Flash , white card ?

mrgas

mrgas

Suspended / Banned
Messages
3,420
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi

i went to a wedding last week and the photographer was taking shots indoors of guests etc , i noticed he had a piece of white card held to his flash with a rubber band

I can only assume its some sort of makeshift refector , but can anyone expand on this please ?

why and when would you use this ?

thanks
 
I think it's mainly used when the flash is being bounced off the ceiling to provide an (and I quote the Canon manual) 'attractive catch light in the subjects eyes'.
 
mrgas said:
Hi

i went to a wedding last week and the photographer was taking shots indoors of guests etc , i noticed he had a piece of white card held to his flash with a rubber band

I can only assume its some sort of makeshift refector , but can anyone expand on this please ?

why and when would you use this ?

thanks
Click to expand...

It's a bounce card, and they work superbly. Pretty much the same light as you get with Fong or Stofen. Many top end guns one built in to the head - it only needs to be quite small.

Here's a website all about it www.abetterbouncecard.com
 
Sorry this reply is ages after the thread, im new and just looking through ole threads!! :cuckoo:

was just wondering, i bought a speedlight off ebay, nothing fancy like nikon or canon, just an unknown make, but it seems to be pretty good, its got a wee pull out white card, same dimensions as the light front (approx 2-3inches) was wondering if this is ample for these effects? or does it have to be larger?

ive also just bought a 5 in 1 pop up reflector so will be using this along side some shots. im mainly thinking weddings, indoor reception shots,

pretty new to this game ( weddings i mean)

hope someone can advise me!!

lyndsey
 
The one on the flash should be aboutright. Check out the 99p stofen diffser thread for a cheap diffuser.
 
fuchsialynzi said:
Sorry this reply is ages after the thread, im new and just looking through ole threads!! :cuckoo:

was just wondering, i bought a speedlight off ebay, nothing fancy like nikon or canon, just an unknown make, but it seems to be pretty good, its got a wee pull out white card, same dimensions as the light front (approx 2-3inches) was wondering if this is ample for these effects? or does it have to be larger?

ive also just bought a 5 in 1 pop up reflector so will be using this along side some shots. im mainly thinking weddings, indoor reception shots,

pretty new to this game ( weddings i mean)

hope someone can advise me!!

lyndsey
Click to expand...

It sounds fine :thumbs: It only needs to be small, usually.

The size of the card alters the ratio of the fill light (from the card) to the bounce light (off the ceiling). So by the same token, the height of the ceiling also alters the ratio, regardless of what you fit to the flash. The smaller the room, the bigger the bounce card needs to be to balance up.

If you want to adjust the ratio, assuming you can't move the ceiling, then fit a different sized white card with an elastic band - it really couldn't be easier :)

Often the problem with these things is that you get too much fill light which over powers the bounce element of the exposure, which means you needn't have bothered to bounce the flash in the first place. Bounce/fill flash is all about ratios and balance and to get this technique right you need to balance the fill with the bounce and with the ambient light also - three exposure aspects.

Sounds difficult but with TTL flash metering it's actually pretty easy. It's not too tricky on manual either if you've got time to fire off a test flash or two, check the LCD/histogram, and make adjustments.
 
mrgas said:
cheers for the replies , off to make one now !

thanks
Click to expand...

here is a template to make one
3578770102_df64877ba1_o.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top