Flash Question

[Montec]

Originally Posted by Songman45

We shoot with a D3 and an SB800 on a cord and hand held.

Just curious why you use the cord and not wireless? With the built in wireless capabilities you would think it would be easier.

[cyclohexane]

With the built in wireless capabilities you would think it would be easier.

In wireless mode, the SB-800 never goes to sleep, which means your batteries run down faster. With the cord the SB-800 will idle to save power as if attached to the hotshoe.

[LNL Photo]

Originally Posted by Montec

Thanks everyone, I did several more team and individual photos this past weekend and with the SB800 on a stand camera left and 5 feet off the ground things went very well. I also used a LightSphere diffuser with it and the shadows all but disappeared.

Here is one with the setup.

Hey MC much better. Nice work!

[ladonna]

Montec,
Very nice picture - Great job. No shadows in the eye, nose sockets. GREAT contrast. AWESOME!
LaDonna

[dch]

You would have gotten the same results without the diffuser, and saved having the flash work so hard. Outdoors the diffusers are useless -- they work by spreading the light all over and boucing off walls, ceilings, etc. Outdoors, there is no walls or ceilings, so you are not getting any bounce.

[Montec]

Originally Posted by dch

You would have gotten the same results without the diffuser, and saved having the flash work so hard. Outdoors the diffusers are useless -- they work by spreading the light all over and boucing off walls, ceilings, etc. Outdoors, there is no walls or ceilings, so you are not getting any bounce.

Sorry to disagree but I used a lightspere on the SB800 pointed directly at the subject with the dome on. The difference is quite noticeable. Although I agree it uses more power.

[dch]

Originally Posted by Montec

Sorry to disagree but I used a lightspere on the SB800 pointed directly at the subject with the dome on. The difference is quite noticeable. Although I agree it uses more power.

Doubtful ... if outdoors. The relative size of the lightsource is not much bigger. Take the LS off, and reduce the power on the flash, and you will get the same results. Throw up an umbrella, and you will see a difference.

[Benji]

Originally Posted by dch

Doubtful ... if outdoors. The relative size of the lightsource is not much bigger. Take the LS off, and reduce the power on the flash, and you will get the same results. Throw up an umbrella, and you will see a difference.

Nope. A hard light source is a hard light source whether it is at 1/8th power, 1/2 power or full power.

Benji

[rossken]

Hello

You should be able to use the SB800 off-camera in wireless mode with the D300 built-in flash as commander.

[dch]

Originally Posted by Benji

Nope. A hard light source is a hard light source whether it is at 1/8th power, 1/2 power or full power. Benji

Just as the LS would give outdoors. Unless you are bouncing off the clouds.

Light is not hard or soft. It's photons flying through the air in a straight line. And the only way to create softer shadows is to make the apparent size of the light source larger.

A piece of translucent plastic that scatters light in all directions does not accomplish this. Without a nearby surface to reflect the scattered light back into the scene, it simply wastes light, reduces range, slows recycle times and eats batteries.

[Brooks]

Originally Posted by dch

Just as the LS would give outdoors. Unless you are bouncing off the clouds.

Light is not hard or soft. It's photons flying through the air in a straight line. And the only way to create softer shadows is to make the apparent size of the light source larger.

A piece of translucent plastic that scatters light in all directions does not accomplish this. Without a nearby surface to reflect the scattered light back into the scene, it simply wastes light, reduces range, slows recycle times and eats batteries.

There definately is hard and soft light. It hapens in nature and you can create hard or soft light or both on location whether you are outside or inside.

Soft light happens when those straight rays of light are not parellel but are hitting the subject from many directions. Soft light can be created by an overcast day, shade, or use of a silk, umbrella, or softbox.

Hard light happens when the rays of light are parellel to each other such as on a sunny day, from a small flash or continuous source, bare flash head, grid spot, focusing spot or small fresnel spot.

A piece of translucent plastic can easily create soft light outside on a sunny day, or inside the studio. There's a product called translum which is a matte, translucent plastic which comes in 4' rolls and is used extensively in the motion picture industry to create soft light by causing the light rays to scatter so they are no longer parallel.

One of the best solutions to softening the light on a harsh, sunlit portrait or group shot is to fly a large 6.5' x 6.5' silk overhead to soften , diffuse and spread the light. A black subtractive reflector added to the shadow side can be used to bring back modeling on the face by deepening the shadows.

[dch]

Originally Posted by Brooks

One of the best solutions to softening the light on a harsh, sunlit portrait or group shot is to fly a large 6.5' x 6.5' silk overhead to soften , diffuse and spread the light.

Light itself is not hard or soft -- you CREATE hard/soft light by the relative size of the light source to the subject. You start talking about 6.5x6.5 panels of silk, you are creating a much larger light source than a 4" or so diameter piece of plastic.

Sunny day: The sun is a small light source, which limits the angle of the light onto your subject, creating harsh shadows
Cloudy day: The sky is now a huge softbox, which has light (still moving in a straight line) to come at your subject from all sorts of angles, "creating" soft light.

Direct bare flash vs Lightsphere/Omni-bounce, etc. (which is more on-topic of this thread)
- OUTDOORS : Same size light source
- INDOORS: The LS or Omni-bounce scatters light all over, bouncing off walls, ceilings, creating a much larger light source

[Jacco]

Originally Posted by Brooks

One of the best solutions to softening the light on a harsh, sunlit portrait or group shot is to fly a large 6.5' x 6.5' silk overhead to soften , diffuse and spread the light.

Like so:

[Brooks]

Originally Posted by dch

That is creating a much larger light source -- which is not the case when using a lightsphere.

I shot a commercial job just last week using a 6.5' x 6.5' silk overhead. I was shooting pet owners and their pets for print ads and web use.

And it WAS outside on a very hot, sunny Florida morning. And the light was so much nicer than anything you can do with an on-camera flash or reflector.

Not all outside commercial photography is done with small fill flashes or limited to shady areas. Sometimes you have to shoot with a specific background. If the light's bad at that angle, you have to scale up the size of your light modifiers to fit the size of your subjects. It's that simple.

[Brooks]

Originally Posted by dch

Light itself is not hard or soft -- .

On an overcast day light can be very soft.

[Brooks]

Originally Posted by Jacco

Like so:

Jacco,

That photo is from the Lastolite website and is the actual silk and frame that I used. It's a great tool with an aluminum shock-corded frame and velcro around the entire frame to attach the fabrics and stretch them absolutely smooth with no wrinkles. Works great !

[Jacco]

Originally Posted by Brooks

On an overcast day light can be very soft.

...because the whole clouded sky is then one ginormous softbox.