In an effort to do away with Fong Dongs, and Flip Its, and Lumi
Whatgamacallit Thingamajigs, I have been experimenting with the built
in "wide panel" diffuser and "catch light" bounce panel on the 580 EX.
This goes against the Canon manual, but I seem to be having luck using
the following technique:
* I add from 2/3 to 1 EV on the flash power, (this has to be done
BEFORE you extend the diffuser and bounce panel, as the LCD readout
will be blinking telling you that you are an idiot and should not be
doing what you are doing and will not let you make any further
changes).
* I lower the diffuser panel over the flash head, and extend the bounce
panel.
* I then set the head to a 45 degree angle and keep it at that same
angle for both horizontal and vertical shots. No more having to
constantly be turing the flash head when changing camera orientation.
Using my normal wedding settings of shutter priority of 1/30 and ISO of
400, I have obtained some very nice results with this set up... however
only while testing around the house, ... I have not used this method
for an actual wedding yet.
There are some more harsh shadows in certain conditions, but not as bad
as direct flash, and just the joy of not having to deal with the
endless variety of diffuser / bounce gizmos is WONDERFUL. Nothing
stupid looking stuck on the flash. I have used the Fong spheres for a
long time but results can be uncertain... great at times, lousy at
others. Plus I'm tired of trying to pack the thing and having it look
like I have Tupperware on my flash. I have also used the Demb Flip It
bouncer, which is a nice product, but I can see little to no difference
between results with it and using the above method with the built in
devices already there thanks to Canon.
Anyone else using basically on camera flash without the accessory
gizmos attached? I will try to do some tests in a larger venue with a
human subject before I try this in a wedding. A long time pro
photographer I know told me many pros never use such nonsense... that
kind of thing is mainly amateur bait. He is a commercial photographer
though and does not often have to be concerned with how human subjects
look in the light. So I don't feel fully comfortable taking his advice
and ditching my "light modifiers".
Steve
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