Daylight flash use v. natural light

[Soocom1]

Below are three examples of techniques I am trying out.

The first is no flash
The second is full flash directly at the subject
the third is full flash but with a cotton cloth defuseer in front of the flash.

There isnt much diff. unless you look closely between the second two.

So given this aspect, what is the take of many on useing this and other techniques?

Especially use of deffusers.
1:

2:

3:

 

[JBPhotog]

Don't bother with the diffusion over the speed light (#3), all it is doing is cutting down the output and affecting the colour balance. The evidence is in the shadow projection on the green tomatoes and the stalk of the plant, note how sharp the shadow transition is, its the same in #2 and #3. BTW, ambient exposure looks good.

For the most part, if you don't change the size of the light source you don't change the harshness. The only aspect where a diffusion layer on the surface of the speed light does work is to even out the character of the light projection, as in if there was a hot spot from the bare head a diffusion layer can distribute it more evenly. If you want a softer light, use a modifier bigger than the flash head. The softness of the light is in relation to the size of the subject and how far away it is. Using a larger modifier thirty feet away will cast shadows like a smaller light source close up, hard not soft. HTH.

 

[Derrel]

Small diffusers only work at close range. Commin diffusers like the StoFen OmniBounce, for example, work pretty well as long as you are pretty close. As was mentioned above , if you want softer Light, then you need to increase the size of the light source, such as with a softbox or umbrella.

There is no type of small diffuser that will really help you out much on something as big as a wedding scene. I would recommend that you switch to at least a small umbrella of 27 to 33 in. in diameter. If you work out the square inches of a light modifier you will find that something that is 24 in by 24 in, such as a small made-in-China softbox is actually many times softer than any speed light modifier.

 

[Derrel]

A 24 by 24 in soft box has a square inch rating of 576. If you look at most flash modifiers they're from 3 to 10 square inches

 

[Braineack]

There is no type of small diffuser that will really help you out much on something as big as a wedding scene. I

plus they rob light.

I use these:

https://www.amazon.com/waka-Flash-D...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

I also use these:

 

[Braineack]

proof!

 

[Derrel]

On the last photo we can see the Flash causing a highlight on the balloon. The original non-flash shot was not that bad though oh, and the Flash did not really rescue a bad shot as much as improved a good one.

 

[Braineack]

The biggest improvement is where it brings out there eyes. But you can see how direct on-camera flash can knock down the shadows.

But yeah, it was still a bit overcast that morning so not necessary, I just wanted to use flash at a low-power to give everyone a bit of pop.