Diffuser choice

Wilt wrote in post #2361737
I know I would be hesistant to use a physician who listens to my heart thru a rolled up and taped paper cone, or who uses a popsicle stick for a tongue depressor! And I would hesitate to use a pro photographer who uses twine on his camera for a shoulder strap. The impression is, "If this guy cuts corners on a relatively small expense, has he cut corners in other more important places (like using a WalMart off-brand lens or a computer monitor purchased from Goodwill)?"

What I was trying to say exactly. Those are some hillarious analogies

I'm with Tim. NO diffuser. I've also been through a bunch of diffusers and none of them let you get as creative as regular bouncing.

picturecrazy wrote in post #2361862
I'm with Tim. NO diffuser. I've also been through a bunch of diffusers and none of them let you get as creative as regular bouncing.

So what do you do when you can't bounce? I thought that was the whole point of diffusers, something to fall back on when bouncing isn't an option.

There's always something to bounce off of.

If there's no walls or ceilings, I often use wedding guests, tablecloths, chairs, the floor, my own shirt, my wife/assistant, whatever. Using things like this gives a much different look than your standard diffused light shot.

I still bring along a lumiquest mini softbox in my bag, just because it hardly takes any room. But I NEVER use it.

picturecrazy wrote in post #2362123
There's always something to bounce off of.
If there's no walls or ceilings, I often use wedding guests, tablecloths, chairs, the floor, my own shirt, my wife/assistant, whatever. Using things like this gives a much different look than your standard diffused light shot..

Mental image forming in my demented brain, of picturecrazy holding the flash off camera on the end of the Off Camera Shoe Cord 2, aimed at his own white shirt to serve as a diffusion panel

Haha, actually I have been seen holding the camera upsidedown and firing the flash into my shirt. The light isn't directional, but it's a nice, soft diffused light and a much larger lightsource than a mini-softbox. But that's my last resort. There's always other people to bounce off of.

picturecrazy wrote in post #2362707
There's always other people to bounce off of.

I can appreciate the skill and resourcefulness that this method must take. Still, aren't you constantly having to rotate and adjust the flash head with this method? People move around a lot at weddings. My mental image is of me setting up a shot and thinking, "I'll just bounce off of this guy in the white suit", and then by the time I press the shutter I'm bouncing off of an enormous woman in a dark purple dress who just moved in to hit on the poor guy.

imhotep wrote in post #2362764
I can appreciate the skill and resourcefulness that this method must take. Still, aren't you constantly having to rotate and adjust the flash head with this method? People move around a lot at weddings. My mental image is of me setting up a shot and thinking, "I'll just bounce off of this guy in the white suit", and then by the time I press the shutter I'm bouncing off of an enormous woman in a dark purple dress who just moved in to hit on the poor guy.

Yeah, you gotta aim the flash head a lot and of course some turn out and some don't. But the more you do it the faster you get. Soon you do it without even thinking. And sometimes I purposely bounce off someone in a very coloured outfit with the knowledge that this is gonna be a romantic shot and would look good black and white or sepia.

I'd rather get a few creative shots with a couple failed shots than get dozen boring but consistent shots. That's what gives me my style I guess.

good info need to look at this again...thanx for the video

The Idea from the video is not bad........Im gonna try it...lol

I've pretty much given up on anything but the built-in bounce card ... gives great results, and it's one less thing to bring with me and take up room in the bag.

Save some money ... point the flash straight up, with the bounce card out and it looks just about the same as a LS.

I've almost always found things to bounce off of, but next week I'll be shooting on a huge boat that has ceilings made up entirely of gold mirror. At 300 feet, The decks are huge, wide open spaces, and the 'walls' are 6 foot tall windows all the way down both sides. I can't imagine where I could bounce here, so I am really wondering if a small softbox on a 580 would be all that much better than just shooting direct, naked, flash. Does anyone think a lumiquest softbox makes that much difference?

Philco wrote in post #2367850
Does anyone think a lumiquest softbox makes that much difference?

I tried mine for one reception and I thought it sucked... though it was a hair better than direct, undiffused flash. The shadows are still hard. If you can, set up a bunch of slaves around the place firing into umbrellas or something. Or practice bouncing off people like I mentioned. You can get some really great results. Someone's back is a MUCH larger light source than any softbox you'll get onto your flash head.

picturecrazy wrote in post #2367957
I tried mine for one reception and I thought it sucked... though it was a hair better than direct, undiffused flash. The shadows are still hard. If you can, set up a bunch of slaves around the place firing into umbrellas or something. Or practice bouncing off people like I mentioned. You can get some really great results. Someone's back is a MUCH larger light source than any softbox you'll get onto your flash head.

I had a feeling that what you are describing would be the case. The other night I was in a venue with black ceilings and wooden walls...luckily there was a big, stuffed shark hanging from the ceiling and I was able to bounce off of it!

Thanks.

Soft boxes work by making the light source large from the point of the view of the subject. A 2 meter high soft box 5 meters from a person wouldn't be as effective as a 75cm soft box right beside them (i'm making up the numbers, not calculating this). A tiny soft box on a shoe mounted flash doesn't do much given how far it usually is from the subject.