shadows caused by flash
Dec 25, 2011 11:20:16 #
Most of the advice is beneficial, but the first thing you need is to get the speed light off the camera, and then to add a diffuser - ie "Stofen" and tilt the flash head up 30 to 45 degrees. There are many inexpensive off camera brackets available, and of course you need a connector cord. This helps by softening the shadow and driving it down behind the subject - moved 5'-6' from the wall, eliminates that infamous red eye and can help to eliminate those bothersome eye glass reflections. Also, the light coming from a higer point can be more flattering than being blasted straight on. Absolutely essential for the varied situations at a party. It works! Geo.K.
Dec 25, 2011 11:27:00 #
Coker: If you like the second picture better, other than the flash, it is simple matter to remove the shadows with the clone stamp. Removing shadows becomes ridiculously difficult when there are complications in the shadows, like flying hair, and all sorts of little objects with different edges.
Dec 25, 2011 12:10:02 #
Wabbit
Loc: Arizona Desert
rpavich wrote:
Good information and the purchase of a slave flash which can be positioned way off to the side using bounce is a good fix too. BTW good picture, you've got it down pat.I've said this so much Neil should give me royalties...lol
Buy a 49 cent piece of craft foam and go to this site and learn to bounce your flash off of a side wall or reflector.
Trust me. You will produce flash that looks like ANYTHING BUT flash.
This picture was taken with on camera flash bounced with the 49cent foamie thing.
And here is a link to the instructions
http://neilvn.com/tangents/2011/03/08/video-using-the-black-foamie-thing/
Buy a 49 cent piece of craft foam and go to this site and learn to bounce your flash off of a side wall or reflector.
Trust me. You will produce flash that looks like ANYTHING BUT flash.
This picture was taken with on camera flash bounced with the 49cent foamie thing.
And here is a link to the instructions
http://neilvn.com/tangents/2011/03/08/video-using-the-black-foamie-thing/
Dec 25, 2011 12:10:59 #
frasher101
Loc: Houndsfield N.Y.
Hmmm,How about a ceiling shot with a couple slaves at a lower posision
Dec 25, 2011 12:11:19 #
Hi,
One thing I did that seems to work pretty well is to make a diffuser that will fit over my on-camera flash.
To do this, I made a cylinder of cloth with elastic on one end. That end was just a tad smaller than what it had to fit over so that the elastic would hold it on. The cloth cylinder is about 1.5 inches in diameter on the wide end and about .75 inches diameter on the narrow end. I did have to fiddle it a little to get it right. You'll probably also need to fiddle the length of the cylinder.
Next, I had a piece of a broken translucent (NOT transparent)light fixture cover from an elevator at work that I trimmed to a rectangle with rounded corners, such that it was about 0.1 inch larger on each side than the flash.
When I'm in a windy environment, like a couple of weeks ago when we had BIG wind in SoCal, I slip a rubberband around the flash head after I've put on my homemade diffuser just to make sure I don't lose it to the wind.
When I'm in a pinch and have to use my oncamera flash, this works pretty well and I don't need to worry about where any shadows may fall.
When I'm using my detachable "big" flash unit, I always put the "regular" (not homebuilt) diffuser on and go with it.
v
One thing I did that seems to work pretty well is to make a diffuser that will fit over my on-camera flash.
To do this, I made a cylinder of cloth with elastic on one end. That end was just a tad smaller than what it had to fit over so that the elastic would hold it on. The cloth cylinder is about 1.5 inches in diameter on the wide end and about .75 inches diameter on the narrow end. I did have to fiddle it a little to get it right. You'll probably also need to fiddle the length of the cylinder.
Next, I had a piece of a broken translucent (NOT transparent)light fixture cover from an elevator at work that I trimmed to a rectangle with rounded corners, such that it was about 0.1 inch larger on each side than the flash.
When I'm in a windy environment, like a couple of weeks ago when we had BIG wind in SoCal, I slip a rubberband around the flash head after I've put on my homemade diffuser just to make sure I don't lose it to the wind.
When I'm in a pinch and have to use my oncamera flash, this works pretty well and I don't need to worry about where any shadows may fall.
When I'm using my detachable "big" flash unit, I always put the "regular" (not homebuilt) diffuser on and go with it.
v
Dec 25, 2011 13:52:57 #
Get the flash off the camera and elevated, so that whatever shadows are created fall below the range of view. Short of asking Peter Pan how it's done, there's really no other way (removing the shadows in an editing program gets tedious after a while.)
Dec 25, 2011 14:10:56 #
dasloaf wrote:
How can I not get the shadows when I use my flash unit. I rarely use my flash unit and when I do, I get shadows behind the people. How can I prevent it?
Make sure the subject is farther away from the wall behind them. Try to always keep them at least 6 feet from any flat surface. The flash-caused shadow will be more dispersed and less obvious.
Brightly light the wall behind them (but don't get the lights in the photo or it becomes backlighting) so the flash lights the subject with reduced power and doesn't blast the wall as much.
Diffuse the flash with a clip on diffuser (available on eBay) or a small piece of toilet paper taped across the flash face to soften the output.
There is a wide assortment of diffusers for external flashes that greatly reduce flash shadows and raccoon eyes. That's a much more complex discussion we can have if you are using external flash.
Dec 25, 2011 20:28:10 #
Jan 9, 2012 09:20:16 #
Jan 9, 2012 09:56:07 #
boncrayon wrote:
Bounce flash or scrim with a soft tissue protruding in front of your flash.
the problem with forward facing flash (even if it's diffused) is that it's flat...it produces a flat picture...definitely not good.
Only directional light will give you pleasing lighting...such as a studio or bouncing light to either side...
Jan 22, 2012 12:45:39 #
well, I ordered a better bounce card and tried moving the head of my speedlite around, it helps/ thanks everyone!
Jan 22, 2012 13:18:12 #
dasloaf wrote:
well, I ordered a better bounce card and tried moving the head of my speedlite around, it helps/ thanks everyone!
check this video out...it is germane to this thread bigtime.
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-22235-1.html#307543
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