chevman Loc: Matthews, North Carolina

Thank you, GoofyNewfie, for your reply and the links for the products recomended. All of this is helpful information for learning what's out there and what has been successfully used. Thanks for pointing out the differance between "diffuser" and "defuser" I should have known that.

ABJanes Loc: Jersey Boy now Virginia

I should have included the weblinks.

Sorry about that!

http://neilvn.com/tangents/about/black-foamie-thing/

http://www.abetterbouncecard.com

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Neil has some great advice!
I doubt he uses a Fong dome.

Rick from NY Loc: Sarasota FL

I favor something light and easy to carry. Favorite is Demb Flip It

Amazingly adaptable and folds flat. Weighs nothing Watch video to see way to mount it to use vertical and horizontal

Fong is too expensive, bulky and frankly sucks up too much light. As other guy said, use a coffee cup or a plastic milk jug to mimic Fong at -0- cost

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

This is what I normally reach for although I have any number of diffusers. I've never been a fan of Fong units...

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/833251-REG/DEMB_DFDP_Flash_Diffuser_Pro.html

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

I went to the craft area of Walmart and bought a large piece of white foam and some Velcro; I used it to make a bounce flash for on camera flash photography (when the ceiling is too high). It's not perfect, but there is no red eye and the shadows are not as harsh as using the flash head-on by itself. I got the idea when looking at DIY Youtube videos.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

No worries!
Some here evidently use an "opaque" dome... which wouldn't allow any light to pass!

I have been willed a bunch of Fong modifiers by my boss ( who isn't a pro) and use none of them.
They work most efficiently when in a smaller room where the light transmitted from the device can bounce off of nearby walls and the ceiling.
Use it just about any where else and most of the light is wasted.
I usually bounce in that situation, but never straight up.
ABJanes suggestion to look at Neil vanNiekerk's site is a great one.
More from Neil HERE.


The one question I should have asked is where do you see yourself using it?
Outside or large spaces?...there are MUCH better devices than a Fong Dome.
In that situation, the only light from the flash affecting the subject is what you see of from the front of the modifier and that's really not very big.
Light coming out of the other 3/4 of the dome is a waste of power...and can be annoying to others.
Better off with something that makes the light bigger and directs most of the light forward, like a Lite-Scoop, which is easy to DIY as photoman suggested above.

The Vello Octa Softbox CO suggested looks pretty interesting too.

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

Nicely done. Will we be seeing more of her in the NSFW section?

ronf78155 Loc: Seguin Texas

I use a Gary Fong diffuser and have several of his covers to change or customize the diffused light according to my needs or wants

Kozan Loc: Trenton Tennessee

This is what I use for event photography. It works great. I made something similar to this, but it just did not look "professional", so I bought this one instead. It is two-sided- white on one side, metallic silver on the other.

https://www.amazon.com/pangshi-Two-Sides-Diffuser-Reflector-Speedlite/dp/B00NV3DE8I/ref=pd_sim_421_22?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00NV3DE8I&pd_rd_r=GY54Y539R6BFZSEF83GJ&pd_rd_w=dzdFb&pd_rd_wg=1GE4t&psc=1&refRID=GY54Y539R6BFZSEF83GJ

I move the flash up to a 45 degree angle.

lowkick Loc: Connecticut

I like the simple milky white, rectangular, inexpensive diffuser for general use. https://www.amazon.com/Sto-Fen-Omni-Bounce-OM-EW-Diffuser-Speedlite/dp/B000CLNHXY/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1498485485&sr=8-12&keywords=flash+diffuser

I know that the larger the area, the softer the light, but I also know that the larger the area, the less distance the light will travel and speedlights are not terribly powerful. I find that indoors with low, light ceilings, these inexpensive diffusers work well. Keep in mind that speedlights have heads that rotate, so if the ceilings are too high, you can bounce light off of walls. If you are outdoors, you can aim the flash more directly at the subject and have enough power to use them, with diffusers on, in poor light of for fill light.

This doesn't mean that the other types of diffusers aren't good. They are great for more specific uses, but I like the simple snap on rectangular ones for general purpose shooting.

DI Seller Loc: Knoxville, TN

I was once taught to take a piece of lens cleaning paper and tape it over the front of the Flash. It does a great job

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

I don't spend money if I don't have to. I show my students that a clean white handkerchief works great. On the pop-up flash on most consumer DSLRs I show then that a white foam cup also works great. The foam cup also serves as a lens protector in my camera case. Now if I was shooting weddings for a living then you have to look good too since you are charging lots of $$$$. Then I would get any one of the real diffusers. I use to have a Velcro strap on one that was gold bounce reflector type to warm up faces. Happy shooting.

Charles 46277 Loc: Fulton County, KY

"Softening requires making the light bigger"

This is often forgotten (or not understood)--we could even define soft light as light from a (relatively) large source. The reason for calling it "soft" is that the broad light source fills the nooks and crannies in skin (or anything else) and texture is thus less harsh. In bouncing from the ceiling, the light source is very large indeed (the ceiling and walls). In the same way, big light (diffuse or soft) makes details less sharp, so it is not usually what we want in macro work. It baffles me that people use a circular light for macro, unless they do not want sharp details--that would be fine for copying text or other objects where texture is not wanted. Instead, most classical texts on macro (such as the Kodak Professional book Photomacrography, sometimes on ebay) illustrate the use of tiny directional pinpoint lights such as fiber optic cables when details are wanted, as on insects. These lights illuminate the bug, but not all the crevices, giving a greater sense of texture and sharpness.

The size of the source is relative, and can be adjusted simply by moving it toward or away from the subject--it is relatively smaller as it moves away (but of course dimmer also). How diffuse a diffuser is depends on how big the subject is (and how far away) exactly as it depends on the size of the light source. The natural look for human eyesight is daylight on a sunny day; on cloudy days (or in shade) things are not as sharp or crisp to us--those crisp postcards of old were always sunny and nearly always used Kodachrome. But in artificial light we can control how specular or diffuse the light is. (We can even control it in the sun with reflectors or fill lights.) Bare flashbulbs, especially small ones, without a reflector, are highly directional (specular); and Graflites came with large or small reflectors for different effects (or different sized bulbs).

The idea that portraits must be diffuse, using soft light, is established perhaps from olden times, before fast lenses, fast ISO, or bright artificial light. Hiding facial flaws by making the image less sharp (less spectral) is a matter of taste and opinion--it is not unusual to go for a strong, swarthy look for men by using spectral light (or for women if you like them swarthy). Also, children or models with flawless skin may withstand spectral light, so diffuse light is wasted on them, perhaps counterproductive.

Sometimes, when bounce is not possible, I have wanted an on-camera flash that had the battery pack on the hot shoe, but the bulb and reflector 3 or 4 feet higher (on a flexible neck), as holding the flash up makes it harder to operate the two-handed camera, and setting up external lights may also not be possible. In any case the flash should have adjustable size for the light source without worrying about attachments.

ronf78155 Loc: Seguin Texas

Remember when you bought a flash and it came with a clip on, flip down diffuser with several options for the diffuser !
Has Canon, Nikon, and all the others manufacturers gotten that cheap as to not include one !