Upgraded my lighting (hopefully) for $42.39 (56k warning)

[RMThompson]

I bought some stuff today to add to my lighting equipment. While the light I bought is cheap, and I am going to need a lot of practice to get it under control, it seems like it might help.

Also I built some diffusers. Here they are first:

As you can see, I made a white one, a silver one and a gold one.

Here is my daughter with ceiling flash only:

Here she is with full front flash:

And here she is with the white diffuser:

Still they need a little more light, but these were tests. Also, yes, the wall behind her is orange. All of the above had a white balance set to flash.

Here is the flash I got. It's a 40 dollar thing that syncs up well with my Sb-800 wirelessly and is probably TOO powerful. The cycle time is about 4 seconds now, but I am sure it's not the best once the batteries get down. I only intend to use it for special effects, so I don't really care how bright it is.

And here it is in action, behind my daughter to add some seperation:

Similar but too powerful:

Anyway I am just learning all this stuff... so It might take me a while to get used to it!

 

[Garbz]

I highly suggest you open the top of that diffuser. That lets more light up but still projects a similar amount of light forward. The difference is not immediately noticeable in these shots but when you photograph a crowd in a dark room you'll see the even light carry further back into the crowd off the ceiling instead of all that frontal power which falls off quickly.

This assumes you have the spare flash power though. Either way it's good to see you're experimenting instead of just buying a commercial diffuser

 

[RMThompson]

I highly suggest you open the top of that diffuser. That lets more light up but still projects a similar amount of light forward. The difference is not immediately noticeable in these shots but when you photograph a crowd in a dark room you'll see the even light carry further back into the crowd off the ceiling instead of all that frontal power which falls off quickly.

This assumes you have the spare flash power though. Either way it's good to see you're experimenting instead of just buying a commercial diffuser

I'VE GOT THE POWER! LOL

The Diffusers are for my SB-800.

And thanks. Commercial diffusers are either:

A. Not that effective, and cheap
B. Decently effecive, and Expensive

So I figured I'll be cheapER but with similar/same results as the el-cheapos.

 

[Garbz]

Excellent. The SB-800 is more than capable:

 

[platano]

That is the same little flash that I used for the post "a cup and a flash" that little thing is great for GEL use. use it for that

 

[Happy Hour]

You can find Gary fongs lightsphere on ebay with the white and amber tops for less than $10.00 with shipping. I have both Gary's and the ebay one and they are exactly the same. The lightsphere will give you more evenly distributed results and not such a harsh direct light on your subjects face. not to mention it won't look so cheap when your in public like a weding. I have experimented with all kinds of diffusers home made and manufactured and Imo hands down the light sphere kills in results! Not saying that your homemade isnt a good idea but for under $10.00 for the real thing why waist your time?

 

[roadkill]

Garbz, why did you tape it to the shortside?

 

[GwagDesigns]

Garbz, why did you tape it to the shortside?

If you mount it to your camera and shoot vertical, you can easily move your flash vertical as well.

 

[Garbz]

Exactly. It's velcroed on. But with one flick of my wrist I can shoot in portrait and still keep bouncing off the ceiling. I probably lose a bit of flash efficiency in the process.