I mainly shoot natural light portraits and use my flash for a little extra fill. I am hoping with the addition of a good diffuser, and perhaps a second flash (430EX), I am achieve some good lighting when I don't have as much natural light around. Below is an example of the results I usually get right now with my natural light/bounce flash combo.
That "Flip-it" looks a bit like the pull-out card on the 580, which does a pretty nice job giving a catchlight (and small fill?) when bouncing off the ceiling.
I have a 580 too and although I love it, as with you, I only use it on occasion for a bit of fill.
I looked around, and decided to just make my own little soft box.
My girlfriend wasn't too happy but I just used a couple of her zed cards, some aluminum foil, velum paper, and some tape. I can't imagine that it cost very much, it was easy and now I have a softbox for my flash that works very, very well.
Here are some very quick, poor shots. But you get the point.
I'll also show a pic where I used it.
And a portrait of my friends sister Susan.
The light coming in on her left was pretty harsh afternoon sun, so I just used the diffused flash, stopped down I think 2/3rds to fill her rather dark right side.
(shot with a 20D and 28-70, but I don't remember the settings).
I have only tried the Stofen Omnibounce. I use it mostly pointed up, but it softens the flash when aimed direct as well. It is small & convienent to carry.
Oh, btw. I could have done this with my bounce too but it was before I got the little stand for it and I was sick of taking pictures, holding the bounce and directing it with one foot.
Even with the stand, I think the fill flash is much easier, assuming I don't need fill from underneath.
The above shot was in a church basement with terrible flourescent lighting. Sorry about the lack of technical merit, but I think this shot suggests what the Flip-It can do in more capable hands.
How does one use the flip-it with staight on flash or bounced off the ceiling? The bounce or adapter is on the side and not the back of the flash right?
Thanks
I have the stofen omnibounce, and it is better than using the flash bare I think. It is also very easy to carry around. I have heard the Lumniquest 20/80 (or 80/20 I get confused) is better.
I use the Lumiquest 80/20 and LOVE IT. I get great results especially when the flash is the only source of light. Works on the 1d with 550 a combination that is supposedly very difficult to work.
With the Flip-It! you point the flash up at the ceiling, and move the flip-it forward or backward depending on how much flash you want, distance to subject, and ceiling height. The cool thing is that if you want to do something else with the flash, the flip-it just swings out of the way and then you can do whatever you want or need with the flash.
I was really glad that I found the Flip-it, because I'm not able to vary the output of the 420EX.
I have a bunch of lumiquests including the mini and regular softbox and the 80/20. I also have the stofen. I definitely prefer the lumiquests, but for simplicity and ease, I often find myself reaching for the stofen. It's really unfortunate though, as the 80/20 is a great tool
I have the following flash modifiers:
• ABetterBounceCard (regular and large)
• Flip-It Jr.
• Sto-Fen Omnibounce
• The Shell TSS
• Lightsphere PJ with dome (Gary Fong)
• LumiQuest 80/20
• LumiQuest Pocket Bouncer
• LumiQuest Ultrasoft Pocket Bouncer
• LumiQuest Softbox
• UberCard Mini and Pro
• Westcott Micro Apollo Softbox
• Also used 3 x 5 inch and 4 x 6 inch index cards, and of course the 580 pull-out card.
So far I can tell you I do not care for the softboxes – perhaps I have not figured out what they are supposed to do but in any case I don’t care for them.
The build quality of the UberCard’s is interesting, to say the least. They don’t fit onto my 580 as snugly as I would care for either. So I don’t see that I will be using either of these much.
As to the others – I really want to use them a lot more before I pass any judgments. One point of reference – The Shell and Gary Fong’s Lightsphere take up quite a bit more space in the camera bag than the others, so if this is of importance for you its might be something to consider.
