gogoflash Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 I have a wedding to shoot tomorrow in Arizona for a co-worker. The weather forcast predicts cloudy with 30% chance of shower which will produce some nice lights. The wedding is going to be an outdoor event at 11am. I'm going to shoot most of the shots with an available light with a fill flash. 1. Which diffuser/bouncer do you recommend for an outdoor fills? Sto-fen or Lumiquest? 2. Do you have an idea to protect the equipment in case of a light shower during the ceremony? I'm shooting DSLR with a hotshoe flash without a bracket. thanks in advance. jonah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnmarkpainter Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 I wouldn't bounce....I would just keep the flash dialed down low. In the -2 range or so...or skip the flash completely at first and see if it is needed. jmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnmarkpainter Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 Oh yeah.... Since you have a DSLR..go outside RIGHT NOW and shoot. Any tips given here won't be as good as you just doing it yourself 10 different ways and seeing the results. Try using a Bounce Card too (my favorite). jmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogoflash Posted November 12, 2004 Author Share Posted November 12, 2004 Thank you for the reply. I will try to get by with the available light and see if that's enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogoflash Posted November 12, 2004 Author Share Posted November 12, 2004 What kind of bounce card do you recommend? I'm tried a home made card but didn't yield a good result. Is there a special technique to use this card correctly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason_elsworth3 Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 My own testing with slide film showed that even if I dialed the fill down to -2 or - 2 1/3, results were best with a diffuser (stofen Omni bounce) or with a bounce card (simple white index card held on with elastic band flash head at 45 degrees). No real difference visible between the card and the diffuser. I would strongly recommend that you do your own testing. Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_ Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 You might query Nikon USA and see if a digital Nikonos is on the horizon? A wet wedding is not a grand idea on your camera: any chance you can find a old film camera to use in the event the 30 percent chance = 100 percent precip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 If the overcast is light, you may not need fill flash. If it is darker and maybe threatening rain, however, you will get shadowed eye sockets, which need fill flash. As John pointed out, you don't necessarily need to bounce or diffuse the flash if you keep it low--like 2 stops below the ambient. If you are concerned about facial shine and specular highlights though, you can diffuse the flash. In this instance, the Stofen used straight on (or the Lumiquest) is most efficient for the purpose. Using a bounce card outside or the Stofen at the 45 degree angle uses up a lot of flash power (and even the Lumiquest), and you may need an external power pack if you're trying to keep up with fast moving events--such as the processional (depends on what speed you are using, distance and f-stop). Another thing to note--if used on close-up subjects, the Stofen used straight ahead does tend to give you hotspots. Keep a plastic bag handy in case of rain. If it is light, you won't need to use it but if it becomes heavier, you'll need to put it over your camera, so fashion one ahead of time and make sure it works so that it doesn't cover the lens and you can keep your hands on the controls. If you have an assistant, an umbrella works better since it doesn't interfere with camera usage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelging Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 Jonah , I am in phoenix ,and shot photos outside this morning, I used fill flash and shot without. The light was pretty blue ,but as I shoot raw that was easy to fix. If you are close to the subject and want to warm them up a little ,I would use something like a omni dome. Any flash on a overcast day puts a little warm color in peoples faces. Good Luck on the wedding,I hope it does not rain where you are, just everywhere else in this drought ridden state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogoflash Posted November 12, 2004 Author Share Posted November 12, 2004 Thank you, all. I shall try all the options tomorrow. It seems like omni bounce is a good tool to have anyways so I will pick one up on the way home and try it out. The wedding is down at Awatukee so hopefully the mountains will block out the rainy clouds. They are expecting the rain to come tomorrow afternoon so I hope it's after the wedding. About the psudo rain gear... My original plan was to use a clear plastic with hole cut out for the lens but it seems stupid to shoot a wedding like that. If it rains in the middle of the wedding, I'll stick my camera under my jacket and run for cover....I hope the bride and groom wouldn't be too far behind me... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogoflash Posted November 12, 2004 Author Share Posted November 12, 2004 Acutally, come to think of it... everyone running from the rain would be a good shot. I'll prepare a couple of plastic bags for the camera tomorrow. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelging Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 Jonah After visiting my sister in London for the past 6 years ,I have decided that a Good umbrella in one hand,and a Auto focus camera in the other is the best way to handle rain.I wear glasses, and if it's raining hard enough to need a raincoat for the camera and lens,I can't see with my glasses. If it's real windy a umbrella is harder to use.I have also learned that DSLR's cameras and H20 ,do not mix very well.I can keep shooting with a manual film camera long after a digital camera has stopped working in the rain. Tempe camera has the omni domes .Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnmarkpainter Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 Jonah, Sto-fen makes a bounce card called a "2-way". I haven't tried one yet as I just use envelopes with a rubber band most of the time. jmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medina photography cherry Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 Overcast should be great lighting. I shot a wedding on Oct 6 that was very overcast. I did not use the flash at all and the lighting was specatcular. This past Saturday I shot an outdoor wedding and it was very sunny (contrasty) I set the ambient to -2 stops and used the 550ex on Ettl.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik_dahlbeck Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 The answer to the question of whether or not to use a bouncerfor fill flash outdoors is: Don't bother. A bouncer (OmniBounce) doesn't magically diffuse the light because it's a soft milky white plastic. The only thing it does is spread the light so that it can bounce off other objects and then hit the subject from many different directions. Needless to say, if you're outdoors, you'll only be making flashes for outer space (perhapsnot if it's overcast but you get the point). It's a waste of flash power. Now, I guess that one of those "card" attachments could be large enough to make a slight difference but I think that without anything that the light can bounce off, there's no or little point in that either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathon Posted November 14, 2004 Share Posted November 14, 2004 I'm with Erik, I never could understand why people use the Omnibounce outdoor. The hard flash comes from it being a very small source of light, and the omni doesn't change the size of the light source when used outside. I get great results inside when the light scatters and bounces all over the place and back to the subject, but not outside. The Lumiquest 80-20 works better indoors because it creates a larger source. You can use it to bounce indoors as well by removing the bounce card. To make it even more diffuse it comes with a clearish plastic front panel as well. I saw in a photo by Marc Williams he gets an assistant to use the same thing except he uses the really big Lumiquest (big bounce or ultra bounce I forget). The Omni is more portable though and doesn't draw as much attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartMoxham Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 If it is really overcast flat light you don't need the flash to fill the shadows like you do on a sunny day but I would still use it about 2 or 3 stops under the ambiant light to add a little sparkle to the eyes. Too much fill on an overcast day will look horrid but with a sparkle the eyes look lifeless. As for the diffuser the sto-fen works great in doors but there is nothing for it to bounce light from outsite. The lumiqest may be better out side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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