Flash Modifiers For Great Lighting

[Richard Crowe]

I am a great fan of the Joe Demb products ( www.dembflashproducts.com ) for modifying hotshoe flashes.  The combination of a hotshoe flash bounced with one of the Demb diffuser reflectors produces lovely and natural looking lighting...

 

I use the Demb Flash Diffuser Pro on my Canon 550EX.  The 550EX is the flash unit which predates the present 580EX (series) Canon Speedlights.  By the way, the term, Speedlight, is a Canon name for their electronic flashes which fit on the hotshoe of your camera. Speedlight has become a term synonymous with hotshoe flash  The hotshoe is the small mount which is located right over the viewfinder on all DSLR cameras.  Some Point and Shoot (P&S) cameras also include hotshoes. Even the P&S cameras can benefit from using a small hotshoe flash with a small diffuser reflector.

 

[url=http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/Photo-Equipment/12760684_a6QWH#1064919149_3KmFj-A-LB][img]http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/Photo-Equipment/hot-shoe/106491914...[/img][/url]

 

Here are some shots using the Canon 550EX with the Joe Demb Flash Diffuser Pro. You will notice that there are not harsh shadows behind the subjects, nor raccoon eyes.

 

[url=http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/Yangshuo-a/12005191_Wd7Vf#858914758_ZTMxQ-A-LB][img]http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/Yangshuo-a/063-silk-weaver/8589147...[/img][/url]

 

Even close ups result in nice soft light without the flat, harsh light of straight-on flash...

 

[url=http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/Yangshuo-a/12005191_Wd7Vf#858911991_46Gdr-A-LB][img]http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/Yangshuo-a/050-dolls/858911991_46G...[/img][/url]

 

The adjustable reflector lets me bounce even when there is no ceiling off which to bounce the light...

 

[url=http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/Yangshuo-a/12005191_Wd7Vf#858914936_pX2Gk-A-LB][img]http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/Yangshuo-a/064-candy-maker/8589149...[/img][/url]

 

I use the smaller reflector which Joe has named "The Photojournalist" on my little Canon 270EX flash.  IMO, the reflector improves the light and versatility of this little unit by leaps and bounds.  The 270EX and a Demb diffuser can be a wonderful addition to a P&S camera which has a hotshoe and will improve that camera's flash capability greatly.

 

[url=http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Travel/China-Focus-Tour-2010-Hong/11941703_568SH#859065145_rTous-A-LB][img]http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Travel/China-Focus-Tour-2010-Hong/Food-M...[/img][/url]

 

[url=http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Travel/China-Focus-Tour-2010-Hong/11941703_568SH#860543276_86eiJ-A-LB][img]http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Travel/China-Focus-Tour-2010-Hong/035-St...[/img][/url]

 

I just received an email from Joe and he has included these links which are quite interesting.  The YouTube video is especially interesting, but could be improved by showing examples of what the narrator is referring to...

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hickography/sets/72157623377791921/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51367577@N02/sets/72157624204588249/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKwYlTzkj8w
http://chrisburch.smugmug.com/Portfolio/DembFlip-it/13199608_FakgL#...

 

By the way, although the hotshoe flashes from Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Olymppus are great, there are less expensive flashes on the market.  These units bring the price of creative flash photography down to a point where it could be affordable to all photographers.  Here are some third party hotshoe flashes available for Canon DSLR cameras.  There are, of course, models available for other brand cameras.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sunpak-PF30X-Flash-w-E-TTL-f-Canon-Digital-SLR-...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vivitar-DF-283-Series-1-TTL-Power-Zoom-Flash-CA...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/YN-468-Flash-Speedlite-Canon-450D-500D-550D-100...

 

Really... the next great step after acquiring a DSLR and an editing program is to get a hotshoe flash and a diffuser/reflector...

[Richard Crowe]

That was, probably, the trip of my lifetime. Although during my 32 year Navy career I traveled throughout much of Asia, I had never visited the Replublic of China. I was amazed on how free the country seemed. There were never any restrictions against taking pictures except for this image that I took of a group of young Chinese soldiers disembarking from a bus. Their officer was shouting "No Pictures!" so I just had the camera which was around my neck on programmed exposure and looked in the other direction while I fired off pictures using my lens on its widest setting. This was the best one that I got shooting blind.



I would go back to China in a heartbeat. I have never enjoyed photographing any place as much as I liked China. People were friendly and didn't mind being photographed. They didn't even mind tourists shooting pictures of their beautiful kids...

[Linda and "Toby"]

Ok.... you know you're a real pro when ... you can get a better shot shooting blind than most of us can get when our subject is right there in the viewfinder! LOL!

[Ann Kendig]

Very nice photos and thanks for the info. They look so natural which indoors can be tough to do. Richard with the help from you and others Ann and I have been steadily improving our photography skills.
Mike

[Lisa Van Dyke]

Richard, thank you SOOOOO much for this information and a photo of your setup! This is SO what I am trying to establish and learn...all on a "penny" of course! Now I'm so excited about getting some lights to setup my own home studio to experiment with! {BIG HUGS!!} Good thing my doodles are getting groomed this weekend! ;-)