Flash outdoors, no gels, lesser of two evils?

[MichaelHenson]

So... get a new reflector; 3'x6' reflectors for only $13.50! As far as light placement goes, a lot is going depending on the ambient light at the location, but I would be more inclined to start around 30 degrees, given the size of your group.

Light will shoot through that?!? Awesome...I'll take three!

 

[kundalini]

Is your reflector a true reflector or is it a diffusion panel with reflector covers? Either way, you can reverse fire your flash and have it bounce off your reflector making it a much larger/softer light source. An assistant would be helpful, not not necessarily necessary. For outside use, dump the dome idea as shown here.

 

[JustJazzie]

The shower curtain is translucent. I've used it quite successfully many times. It's similar to my softbox diffusion panels.

Kundalini, NICE idea. My reflector has a blackout panel on the back so that might work really well!

 

[Village Idiot]

A white sheet works well if you have enough flashes for coverage. These two were done with a white sheet hung from a low rafter with 4-5 flashes behind it to even out coverage and add power.

 

[Braineack]

yeah, the one thing I'd worry most about the panel is the coverage/output.

I like kundalini's idea. You really only need 1 large light source and being dead center for a group shot isn't necessarily a bad thing.

you will quite often see the use of 1 HUGE light source directly behind the shooter; straight on.

like this: