Ole devil Red Eye

[DeadEye]

Had to get a few after the ceremony ( story in and of itself) shots outside, well it went so long inside that it was dark outside. Used a speed light aimed at the ground to bounce the light and avoid the guaranteed red eye.
Well it didn’t work got ole red eye anyhow. Post fixed it but I thought the bounce angle would have eliminated the on axis light from giving the ole red eye. Thoughts?

 

[Sandspur]

Yeah ... as soon as the people went outside where it was dark, their pupils dilated completely. so any indirect light as bright as your flash was going to sneak in through such a generous and welcoming orifice.

Okay ... I have to ask ... I understand that you were outdoors so there was no ceiling to bounce the flash off of.

But bouncing off the ground? I've never heard of that!

 

[DeadEye]

Yeah ... as soon as the people went outside where it was dark, their pupils dilated completely. so any indirect light as bright as your flash was going to sneak in through such a generous and welcoming orifice.

Okay ... I have to ask ... I understand that you were outdoors so there was no ceiling to bounce the flash off of.

But bouncing off the ground? I've never heard of that!

Bouncing off the ground? I've never heard of that. Nor have I, but knew full and well direct would red eye on me. So I tryed it. Next time Ill try a preflash to shrink the pupils.

 

[Joves]

You mght try making a bounce card or, getting an omnibounce. It really does help.

 

[Sandspur]

I agree with Joves. Much better than using a pre-flash would be a bounce card or - even better - an Omni diffuser, or one of Gary Fong's devices.

 

[christopher walrath]

If you bounce off the ground holding right by the lens, the light will still reflect from the backs of their eyes. Bounce or not, it needs to be seperated form the lens.

 

[JerryPH]

Bouncing into the ground does some inherently strange things. First, unless the ground is white, it will shoot up a colour-cast of whatever the ground is. If it is grass, the cast will be green.

Second shooting down bounces the light into an undesireable direction, if you do get it to bounce. Dark rings around the eyes, around the nose and forehead, as well as red eye (as you saw) and other unwanted artifacts.

You want light from eye level or above, and off to the side a little for contrasts that promote a 3-d feel to all pics. All diffused, of course.

If you insist on using on camera flash, a bounce card is highly recommended. Bounce cards can be made from zero cost to a few dollars and I prefer them to diffusers for many good reasons.

Learn to bounce off of ceilings, walls, reflectors and in extreme cases, off white T-shirts, white jackets, veils, etc... it does work! Bounce behind and to the sides as easily as to front if conditions permit.

 

[Alfred D.]

To prevent red-eye you need to get the light source away from the lens axis, so using it off-camera in your outstretched hand is enough.

 

[DeadEye]

Thanks for the great responses. I will look into getting a good diffuser for the times when off camera is not an option.. This shoot was a good learning curve

Thanks all.

 

[Alfred D.]

I will look into getting a good diffuser

"Getting" one?
With 2 dimes worth of material and some elbow grease you can make your own ABBC that whips the pants off of all those expensive tupperware diffusers!
With the added benefit that it moves the light source more away from the lens axis. So you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone!

Have fun!

 

[DeadEye]

Thank you for the link Alfred.

I actually dislike on camera flash but it has its place and I sure will use it when necessary. I showed up with a light bag , wizards , stands , umbrellas . ect in it. .. The guy in front of me was literally dragged away by the police for verbally protesting that his seat had been given away, he had a Gold ticket as did I. They told me the same crud “ To bad for you pal “ “ No seats left” I politely said no problem Ill stand the whole time. “Loose the bags and you can stand” I hung the body with 70 200L and speed light on my neck and stood the whole time. VENT…. Anyways Im still new and learning Thanks again.

 

[Alfred D.]

BTW, DeadEye, I've been meaning to ask: how did you bounce off of the floor? Did you hold your camera upside down with the flash head tilted up (well, down, really)? Or what?

 

[DeadEye]

BTW, DeadEye, I've been meaning to ask: how did you bounce off of the floor? Did you hold your camera upside down with the flash head tilted up (well, down, really)? Or what?

Hehe ~ Push side button on 430 speedlight to unlock swivel ,then rotate head about 35 degree to left, then shoot portrait style. I was zoomed to about 50 mm on light . It poped a big oval circle about half way between us on the concrete sidewalk. Lower half of subject was brighter than top. The best improvise I could manage.

 

[Alfred D.]

Thanks, DE, amazing! And yeah, I guess it works, sort off. With light falling off towards the top. But since natural light tends to come from above, not from below, this is in fact unnatural lighting. Eerie. Maybe even creepy. Not very suitable for festive graduates, TBH. What were you thinking?

Your quickest solution is a large size ABBC, or bouncing your flash light off a voice-operated (D-I-Y) reflector – an assistant – acting as a softbox.
Best would be 2 real softboxes and longer shutter times to let the background come through a bit better.

 

[JerryPH]

A better bounce card