Dalantech wrote:
Seriously I didn't think I was being touchy, but some of my posts were a little "blunt".
Well I've certainly noticed it, in fact from a recent thread (remember? ) Regardless words and statements written or typed are too easily taken out of context on these fora. Just easier to avoid translation issues all together.
Well it's an interesting read for me; I think macro shooting is possibly the most unique of all my shooting experiences where I've found myself dreaming and crafting various DIY solutions to perfect lighting - went through this 'check out all transparent/white material and surfaces to find if they make good diffusers' phase which was rather disturbing to the wife.
I'm currently subscribed to the 'get light as close as possible to subject' with a diffuser that's slightly curved away from the hot strong center of the flash (with inspiration from John's puffers and morfa's cross-in-the-middle-of-the-icecream-box diffuser over at Juza).
What I have currently is a flat 2x6 piece of architectural model styrene with velcro at the ends (moved from building the complex ones to the simplest possibly because of transportability and ease of attachment). This wraps around the front of my SB-R200s to create the curved surface.
But here's my conundrum:
I've read from John's posts and blog, seen the numerous DIY stuff and also the commercial products such as the aforementioned softboxes, to know I should keep the diffuser enclosed and with sufficient reflective material to not lose flash power (instead focusing it through the diffusing material).
Yet, if I'm already close enough, that shouldn't matter? And even so, the light 'escaping' is still in the same direction and should be sufficiently diffused away form the source.
Also, at that distance, and with dialled down FEC, it's already very strong, wouldn't the above just make it even stronger?
*Sorry to partially hijack your thread, TheBat, but all this talk about diffusers have rather seized me at this moment...
Zichar wrote:
But here's my conundrum:
I've read from John's posts and blog, seen the numerous DIY stuff and also the commercial products such as the aforementioned softboxes, to know I should keep the diffuser enclosed and with sufficient reflective material to not lose flash power (instead focusing it through the diffusing material).
Yet, if I'm already close enough, that shouldn't matter? And even so, the light 'escaping' is still in the same direction and should be sufficiently diffused away form the source.
Also, at that distance, and with dialled down FEC, it's already very strong, wouldn't the above just make it even stronger?
Maybe we should start a diffusion thread to share ideas.
I've built my current diffuser both with and without the reflective material. With it the light looks more diffused, and with the flash set to E-TTL the amount of flash power that I need to get a proper exposure is less. I think that the increase in diffusion is due to the light hitting the matte surface of the reflector, scattering, and then coming out the front of the diffuser. I've also had the impression that flash duration can effect the perceived diffusion level of the light -the lower the flash duration the less harsh the specular highlights look and therefore the light looks more diffused. I could be wrong on that last point -but it seems to fit what I have observed (and recently a friend of mine who's a photographer mentioned the same effect even though he'd never heard me talk about it).
Zichar wrote:
*Sorry to partially hijack your thread, TheBat, but all this talk about diffusers have rather seized me at this moment...
Hi Zichar,
No apologies necessary, it's an open thread from a genuine question. All questions, reasonings/opinions are welcome.
Seems to be just one 'pig-headed' gentleman who seems to be an opinionated 'phrophet' on the subject, that's all
What is it that they say about genius' ?
Bruce
Please, lets all go for a walk and come back later., we all do things differently , no right no wrong . John is passionate about macro and that is good , passion is what it take to get the most out of your own success as well as feed others and creating excitement. It was my passion for Macro that got this forum started . But we all need to take a breath. In the end we will all succeed in our art if we just put our focus in the right spot. I for the most part have stopped teaching here , but instead just try to provoke thought , and then ya'll can come to your on conclusions.
Well I've certainly noticed it, in fact from a recent thread (
) Regardless words and statements written or typed are too easily taken out of context on these fora. Just easier to avoid translation issues all together.
and it didn't help...