Shooting with speedlight flash - technique

RPCrowe wrote in post #6279174
I saw a photographer shooting at the end of a night foorball game in an open air stadium. He was "bouncing " the flash straight up (against the sky???) using a Stofen Omnibounce...

This actually works. I was shooting outside (kids playing soccer) under trees on a sunny day so lots of mixed shadow and sun. I took off the omnibounce and fired direct, was not happy with the result, then for the hell of it put the Stofen back on and left it angled up. It was not so much bouncing off of anything but rather throwing a glow to take out the shadows I was getting. Does not seem like it would do anything but it does. The stofen lights up like a globe light instead of bouncing it from a ceiling that of course does not exist outside.

viet wrote in post #6280099
Or just plain lazy? I know I point my flash up or away sometime just because I don't want to turn it off in case I need to pop a quick flash shot and not having to wait for it to charge up.

Nah, I always my C.Fn set so I can quickly set flash firing to "does not fire"... handy at a wedding.

sando wrote in post #6286303
Nah, I always my C.Fn set so I can quickly set flash firing to "does not fire"... handy at a wedding.

me too. i almost always use af assist in low light, flash or not.

Gotta to give it a trial in events situation. I am sure it will work in situations when you are pushed with your back against the wall. Have done this in still life photo shoots to bounce off the light with 2 or 3 speedlites.

This photo was made this morning with one speedlight (ON camera) bounce up and over my left shoulder... my flash looked almost identical to the OP's picture. I laugh when I look at people's faces at weddings when I do this. I can hear them snickering and making fun. I actually overheard someone say, "look at this idiot, his flash is pointing in the wrong direction." I turned and smiled and very politely replied... "doesn't it make you wonder what I might know that you don't?" and walked away to continue shooting.

forkball wrote in post #6287656
This photo was made this morning with one speedlight (ON camera) bounce up and over my left shoulder... my flash looked almost identical to the OP's picture. I laugh when I look at people's faces at weddings when I do this. I can hear them snickering and making fun. I actually overheard someone say, "look at this idiot, his flash is pointing in the wrong direction." I turned and smiled and very politely replied... "doesn't it make you wonder what I might know that you don't?" and walked away to continue shooting.

Can you advise the characteristics of the room?

mattograph wrote in post #6287742
Can you advise the characteristics of the room?

Sure... it's a WIDE OPEN lab environment with lots of cable trays hung from the cieling, and white drop tile cieling about 10 feet up.

good example john. you see when done correctly as he has done you get a short lighting pattern. i am guessing this was a relatively small room as there is quite a bit of fill but you can see where the light falls off around the sideburn and jaw.

haha guess i was wrong about the room, maybe the ambient was filling?

suyenfung wrote in post #6287757
haha guess i was wrong about the room, maybe the ambient was filling?

This is really gonna flip your noodle. At ISO400, F/5.6, and 1/125 this is pretty much 95% speedlight.

Measured EV is metering out at 1/15

I have NO walls to bounce off of, just black equipment racks full of network switches. I just found a spot on the cieling that would give me some directionality, and floof and went with it. You'd be very surprised at what a 580EX is REALLY capable of when used correctly.

BTW... thanks for the props.

Added benefit..... No ugly reflections in the glasses!

mattograph wrote in post #6287899
Added benefit..... No ugly reflections in the glasses!

That is actually because the glasses are tipped down and not "looking at" the camera. If they were looking towards the camera, you'd get the reflection.

DDCSD wrote in post #6287932
That is actually because the glasses are tipped down and not "looking at" the camera. If they were looking towards the camera, you'd get the reflection.

You would get "direct" reflection.

I was referring more to diffuse reflection from throwing all of that light into the subject. For instance, you can catch the faint outline of some white "panel" in the side of the right lens. Additionally light hitting that from the front may produce hotter reflections and distracting elements.

Of course, it might not do squat. Just thought I would take a moment to validate all that time I spent reading light: science and magic!

At this moment I'm looking at the 430 II as a flash to start with. I would like to fill outside pictures of cars or inside pictures. Would the 580 solve the difficulties I'm having (mostly range) to be worth the extra cash (212,= euro for the 430, 370,= for the 580)

For pictures, see my first posting at this thread Due to the big difference in price, I'm hessitating about the 580 and swayed to the 430 as a starter additional flash. (the internal is clearly insufficient)

T_I wrote in post #6288024
At this moment I'm looking at the 430 II as a flash to start with. I would like to fill outside pictures of cars or inside pictures. Would the 580 solve the difficulties I'm having (mostly range) to be worth the extra cash (212,= euro for the 430, 370,= for the 580)

For pictures, see my first posting at this thread Due to the big difference in price, I'm hessitating about the 580 and swayed to the 430 as a starter additional flash. (the internal is clearly insufficient)

The 430 is a great flash. It will likely do anything you need a single flash to do for quite a while. The power difference between the 580 and the 430 is only one stop, so you can make up for the power shortage by opening up your aperture or upping your ISO.

For the examples in your other post, with cars, you may want to look into multiple light set-ups. It can be tough to properly light a car with only one flash. Your best bet would be to start a new thread detailing your situation. You'll get a bunch of helpful suggestions.