SB 800 Diffuser

[johnfrancisb]

<p>This is definitely a newbie question. It seems that when I use the diffuser that came with my SB 800 it makes the light and shadows harsher. I thought it was meant to even out the lighting and soften the shadows.<br>

This occurs whether I'm using the flash straight on or bouncing it. What am I doing wrong? What situations are appropriate for using the diffuser?<br>

In addition, does anyone have any experience with the Lumiquest softboxes and bouncers that attach to the SB 800?</p><div></div>

[paradoxbox]

<p>It's meant to spread the light a little bit. Suitable for bouncing. It helps light get to the sides in addition to the direction you're bouncing the flash. It's not meant to soften shadows.<br>

If you want to soften shadows you need to use a proper light modifier like an umbrella, soft panel or softbox or something similar. The diffuser dome is not designed to soften shadows.<br>

You get soft shadows when you use as big a light source as you can as close to the subject as you can. So get your flash off camera and put it just beside your subject (just barely out of frame) behind a large light modifier. You'll get nice soft shadows.</p>

[elliot1]

<p>The diffuser can help make flash shots look like they were shot with natural light. At very close distance (like your test shots) and depending on the subject matter, the diffuser may or may not help you. Ceiling height also comes into play. I almost always bounce when I use the diffuser and vary the angle of the flash depending on the distance to subject, typically keeping it angled slightly forward,</p>

<p>To add to Cory's statement "The diffuser dome is not designed to soften shadows." - very true. If you had someone standing several feet in front of a wall, using the flash straight on with our without the diffuser may leave some unwanted shadows behind the subject (and some hot spots on the subject's face). Bouncing could eliminate the shadows. Adding the diffuser to flash and bouncing will give the photos a much more natural and better saturated look eliminating hot spots. </p>

<p>You really want to practice and experiment with the diffuser/bounce flash setup to see what works best for you and in what situations you would not want to use it.</p>

<p> </p>

[mike_bisom]

<p>The larger the light source, the softer light. As pointed out, the diffuser isn't going to really give you soft light as you haven't modified the size of the light source. In my experience, it will give you a more uniform distribution of light and help avoid hot spots. In terms of creating soft light, the best thing we have ever used is the ABBC: cheap and effective. We have used the Lumiquest & about all of the Tupperware Fong attachments, but nothing beats the price, simplicity, and effectiveness of a BBC (although some prefer the expense of the Demb diffuser). The thing to remember is that to have a softer light, you must have a larger light source. Use a bounce card gives you a larger light source than even the relatively small Lumiquest. Additionally, a bounce card throws light off two surfaces... typically the bounce and a ceiling or wall thus creating an even larger light source. However, this only works when there is something to bounce off of! For outdoor work, nothing beats a simple reflector! </p>

[rkdphoto]

<p><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2087/2421347665_2e16171872.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="302" /></p>

<p>Just a quick test to see the effect of: room light, pop-up flash, naked SB-800, omni-bounce, and the Gary Fong look-a-like RPS FlexiDome.<br /> <br /> Nikon D-300<br /> Nikon SB-800<br /> Lens = AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8 IF-ED<br /> WB = Auto<br /> ISO = 100<br /> Aperture Priority = f 5.6<br /> Focal Length 60mm<br /> Picture Control file = D2XMode1 (for me, the test was for light and shadow, not color rendition)<br /> <br /> Camera about 4 feet from head<br /> Head about 4 inches from background<br /> Both the D-300 and SB-800 set to TTL mode<br /> The shadow on the right edge in the top row, second photo is from the lens hood.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.rkd-photo.com/blog/2008/07/06/nikon-d300-sb-800-speedlight-flash-diffusion-test/">http://www.rkd-photo.com/blog/2008/07/06/nikon-d300-sb-800-speedlight-flash-diffusion-test/</a></p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Raymond, that looks like it would be an interesting illustration but is a bit too small to read the captions. Can you upload a larger version here or to your Flickr account and provide a link? Up to 700 pixels wide will display inline with this discussion thread; a wider version will appear as a link. Thanks.</p>

[rkdphoto]

<p>here's 1024 x 619</p>

<p><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2087/2421347665_2e16171872_b.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>link: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2087/2421347665_2e16171872_b.jpg</p>

<p>My test examples are of a straight on head shot to see the effects of the flash and the resulting shadows on both the face and the background. A simple test I thought I'd share which is educational (at least to me) and not intended to be instructive in nature.<br>

The test was intentionally done with a very close background, I was trying to mimic a worst case situation.</p>

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