Having trouble softening light.

anubis404 · Jan 17, 2009

I'm having some trouble softening the light from my SB-600. Bouncing it off the ceiling creates tons of shadows and a bounce card indoors doesn't make a difference, and outdoors still doesn't look nice. I'm seeing a lot of photographers achieve a real soft and nice light with their on camera flash (or at least I think its on camera). How are they doing this? Is it an onboard softbox? A diffuser?

Sw1tchFX · Jan 17, 2009

Softness of light is all relative to how large the source is when compared to the size of the subject.

What are you using for a bounce card? a post-it note size thing won't do jack, an 8.5x11 piece of paper, and shooting close to your subject, now that will give you more ground to work on.

IMO, if you want soft light for snaps, get a small "softbox" for your flash, and get it off camera. You'reon a D70, so it will work wirelessly.

Katier · Jan 17, 2009

Strobist is the best place to go for ideas with respect to flash work (including softness of light). As hinted above getting the flash off the camera will help a lot as you can then throw the light in at the subject from any angle at any power.

anubis404 · Jan 17, 2009

Sw1tchFX said:
Softness of light is all relative to how large the source is when compared to the size of the subject.

What are you using for a bounce card? a post-it note size thing won't do jack, an 8.5x11 piece of paper, and shooting close to your subject, now that will give you more ground to work on.

IMO, if you want soft light for snaps, get a small "softbox" for your flash, and get it off camera. You'reon a D70, so it will work wirelessly.

My D70 can trigger the flash wirelessly? Sweet. What angle should I use when doing portraits?

anubis404 · Jan 17, 2009

I've been eyeing this softbox: LumiQuest | Mini SoftBox - for Shoe-Mount Flashes | LQ-108 | B&H

Is it any good?

Sw1tchFX · Jan 18, 2009

anubis404 said:
My D70 can trigger the flash wirelessly? Sweet.

yuh huh, I have 2 SB-600's and use my D70 from time to time instead of my 700 because the 70 can sync at 1/500th at full power, only the D40/50/70 and D1 can do that.

anubis404 said:
What angle should I use when doing portraits?

Whatever you want, You're in control!

Heck, You could have it come from the top, down:

From Undreneath:

From Behind:

90 Degrees:

45 Degrees:

Straight on:

All of those I shot on my D70 with one light, outside on location, in daylight (except for the last one)! It gives you an immense amount of control when you're shooting!

anubis404 · Jan 18, 2009

Cool. How do I adjust the power output on the SB-600 when using it wirelessly? I can't seem to figure that out. Does the on board pop up flash contribute to the exposure when in commander mode?

kami · Jan 19, 2009

anubis404 said:
Cool. How do I adjust the power output on the SB-600 when using it wirelessly? I can't seem to figure that out. Does the on board pop up flash contribute to the exposure when in commander mode?

I have the D80 but I think the menus are somewhat the same. In the commander mode you can set the power output of your flash from the camera from 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 and so on until 1/128th power.

Make sure your flash is set for wireless, both channels of your camera and flash are the same, and don't forget to pop up your onboard flash.

Your flash will contribute to the final exposure if you want it to. You can set your onboard flash power from your camera as well.

Sw1tchFX · Jan 20, 2009

kami said:
I have the D80 but I think the menus are somewhat the same. In the commander mode you can set the power output of your flash from the camera from 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 and so on until 1/128th power.

Make sure your flash is set for wireless, both channels of your camera and flash are the same, and don't forget to pop up your onboard flash.

Your flash will contribute to the final exposure if you want it to. You can set your onboard flash power from your camera as well.

Not on the D70, the onboard can't fill. Go into your custom menu, hit onboard flash control, scroll down to commander mode, set the flash into slave mode, make sure it's in 3 A, and you're set.

It's explained in both the 600's and D70's manual.

bdavis · Jan 20, 2009

If you're looking for softer light, that diffuser you posted would work fine, just slide if over the flash and you're good to go.

If you didn't want to do that, there are a lot of cheap options, I've heard of people using pieces of milk jugs, tracing paper, even toilet paper. Just keep adding sheets until you get the effect you want. I'm waiting for my SB-800 to arrive in the mail so you'll have to let me know how this works because I'm sure I will have this issue too

Village Idiot · Jan 20, 2009

A softbox won't automatically give you soft light. The one posted above is rather small.

jeff.scott · Jan 20, 2009

Reflector cards work the best. Just cut out something big with bristol board and attach it with an elastic band; experiment. Works okay in the studio, but you'll look very cheap and unprofessional at a wedding; so you may want to buy one if you like the effect.

jeff.scott · Jan 20, 2009

There is also something called a Gary Fong diffuser which is like a clear plastic dome with multiple little lenses in it. Not sure where to get them, or how much, but I have heard and seen great results with this.

Mike_E · Jan 20, 2009

Tupperware is for leftovers.

The only real way to soften light is to make the source larger- diffusion/reflection or getting closer. *

If you can't make a reflector yourself that is presentable then try here.. Demb Flash Products - Flash Modifiers - Flash Reflectors Diffusers and Brackets - Flip-it! - Flip-it! 400 - Demb Flash Diffusers - Demb Flash Bracket

These aren't for every situation though and a fast lens and a reachable ceiling are your best bet imo.

Here's a review (just a quick search) Demb Flash Diffuser Pro Review

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse_square_law

Sw1tchFX · Jan 21, 2009

Mike_E said:
Tupperware is for leftovers.

The only real way to soften light is to make the source larger- diffusion/reflection or getting closer. *

If you can't make a reflector yourself that is presentable then try here.. Demb Flash Products - Flash Modifiers - Flash Reflectors Diffusers and Brackets - Flip-it! - Flip-it! 400 - Demb Flash Diffusers - Demb Flash Bracket

These aren't for every situation though and a fast lens and a reachable ceiling are your best bet imo.

Here's a review (just a quick search) Demb Flash Diffuser Pro Review

* Inverse-square law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia