or one of the lumiquest products that adjust to the point where they redirect all the flash.

If you have somebody to hold it, take a white reflector to bounce off. Be sure to gobo the head so the subject gets no direct flash.

Use off camera lighting.

gonzogolf wrote in post #12957881
Bring your own bounce surface. Something like a rogue flashbender, demb flipit, or one of the lumiquest products that adjust to the point where they redirect all the flash.

Thanks. Any item in particular? What would you use?

windpig wrote in post #12957896
If you have somebody to hold it, take a white reflector to bounce off. Be sure to gobo the head so the subject gets no direct flash.

No, unfortunately, just myself. No help.

Red Tie Photography wrote in post #12957959
Use off camera lighting.

Are you talking about using a bracket to move the flash a bit away from the camera?

Thanks.

Baadil wrote in post #12957975
Thanks. Any item in particular? What would you use?

Any of the products I listed are good. I sort of like the large rogue flashbender personally.

Like this. Off camera all the way.

If you can't bounce direct is about as good as anything. The point of a bounce surface is to change the direction and apparent size of the light source, so strapping a tiny diffuser on your flash won't do much except waste flash power.

Im a big fan of the Demb Flips for this type of lighting situation. An Omni bounce and the ol Gary fong dome would work here as well. Just dont tell anyone on POTN you have one or you will get roasted

Baadil wrote in post #12957993
Are you talking about using a bracket to move the flash a bit away from the camera?
Thanks.

Radio triggers and light stands.

They don't have to be super expensive. You can get a pair of good sturdy light stands for $40 and a set of radio triggers for $100 (for three Cactus V5s) or even much less (if you go with older Cactus models, or Yongnuo, or Cowboys).

A Super Clamp is a great idea, too - lets you put a flash where a stand won't go.

Put two or three or four flashes around the venue, do a few test shots to make sure you're getting even coverage and good exposure, and you're all set.

Two hundred bucks worth of inexpensive lighting gear can really step up your results to the next level. You've got one Speedlight so you're already on your way. A couple of YN-560 speedlights to complement the 580EX, some radio triggers, and some grip gear, and you're there.

If you get YN-560s, you can even set them to optical slave mode, so you only need one trigger and one receiver (as opposed to one receiver for each flash). Heck, you might not even need any triggers, if they optically trigger from the 580EX on your hot shoe. The down side of that, of course, is that they'll fire every time Uncle Bob uses his flash .. or even any time Granny Mabel snaps a flash picture with her point-n-shoot.

You can't use optical slaves at a wedding, they'll go off all the time with guest flashes. It can also cause the guest photos on their P&S camera to get blown out. I was shooting family formals with AB strobes on optical trigger in a church years ago, guests with their P&S cameras couldn't work out why their images came out all white.... and I wasn't about to take my lights down from 14 foot stands so they could take snaps.

umphotography wrote in post #12958623
Im a big fan of the Demb Flips for this type of lighting situation. An Omni bounce and the ol Gary fong dome would work here as well. Just dont tell anyone on POTN you have one or you will get roasted

The Omni bounce or the Gary Fong dome won't do anything except eat up your flash output as there's nothing to bounce off!

David

Thank you everyone for your comments and suggections.

tim wrote in post #12959154
You can't use optical slaves at a wedding, they'll go off all the time with guest flashes. It can also cause the guest photos on their P&S camera to get blown out. I was shooting family formals with AB strobes on optical trigger in a church years ago, guests with their P&S cameras couldn't work out why their images came out all white.... and I wasn't about to take my lights down from 14 foot stands so they could take snaps.

Tim, if your lights are high up pointing down, don't you get shadows under chins?

Thanks.

beegeeboy wrote in post #12959189
The Omni bounce or the Gary Fong dome won't do anything except eat up your flash output as there's nothing to bounce off!

David

I guess we will have to agree that we disagree. Not only do they work, they work well. I use one all the time because i like a lot of ambient in my reception shots, especially the dance shots.Both these had an omni bounce on the flash. I use a bracket and keep the flash head 1 click forward to get these results straight off my camera. On the 2nd shot the purple strobe from the DJ was lighting her hair slightly, so in Lightroom i turned off the color for purple and it acted like another flash was hitting her. I often will gel the flash head and slip the omni over and get fantastic results. They do work well. Both shots had nothing to bounce off. Black ceilings and 40Ft ceilings.

Nothing has been done to these files. They are straight off the camera. @nd shot, purple was toned down in Lightroom.

Red Tie Photography wrote in post #12957959
Use off camera lighting.

This would be my solution as well. Two bare off camera flashes and an assistant with another flash in an Apollo softbox.

If getting a flash off camera isn't an option for you, then use a white card and move your flash head to a 45 degree angle.