How to defuse the camera's built-in flash....

[StagePhotography.co.uk]

How to defuse the camera's built-in flash....

We've touched on this before but a refresh is nice
now and again..

Sometimes when you use the Camera's built-in flash
the light is very hard and harsh, esp when trying to
take photos of close up objects...

Yes you can use a hanky or a piece of paper
over the flash, BUT BECAREFUL IT GETS BLOOMING HOT
as I know, having burnt my finger off one once..

A better idea would be to "bounce" the flash,
again you need to stick something reflective
in front of the flash unit, like a piece
of card with baking foil glued over it.

And then divert the flash light upwards (or to the side)
to a second piece of white or coloured card (for different effects)
held above it.

Of course you'll need to put the camera on a tripod,
and use a timer shutter so you can hold both
bits of card... but i know it works, as I've used it in the
past...

I'll try and get some examples on this method in this thread
soon...

Here's a quick example of how I see it, incase I've not explained it
well enough above...

[byteme]

Strange as it might sound I have discovered cutting up a plastic milk carton to size and folding it (after washing please) over the camera flash unit works very well.

(Have I been watch too much Blue Peter????? aarrgghh!!!!)

John

[BarryM]

deffo not ive used everything from milk cartons, to toiletroll, scotch tape to masking tape. Scotch tape worked best for me till i bought a diffuser.

[StagePhotography.co.uk]

Here's some examples....

I got Bindii to model for me....

*smirk*

[Ade]

For the sake of a tenner (£10) why not just buy a diffuser!

Bunch of tight wads lol :Dm :Dm

[StagePhotography.co.uk]

I'm Scottish.... It's second nature....

Anyway...

I don't think even a defuser would work
as good close up...

Too much white direct light...

Bouncing on Bindii works much better...

[Bindii]

Here's some examples....

I got Bindii to model for me....

*smirk*

Sometimes I get to thinking that the best part of you dribbled down your mothers leg....:grin:

[StagePhotography.co.uk]

Sometimes I get to thinking that the best part of you dribbled down your mothers leg....:grin:

But then you did climb back up... :)

[Bindii]

But then you did climb back up... :)

No silly..

that was your leg...;)c

[tonymidd]

It does seem a bit of a fag George and you need a tripod. I've use an home made diffuser on the Nikons for ages, was just to idle to find it for the cactus shot. It's made from two squares of letter stiffener which is two sheets of thin plastic with ribs between them, these are sandwiched at 90* to each other.
The shot of the Leica was taken using this diffuser.
PS this also fit my smaller Metz gun.

[Bindii]

It does seem a bit of a fag George




George is gay?

:grin:

[StagePhotography.co.uk]

fag George

WHAT you call me????

:)

So give us some results, nice close ups of your
bits and pieces....

:)

[Bindii]

So give us some results, nice close ups of your
bits and pieces....

:)

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

*runs screaming from the thread*

[dusktildawn]

I found cigarette papers work :)... But don't take my word for it I'm a certified arse!

[lostmysnorkel]

I found cigarette papers work :)

Yeah, but it depends on what you roll in them.

Actually, the old Rizla could be quite useful - lick and stick to the top of the flash, wihtout the hassle of sticky velcro, or other stuff that leaves a residue.


TONY: If you're ever short of laccie bands, give us a shout. Our postie is in the habit of ditching his at the end of the path! I got loads!

[tonymidd]

TONY: If you're ever short of laccie bands, give us a shout. Our postie is in the habit of ditching his at the end of the path! I got loads!

:Dm that's were I used to get mine from but we've a new tidy postie.

[Earl53]

George's diffuser prompted me to see what I could come up with that you didn't need to hold or bounce. It's rather crudely made from a milk container but it fits right into the flash holder and fits over the built-in flash. I took a photo without and with and saw some difference. I've doubled up on the face of it but haven't tried it yet. When I do I'll post the photos.

[StagePhotography.co.uk]

Fantastic... LOL...

I was thinking the exact same thing last night!!!!

Use the shoe feature somehow... And it doesn't look
that bad either...

:)

[blindabyss]

Interesting ideas guys. Will have a play with some of them later.

[tonymidd]

George's diffuser prompted me to see what I could come up with that you didn't need to hold or bounce. It's rather crudely made from a milk container but it fits right into the flash holder and fits over the built-in flash. I took a photo without and with and saw some difference. I've doubled up on the face of it but haven't tried it yet. When I do I'll post the photos.

That's neat Paul, much better than the elastic band to hold the diffuser in place as I do on the Nikon. I found that an opaque plastic did not work as well as the ribbed letter stiffener. One idea was to cut vee grooves at 90* to each other in the opaque plastic to spread the light better, that was before I tried the stiffener.

[Earl53]

I had to add another layer of plastic. There was some change but not much. I'll keep an eye out for some material to add with it. I wonder if celophane of differnt colors might make it look like gels.