direct flash w/ standard diffuser vs. bounce card

babygodzilla

hey guys,

i was recently in a room where the ceiling and walls were too far from me so i practically had nothing to bounce my flash off off. i had an SB900 and had its standard diffuser that came with the unit, and of course the built-in bounce card. in this situation, which setup do you think would be better?

1. use direct flash with the standard diffuser on, or
2. point the flash upwards toward the ceiling and pull out the bounce card and aim it towards the subjects, or...
3. i guess the last option would be to just use direct flash as-is, but i really try to avoid this.


would appreciate your opinions.

thanks!

GadgetRick

Well, you'd be surprised at how far a wall can be while still getting reflected light. I'd try that first unless it's REALLY far away. That'll be your best option (depending on what you're shooting of course).

ian408

Something like a Stofen would be far better than what's on the flash. There are any number of light modifiers that you can use in addition to a Stofen. Lumiquest is one example. They make a variety of diffusers/bounce goodies. Gary Fong also makes several devices that are popular with the wedding photographers.

I think Nikon supplies something similar to the Stofen with their flashes but definitely use something like that over the little pull out tabs for white card and diffuser on the flash itself.

pathfinder

Honl makes a lovely ~8x10 inch, zebra moldable reflector that can be used like a foamy diffuser reflector - attaches with a Honl Velcro strap. It's actually marketed as a long snoot, but can be used almost flat as a diffused/reflector. The zebra tone gives nice warm light too

babygodzilla

thanks for your inputs, but i really wanna know your preference out of the 3 original choices. lets just say i dont have access at all to any other light-shaping tools. what would you do?

pathfinder

If I've got a white wall within 10-15 feet I would try to bounce off it. If not, I would use a reflector/diffuser with on camera flash or off camera flash if possible. The 7D and many Nikon bodies will trigger their OEM flashes wirelessly.

You can hold your flash in your left hand, up high, and shoot with your right hand using wireless flash linkage or an off camera cord ( not my idea - I read this in Shutterbug recently )

babygodzilla

pathfinder wrote: »

If I've got a white wall within 10-15 feet I would try to bounce off it. If not, I would use a reflector/diffuser with on camera flash or off camera flash if possible. The 7D and many Nikon bodies will trigger their OEM flashes wirelessly.

You can hold your flash in your left hand, up high, and shoot with your right hand using wireless flash linkage or an off camera cord ( not my idea - I read this in Shutterbug recently )

thanks. unfortunately i have a D5000 that does not have a commander built-in. wish i had sprung a little more for the D90 now. I do however have a second SB800 unit available which i can use as master/slave in combo with my SB900, but most of the time im just too lazy to bring around 2 flash units. people look at me like im nuts hahahah

ian408

If I had to choose, I'd pick #2 first followed by 1 then 3.

babygodzilla

ian408 wrote: »

If I had to choose, I'd pick #2 first followed by 1 then 3.

thanks. why?

ian408

babygodzilla wrote: »

thanks. why?

Because. Because of the three, direct flash produces the least desirable result and bounce will likely give you the best. The diffuser gives you something more acceptable than direct.

A flash course can be quite enlightening. No pun intended.

babygodzilla

ian408 wrote: »

Because. Because of the three, direct flash produces the least desirable result and bounce will likely give you the best. The diffuser gives you something more acceptable than direct.

A flash course can be quite enlightening. No pun intended.

haha thanks. i actually agree with you. thanks for your replies