bouncelight

realspeed

realspeed

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Bazza
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Don't often use the flashgun and certainly not with this camera so decided to give it a tryout this evening on Teazle.

aOLexen.jpg


Equipment nikon D810- lens Nikon24-70 mm+ Nikon SB900 speedlight


I had the gun facing the ceiling and the built in white card reflecting light forward and also the defuser which the flash gun also has. this prevented shadows. Not only reflected light off the ceiling but also non direct from the front
 
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Yes, that's about typical of the genre - light coming from everywhere, so a lack of directional shadow, but multiple unplanned highlights.
Not that bounced light doesn't have it's uses, but it very rarely produces 'good' lighting.
 
That is if you want shadows which is what I wanted to avoid, they distract
 
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The above image is flat and need some shadows - directional light would have improved the look & feel

Les
 
Not sure what you are looking for here? It's in the talk section, are you looking for advice, crit, or trying to show us an example of what can be done? If you want comments then my first impression is it is more a photo of a sofa than a dog, if not please ignore.
 
Take a photo outside in the sun and you get shadows
Do a window lit portrait and you get shadows
A person and a candle you get.........

I like to bounce off walls rather than the ceiling. I makes it look like natural light meant to be there

AND THROW AWAY THAT PLASTIC DOME :D

Neil van Niekerk has done some good writing on bounce flash
https://neilvn.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/bouncing-flash/
 
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soeren said:
Take a photo outside in the sun and you get shadows
Do a window lit portrait and you get shadows
A person and a candle you get.........

I like to bounce off walls rather than the ceiling. I makes it look like natural light meant to be there

AND THROW AWAY THAT PLASTIC DOME :D

Neil van Niekerk has done some good writing on bounce flash
https://neilvn.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/bouncing-flash/
Click to expand...


The diffuser is NOT a plastic dome. Are you suggesting I damage the speedlight SB900 by removing the retractable diffuser. Makes me wonder if you have even owned one.
 
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Look, lighting is about the creation of the right shadows in the right places, and is absolutely NOT about avoiding shadows.

But, if you think otherwise then that's fine too, and the rest of us shouldn't be critical.
 
realspeed said:
The diffuser is NOT a plastic dome. Are you suggesting I damage the speedlight SB900 by removing the retractable diffuser. Makes me wonder if you have even owned one.
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You mean the wide angle adaptor (not the diffuser - which is a plastic dome) makes me wonder if you ever even read the manual ;)

Seriously, as Garry says, if you’re happy with that shot, then that’s fine. To my taste, it’s badly framed and badly lit, but you can shoot any way you want.

Can I ask what led you to start the post, you’ve showed an image with no real explanation as to why, what you are trying to show, or what you’d like us to learn from it.
 
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Ceiling-bounced flash like this is great for fill - precisely because it lacks shadows. It's a bit disappointing as a key light as it looks rather flat and unnatural. Perhaps try bouncing off a wall - to simulate window light - instead?
 
I bounce flash all the time and get nice contrasty images, for me the trick is to keep the flash power low enough so it's not killing the ambient, just enough to keep your ISO down. Wide apertures and closer focusing help to give separation as usual. If dog was sat up forward on the sofa, and you had focused in a lot closer, you'd get a lot more 'pop'.

Not the best example, but I bounced flash here, I got to the front of the crowd [who were awaiting the birthday girl to come blow the candles] and focused close-ish in on the cake. The table was pulled out a couple of feet from the wall, this was enough to give a sense of depth/separation, a wee bump of contrast in post for a little 'pop'.

21 cake by K G, on Flickr
 
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realspeed said:
The diffuser is NOT a plastic dome. Are you suggesting I damage the speedlight SB900 by removing the retractable diffuser. Makes me wonder if you have even owned one.
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Does 1xSB28, 1xSB26 and 2xGodox TT685 count? :)
Well then, just retract the wideangle fresnell and bounce card and let a wall become your lightsource.
Oh and by the way. Was that really all you took away from my post?
 
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When bouncing a flash you can choose what you bounce it off, and also the size of the apparent source by "zooming" the flash in or out, also of course by the distance of the flash from the bounce surface. If you put the camera on a tripod and wear a white shirt you can be a portable giant bounce card :-)
 
Cagey75 said:
I bounce flash all the time and get nice contrasty images, for me the trick is to keep the flash power low enough so it's not killing the ambient, just enough to keep your ISO down. Wide apertures and closer focusing help to give separation as usual. If dog was sat up forward on the sofa, and you had focused in a lot closer, you'd get a lot more 'pop'.

Not the best example, but I bounced flash here, I got to the front of the crowd [who were awaiting the birthday girl to come blow the candles] and focused close-ish in on the cake. The table was pulled out a couple of feet from the wall, this was enough to give a sense of depth/separation, a wee bump of contrast in post for a little 'pop'.

21 cake by K G, on Flickr
Click to expand...


Completely agree with this. I tend to bounce at home when ISO is really pushed and skin tones get mushy. But it is a case of finding a balance with the ambient otherwise it just looks too crisp. Normally shooting TTL and under exposing the ambient by 1-1.5 stops is about right with being mindful of direction of the bounce. Here's a Christmas morning shot..(I did gel the flash too for these to help the mix with a full CTO)

27563421439_19a8fe6d84_b.jpg


Here's an old one but look at the shadow detail on the right cheek, falls off perfectly and looks natural..

23958775080_f8f2ed8c37_b.jpg


Or the other scenario ‘around the house’ is to use your flash to overpower spot lights which give terrible facial shadows. Directional face shadow wasn’t what I was after here, it’s just a flash bounced from behind with the shutter at its sync max..

33100847821_4a2a69d721_b.jpg
 
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