SteveR Loc: Michigan

Can the Nikon diffuser dome be used in the normal position or is it just for bounce flash as the manual seems to indicate. When I used an SB-10 before when doing a group shot I ran into the problem of facial shadows. Would TTL BL mode take care of that or would the diffuser help?

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

No. You need to get a large modifier - a large bounce surface, softbox, umbrella used at close distances, etc. Hard to use a single speedlight for a group shot. What makes shadows softer is the apparent size of the light source. A dome is only slightly larger than the flash head.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

If it helps, it's not a large group. I'm trying to get a pic of my four grandsons, ages 7 down to 2.

CO

You could get a swivel umbrella bracket and an umbrella. That would give you a much larger light source and wrap around your subject more to help open up the shadow areas. A reflective umbrella that has a silver interior is more efficient than a reflective umbrella with a white interior. If you get a silver reflective umbrella try to get one with the pebbled texture interior.

If you're using an umbrella and your flash has a wide angle panel, use that. It will help to fill the umbrella more to the edges. If it doesn't have a wide angle panel, zoom the flash head to its widest setting.

Kupo makes two different heavy duty swivel umbrella brackets. I have one. It has a large clamping area to keep it from slipping at the pivot point.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

I use two SB-910's and an SB-800 for my shots. Depending on the shot, I will either put diffuser domes, color correction domes, or use them on my Wescott umbrellas. Generally I leave the SB-800 remote set for remote (it is more difficult to program or set than the SB-910's). I will have one of the SB-910's on the camera hot shoe or use the Nikon hot shoe to hot shoe flash cable. I sometimes set the built-in flash to "control only" which means that it ONLY controls the off camera flashes and doesn't participate in the actual exposure. The others are generally set on light stands with or without umbrellas or diffusion domes. I have 4 light stands and one 6' boom that I can put my strobes on. I also have several "saddlebag" 30 lb. sand filled weight bags to hold the stands in place. My boom can also hold my large reflector (which has white, black, silver and gold reflective surfaces). If you get your lighting correct or close when shooting, it gives much better and easier to correct results in post processing. I use the lighting for portraits, group shots, and especially real estate shots both inside and outside.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

I appreciate the help. I'm just trying to get a family picture of four kids and fill in the shadows. I'm surprised that it would take a professional setup to do such a simple job. I thought that was what fill-flash was for!!

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Steve,
You can do a lot with bounce flash.
Straight up will usually give you raccoon eyes, but if you angle the head a bit to the side and behind you, it's possible to get a pretty natural look. I've bounced off of cement walls, painted murals at sports complexes... it can work and will almost always look better than direct flash.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/tutorial-bounce-flash-photography/

The only time I use the Nikon diffuser dome is inside a speedlight softbox to even out the light.
I will send some examples if I get time.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

You have asked three questions. The 2nd and 3rd questions have been answered in the replies above. The answer to your first question is Yes the diffuser can be used in the normal position.

Bill_de Loc: US

Short video:

https://www.google.com/search?q=using+nikon+diffuser+for+fill+flash&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IE-Address&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7ADFA_enUS433&gws_rd=ssl#gws_rd=ssl&kpvalbx=1&spf=1498323712452

JD750 Loc: SoCal

The professionals here are giving you good answers, the light modifiers and pro equipment do a fabulous job. And costs $$ and time to learn to use and set up. It sounds like it is way overkill for what you want to do.

For a family pic with 4 people, shooting outdoors, you can get good results, using TTL and fill flash. I would not use the back lighting function as it will fire brighter to try to light the background, and that will tend to create flash highlights on the subjects. You just want a little "pop" to fill the shadows, you don't want a big FOOF that overpowers all the ambient light.

You could also use Manual flash control, set it at about 1/4 power, full spread, shoot a test shot and look at it the result, adjust accordingly.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

You could also use the flash on ttl and dial it down a stop or two using flash exposure compensation. Nikon's flash system works great.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Take your flash, point it at the white ceiling behind you, and you will get your shot with soft shadows. Your issue is not that you have shadows, but that the shadows are too harsh, and possibly in places where you don't want them.

"Remember - light illuminates, shadows define" - Rick Sammon

"Always remember this. The lights carry the color and texture and the shadows the form. A shadow is the absence of form." Howard Pyle.

"In a diffuse light everything is soft and close in tone." Howard Pyle.

Examples of diffuse light are overcast days, shooting under the forest's canopy, shooting indoors near a north facing window, or a window that is not receiving direct light, etc. I used 2 speedlights for this, one bounced to the rear behind my head, and the other bounced to the rear behind the kid's head. The key is to keep the light even and smooth, and the shadows there but not as stark as when you point a speedlight, even with a dome, directly at your subjects.

And there are more examples of softly lit portraits here, but they are done entirely outside:

https://photographersconnection.com/just-what-exactly-is-open-shade/

(Download)

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Lots of great flash advice. The last few esp. are more to my needs right now, and Gene's idea is great. Thanks for the video link, too, Bill. Goofy, I have found that using ev helps, just in test shots.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

That is an excellent idea, I forgot about that.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

The advice from Gene and Goofy are right on the money. Here is the thing about the "diffuser" dome outside. It is worthless!

First of all it is NOT a diffuser, it is a disperser and no, they are not the same. The dome disperses light so it spreads out and bounces off walls and ceilings. It is the light that has bounced that gives you the soft light. By spreading out and reflecting off those surfaces it becomes diffused,

Outside, with nothing from which to bounce from, it is only good for reducing the flash output by about 1 and 2/3 stops. So it is great for shortening battery life and lengthening recycle time, but that is it.

Anyone using it outdoors (unless next to a wall or something to use as a bounce target) has no idea what they are doing. I am not near my desktop computer now, but I have test shots to prove it.