Soft pictures with 430EX need a softbox for when i need to flash directly at subject

I was recently at a gathering this week, and the situation was that the living room where most of the subjects were isnt well lit, its at night i.e 11pm on a winter night, and the ceiling is brown painted wooded strips, so not even a flat smooth white ceiling. What I'm trying to say here is that I couldnt bounce off the ceiling and little or no ambient light either.

I find that the pictures come out OK if I point the 430 ex at the subject, I have a plastic difusser, unfortunately I have to shoot from a distance otherwise the light becomes a bit of a mess and too harsh.

I know I need a softbox to widen and spread the light, but I do not want to spend a huge fortune since I'm only an amateur who enjoys taking shots of people especially.

I have seen the following

http://www.amazon.co.u​k …/ref=cm_cr_pr_p​roduct_top

http://www.amazon.co.u​k …/ref=cm_cr_pr_p​roduct_top

http://www.amazon.co.u​k …3QADBAW/ref=cm_​cr_pr_pb_t


The bottom line is that I need something cheap, that works and one that would easily fit into a small bag that I put my kit into.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Bounce of a wall?
Those mini-sofboxes won't do you much good. A big flip-it (or home made version) would be a better option.
http://www.dembflashpr​oducts.com/mega/index.​html
http://strobist.blogsp​ot.nl …9/well-that-was-fast.html

I just couldn't bounce off the wall, results were shocking, imagine you had 2 parallel Walls, how will you shoot a subject and still bounce off wall.

Also the card that pops out of the 430ex is almost absolutely useless as I don't see the light bounce back off the pop out card, could be to do with the fact that its glass and the light can go through it.

Thanks

I've had pretty good success with the Lumiquest Promax system with the flash on camera. It gives you several options for bouncing the flash. If you want to move the flash off-camera, the Qbox 24 is highly regarded.

Similar to the post above, I've seen great results with the Demb Flip + Diffuser as seen in this link.
http://www.dembflashpr​oducts.com/diffuser/

Any cheaper option you can find for me on amazon.co.UK ( thanks

platforminc wrote in post #15291756
Any cheaper option you can find for me on amazon.co.UK ( thanks

Go to a local hobby shop, they likely carry a product called craft foam. Then do something akin to this with it.

http://www.petapixel.c​om …our-own-free-bounce-card/

use a milk jug

CJCMarquez wrote in post #15291492
Similar to the post above, I've seen great results with the Demb Flip + Diffuser as seen in this link.
http://www.dembflashpr​oducts.com/diffuser/

+1 for the Demb Flash Diffuser Pro... Using the variable angle FlipIt reflector at about 45 degrees forward will provide quite decent lighting even when there is nothing off which to bounce...

Example:

IMAGE LINK: http://rpcrowe.smugmug​.com …914758&k=P35tw2​Z&lb=1&s=A

platforminc wrote in post #15291405
Also the card that pops out of the 430ex is almost absolutely useless as I don't see the light bounce back off the pop out card, could be to do with the fact that its glass and the light can go through it.

Thanks

The 430 doesn't have a bounce card. That is a wide angle dispersion grid for full coverage when shooting up to 14mm wide. The 580's have the white card that pulls out of the top.

The Rouge Flashbender is pretty nice:

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …r_Large_Positio​nable.html

Although I use it more as a flag or a snoot than for trying to enlarge the light source. Ideally for that you are going to want to get some off camera triggers and a shoot through umbrella as a minimum if you want to really soften the light.