Light diffusers for event photography in compact areas.

[MBasile]

Hey all, it's been a while since I've been on here, but I have a quick question for those experienced with event photography. I was playing around with my Gary Fong half-cloud diffuser tonight on my company's party buss. Results were OK, but not great. Results were worse in the Hummer limo. Would I be better off using one of the rectangular diffusers with which you place the flash at 45˚?

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[Big Mike]

Every situation is going to be different. The interior of the bus or limo can make a big difference, the angle & position of the camera & flash will play a factor etc.

I've tried shooting in limos and it's usually pretty hard. The reason comes down to the inverse square law of light. Objects that are two times farther from the light, will be 4 times darker. Objects that are three times farther away, will be 9 times darker. So when shooting in a long area like a limo, the people/objects that are very close, will be A LOT brighter than people who are farther away from the flash.

Using something like the Fong accessories, can help because they spread the light all around and hopefully allow it to bounce around....but in a long skinny limo, it's still a lot farther to the back.

Besides adding a bunch of other flashes or not using a flash at all...there aren't too many options to get 'good' shots.
One thing you can try, for say getting a group shot of the people in the bus/limo, is to have them gather as close together as possible, so that the distance from the flash to the subjects is more even. Or else, just shoot people individually or in two, rather than trying to take a photo of the whole bus/limo.

 

[bigtwinky]

I've had decent success using the Lumiquest Omni Bounce. Its like a rectangular shade on top of the flash with 2 doors ontop. You can open the two doors to allow 80% of the light to go up and bounce off the ceiling and 20% of reflect forward for fill. Or keep the doors closed and have 100% of the light go forward.

Its not ideal, but I've done some corporate events in low light halls with it and had good results.

 

[Village Idiot]

Limo interiors are generally black. Black absorbs light and is no good for bouncing.

 

[MBasile]

Limo interiors are generally black. Black absorbs light and is no good for bouncing.

So any suggestions?

 

[Flash Harry]

I've used the stofen type (rectangular 45deg) inside limo's with excellent results. H

 

[table1349]

Limo interiors are generally black. Black absorbs light and is no good for bouncing.

While true to a point, black will not absorb all of the light. Something like the Lumiquest Pro-Max with the front diffuser in place give very pleasing results in small dark spaces such as the interior of vehicles. At close range the reflected light will be surprisingly usable.

 

[MBasile]

Thanks for the input guys and/or gals!