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One-source lighting for impromptu portraits

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Much of our work is impromptu portraits in interior situations where any off-camera lighting equipment (even passive reflectors) is not practical. We have looked into various ways to exploit a single, on-camera flash source.

Of course, the presence of a ceiling amenable to use for bounce lighting is a good situation. But directing the flash head straight up usually leaves us with inadequate "fill" illumination on the face. (I have a particular problem in that in many cases most of the subjects are wearing hats, often with serious brims!)

If the flash unit head is canted forward, we get some fill, but generally the rapid drop-off toward the bottom of the frame is problematical, and as well typically the bulk of the "ceiling source' is moved so far forward that it is not really good for general illumination.

Our Speedlite 580EX II has a nice pull-out "card" that spills a little light forward, but it is usually just enough to do catchlights - not to create serious fill illumination.

Our current thought is that at sundown tomorrow (end of Sukkot) we will order an ExpoImaging Rogue FlashBender Bendable Bounce Card/ Flag:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...UEFLAG_Rogue_FlashBender_Bendable_Bounce.html

We are hopeful that this may allow us to provide a substantial in-the-face component of illumination in a basic bounce flash situation.

Does anyone here have any experience with that general approach? Are other rigs (for example, Gary Fong's cole slaw tubs) worth considering in this regard?

Thanks.

Best regards,

Doug
 

Clayton Lofgren

New member
I have used low ceilings and a "Pocket Bouncer" with good results, but most of the time I use a flash with a secondary light. Metz, Promaster, and Nissin units, and maybe others I do not know about have them.
 
Our current thought is that at sundown tomorrow (end of Sukkot) we will order an ExpoImaging Rogue FlashBender Bendable Bounce Card/ Flag:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...UEFLAG_Rogue_FlashBender_Bendable_Bounce.html

We are hopeful that this may allow us to provide a substantial in-the-face component of illumination in a basic bounce flash situation.

Hi Doug,

I've been looking at that product at the Photokina 2010, a little more than a week ago, amongst 1000's of other products. The benefit over the DIY model shown is that it can be shaped into different configurations, from regular, to curving more forewards, to snoot.

Does anyone here have any experience with that general approach? Are other rigs (for example, Gary Fong's cole slaw tubs) worth considering in this regard?

Your more particular brimmed hat scenario requires frontal fill light (or a huge ambient light level). The drawback of frontal light is that it will make the subject look shapeless/flat, because we lose the depth clues from shadows. The best solution would be a largish (for soft shadows) lightsource a bit to the side. That would require a flash bracket with the flash mounted on it, and a large diffuser (for softer shadows and an increased ambient lightlevel). You can of course start with a diffuser, and add a dedicated off-camera shoe cord for your flash to maintain its'automatic exposure capabilities, and some sort of flash bracket later.

On the rare occasions that I use walk around flash, I may use a Lumiquest diffuser which doesn't obstruct the exposure sensors or auto focus assist beams of the EX-580II flash. It requires an accessory velcro strap around the flash head. A benefit over a Gary Fong type of device is that this doesn't take up much place folded up when not in use.

A general trick to get more light under the hat brim and provide more ambient light is by using a longer focal length, although the risk of red-eye increases a bit, but that can be countered by increasing the amount of ambient room lighting or even shining a smaller continuous lightsource at the subjects, in order to get contracted irises.

Cheers,
Bart
 

John Angulat

pro member
Hi Doug,
I'll second Bart's recommendation of the Lumiquest.
I purchased both the soft box and the pocket bouncer.
Although I do not use them often (they look a bit funky when you're prowling the streets!) I've been pleased with the results.
I did find one down-side.
The product requires you to place 4 velcro squares on the flash.
That interferes (renders impossible) using the slip on diffuser that normaly comes with the flash unit.
I'm going to look into moving/re-positioning the velcro tabs further back from the edge of the speedlight.
It will probably require buying a new set of tabs, but it may allow for both products to be used.
 
I did find one down-side.
The product requires you to place 4 velcro squares on the flash.
That interferes (renders impossible) using the slip on diffuser that normaly comes with the flash unit.

Hi John,

I use a velcro strap instead of stick-on pads. The strap has rubber on the side that wraps around the flash head and it avoids potential movement due to bumps on the Lumiquest or its weight, and the soft Velcro loops on the other side. When the strap is removed, the head is totally cleared and can accept other accessories such as an Omnibounce.

Cheers,
Bart
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Bart and John,

On the rare occasions that I use walk around flash, I may use a Lumiquest diffuser which doesn't obstruct the exposure sensors or auto focus assist beams of the EX-580II flash.
Yes, we in fact have the LumiQuest Soft Box (two sizes). But using that gives up the bounce component.

It requires an accessory velcro strap around the flash head
Mine are meant to have their flaps connected to Velcro patches put on the flash head (see below).

The product requires you to place 4 velcro squares on the flash.

We use a speed ring made from a Sto-Fen Omnibouce (we just cut away the "dome"). We stick the Velcro patches that would normally go on the flash head on this instead. We fasten the opened-up Soft Box to that, and then just slip the ring it on the flash head.

A general trick to get more light under the hat brim and provide more ambient light is by using a longer focal length, although the risk of red-eye increases a bit, but that can be countered by increasing the amount of ambient room lighting or even shining a smaller continuous lightsource at the subjects, in order to get contracted irises.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Best regards,

Doug
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Doug,

I find your massacre of a Stoffen diffuser to get a snug and easily removed base for your large diffuser drastic but a great idea.

Generally, if one can, reflecting off a white card or white wall could be far better. I often use $20 white umbrellas to shoot through, but I admit that then one needs a stand and that's no longer ad hoc.

Kevin's D..Y. strapped-on reflector seems good too and has the advantage of being flat.

Asher
 

Kathy Rappaport

pro member
Stofen

I use the Stofen with a gel. 1/4 CTO works nicely.

I have been using a Westcott Apollo with a speedlight for OCF when I can on a light stand but that's not great for walk around.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I use the Stofen with a gel. 1/4 CTO works nicely.

I have been using a Westcott Apollo with a speedlight for OCF when I can on a light stand but that's not great for walk around.

Hi Kathy,

It's interesting how we get to use 1/4 CTO and OCF and it's correct. However, since I couldn't figure for the moment what on earth OCF was, perhaps the abbreviations are worth explaining:

OCF: "Off camera flash", simply putting the light to the side, in front of and away from, (and generally higher), than the camera to achieve better modeling of the face.

CTO: refers top a colored gel, "color temperature orange", which converts a tungsten light source into a light with "daylight" qualities. 1/4 CTO, at a quarter of the strength can warm an electronic flash and make the picture less clinical and have a gentle golden touch of love, life and happiness to it!

Asher

More on gels here and here.
 

John Angulat

pro member
Hi John,

I use a velcro strap instead of stick-on pads. The strap has rubber on the side that wraps around the flash head and it avoids potential movement due to bumps on the Lumiquest or its weight, and the soft Velcro loops on the other side. When the strap is removed, the head is totally cleared and can accept other accessories such as an Omnibounce.

Cheers,
Bart

Thanks Bart, I greatly appreciate the info.
The annoying squares were the primary reason I seldom used the devices.
I'm off to B&H tomorrow to get the strap!
 
You might wish to make your own bounce card:

http://www.themoment2cherish.com/DIY-Bounce-Card/



I'm always impressed by some DIY nerds in photography as I find some gear absolutely mad priced...I have some patterns in my hard drive somewhere (probably in French :) ) and I think about collecting some more links. Even if I don't use them, I like the Idea...I'll think about sharing some day...Anyway I'll keep that one in my pocket.
 

Ben Rubinstein

pro member
Joe Demb Flash Products. All the way!

Seriously, I've used homemade, I've used cheaper knock offs. Nothing comes close.

I've come to the conclusion over years of wedding shooting, of using omnibounces, lightspheres, lumiquest, etc that a good bounce card with tilt ability is the cheapest, lightest and by far the most controllable on flash light modifier available.

Let me explain. An Omnibounce and Lightsphere throw light everywhere. If you are in a small room then you have a very nice wrap around effect but one which is devoid of any 'modelling' for people photography. It's flat lighting when on camera. Off camera it works like a subtle small shoot through brolly and does retain modelling of the face. In a big room or outdoors it works to provide front fill from the flash however half the fill light is being wasted by acting as fill to both sides and the back as well!

A adjustable bounce card acts in two ways. You can point the flash in any direction that it will physically manage and use and surface you choose to bounce off. You can replicate side lighting, bounce, mix bounce and side lighting, etc - all with that fill card to send forward enough light to fill the shadows. Because it's adjustable you can also change the ratio of fill by tilting it forward or backwards. Versatility in directional control of lighting and fill ratio that you don't begin to have with other diffusers. I can replicate an off camera light with brolly simply by bouncing off the higher end of a wall to the side and I can can control exactly how much on axis fill I use for effect!
Added to that, outdoors, in a large hall or when I want more zoomed in light for a spot light effect, I lower the reflector forwards and now the light is bounced off the reflector itself and only that sending all the light forwards with just a slightly wider spread of light than the flash head itself. Why would I use this and not straight on flash you might ask? It's slightly softer, especially close up, but more importantly, I can adjust the angle within a second if I want more or less fill.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Ben,

So what size Demb flash do you use? Instinctively, I'd go for the jumbo. any reason why not?

Asher
 

Ben Rubinstein

pro member
Good reason, it's big! Rather too big for me. The 'classic' is what I use (it was the current flagship product which I begged to have brought back) and it's more than big enough. Any bigger and you might as well not bother with what it's really designed for IMO, an adjustable fill light from bounced flash. The point of bounce flash is that the main source of light is not coming from on camera, it's bouncing off the ceiling or wall or wherever. You are sending just a small fraction forwards to open up the shadows in the eye sockets and under the nose. Put too big a reflector there and your fill is going to make the image too flat (again IMO) as well as being unweildy and a pain to fit in your nice small bag.

On axis fill should be harder than the off camera light and very subtle, it's why people love a ringflash for exactly that purpose. Most of all though, these are tools for people on the move, people who don't have the time or ability to use 'proper modifiers' such as brollies, softboxes, etc. In other words PJ's and Wedding shooters. You wouldn't use an on camera flash if you were in a studio but you can't use a studio light when you have 20 minutes to take all the portraits of the bride prior to the ceremony and you are working from indoors in a tight corridor, a small and cramped bedroom, through to multiple locations outdoors. The idea of using a hotshoe flash sucessfully is to make the light look like it's off camera, but with just enough fill to not make the shadows objectionable. Whether you bounce the flash to get the light 'off camera' or use an off camera light, the light you are sending forward from the camera is only fill, never main. That is what gives the 3D look, the lack of flatness.

I'm enclosing an image I've already shared in another thread, this was shot with on camera flash! The flash was aimed to the right hand wall so that it would bounce back along the same direction as the lamp to open up the deep shadows in the room, but also to look believable. The flash power was wound down about 2 stops and the ambient light also to match the 'feel' of the room which was dark and mysterious rather than brightening it up which the camera would have done as standard had I allowed it to do so.

r'yaakovhillel.jpg
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Excellent Ben.

The face though seems principally lit from the wonderful choice of reflection from the desk light shining on white paper. The wall on the light is only slightly brighter than the rest of the room.

Asher
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Ben,

I'm enclosing an image I've already shared in another thread, this was shot with on camera flash!

This is lovely in so many ways.

Thanks for sharing the image, as well as your lighting technique.

I am fascinated to see the resurgence of interest (in the photo mags and so forth) of on-camera lighting, as well as the many new gadgets being introduced in its support.

Best regards,

Doug
 

Ben Rubinstein

pro member
Excellent Ben.

The face though seems principally lit from the wonderful choice of reflection from the desk light shining on white paper. The wall on the light is only slightly brighter than the rest of the room.

Asher

Flash looks best when it doesn't look like flash! The face is indeed mainly lit by the lamp, the rest of the room though would be almost pitch black without it.
 

Ben Rubinstein

pro member
Firstly thanks Doug,

I do not think it is hard to understand this trend nowadays. To buy a extremely competent image capture device is incredibly affordable nowadays. Photography however is primarily about capturing light and the tools needed to efficiently and reliably create light are both extremely expensive as well as belonging to the size and dimensions which either point towards a static studio or a sizeable crew.

I suppose we can point at indy film making as a great example, to make a film costs many millions of dollars, hundreds of millions of dollars. Most of that cost is due to the production costs. Expensive equipment, expensive operators, expensive running costs for both equipment, manpower and scenery, etc, etc. The Indy film industry built almost entirely on gaffer tape and innovation are able to do similar for a fraction of the cost.

But a bounced flash or a speedlite in a softbox will never be a Profoto setup.

After some 10 years of shooting as a pro photographer I learnt that the most important thing in photography is not the camera, it's not the lenses or the bokeh. It's not a Gitzo tripod or the latest gadget. It's ease of use, the ability to just shoot without having to worry whether your gear will work. It's plug and play simplicity and no brain operation. It's why I prefer radiopopper to PW TTL (I've owned both), one I velcro on and forget, the other I have to test, program the delays, switch on with a specific sequence, shoot a blank frame, change the way I apply FEC. Heck, life is too short!

Same thing with this stuff. You can do incredible stuff with strobist equipment and innovation but life is too short not to use the right tool for the right job. For weddings the right tool is a speedlight in among the trees on a simple stand with a simple brolly. The wrong tool is a Profoto 8a with generator. On a fashion shoot in exactly the same location, exactly the same time of day, it's exactly the opposite way round. The Profoto is now not only the correct tool but you would be crazy to use an underpowered solution which can't use the correct giant modifier with rapid discharge and bullet proof reliability. Not when the production is being billed by the hour at an incredible rate and the result will be part of a national advertising campaign.

Horses for courses, a lot of strobist stuff is fun, often extremely clever. Sometimes it's the correct choice for the pro. Most of the time though if you want the look of a 6' Octabank, use an octabank not a speedlight shot through a white sheet! :)
 
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