I've had a Flip It, it worked well enough as a bounce card. The large ones are humorous as is the diffuser. I lost it when it blew away ontop of a car / train thing. Still haven't replaced it. I do sometimes miss the speedy transition from bounce, to bounce with fill, to direct while maintaining ok flash placement in a small package.
Havnt used it personally but have seen one being used at a wedding and saw the results.
Great bit of gear at the right price
Tim
There are just times when a good bracket makes life easier (and making good images easier). Demb gear is top notch, and less expensive than many other options.
fabiano wrote:
is that really any difference in using this rig or using the flash in the hot shoe? It seems to me that it is about the same position, only 4 inches ahead of the hot shoe.
Jammy Straub wrote:
Well he can flip it for vertical shots while keeping the flash above the axis. Other than that, it'd be almost the same as hotshoeing it.
I really like Newton brackets, but have stopped using mine in favor of an RRS WPF-1. I'm toying with the idea of retrofitting an Arca-Swiss QR plate to my Newton.
What are the rules given by that particular church? Can you set up an appointment ahead of time to see what the lighting is like when you'll be doing the actual shoot?
Run around early getting as many straight on pics of everyone early in the party with the 24-70 as mentioned so you get everyone at their Sunday best, hair immaculate, etc.
Then go to your other lenses later in the party as people relax a bit more.
If you are confident your gear won't be stolen then take everything and have fun.
I use my 800 in low ceiling places in bounce mode but if the ceiling is higher than 9ft then I pull out the white card at the top and tilt the flash about 60 degrees. You have nice fast lenses so you will be able to control how much of the background stays lit with your aperture (If there is normal room lighting). I only use my diffuser on the Sb-800 for really close up shots to try and eliminate any hot spot.
Most important thing is have fun and smile and be polite. If people don't want their picture taken don't force it then but ask later on again as they relax more.
I got this one several years ago and still use it occasionally. Use it with the SC-17(?) flash cord. It's really neat once you get used to how it works. Flash keeps its orientation to the camera even when flipped.
I really was quite surprised at how well it works for forty bucks. Only problem was mounting the head from the cable. The screw is just a tad long, so I had to stick a washer in there to allow it to tighten.
The entire bracket gives you something to carry the camera and flash with, rather than your neck. It can save you from a pain in the neck.
So i did the gig and the ceiling was not to high so i just set up wireless flash and kept on moving the flash around to compensate for the fill. I had a great time and tried to make every 1 feel comfortable. Now i have to learn how to process the pictures to make them that much better.
I also switched around on the iso settings. If the flash was far away i bumped up the iso to 2000 or 3200 and didnt use a flash. The piks do not look bad either way.
I really don't mean to sound rude, but you have this type of rig, definitely not a beginner setup, and you're asking for PP advice? Maybe I'm not understanding the question.
cputeq wrote:
I really don't mean to sound rude, but you have this type of rig, definitely not a beginner setup, and you're asking for PP advice? Maybe I'm not understanding the question.
Obviously I do know how to play around in photoshop/light room, But i am on here to learn more and if people have some sort of tips/advice to give then i would love to hear it.
eddsi wrote:
Obviously I do know how to play around in photoshop/light room, But i am on here to learn more and if people have some sort of tips/advice to give then i would love to hear it.
Does that make sense?
Yes I think so. I think if you want advice, you might post questions (or better, samples of some photos) to the "People" forum, and they can lead you in the right direction.
My only input, and this is of course opinion, is to not over-process the skin and make it look too smooth. I cannot stand fake/plastic-looking skin, and I see this technique done a lot. Mostly it comes from overprocessing either skin smoothing filters, or perhaps altering light routines/filters too strongly.
It's really hard to give advice on such a nebulous question, though, because processing styles can vary greatly between photographers or even different events and the same photographer
It's easier to say "Look here is a photo that I have processed, what should I do to improve it?" This is often what is done in the "People" forum, and trust me they will notice every minor thing wrong with your photo, but it helps you become better aware of the problems and help to fix them.
NathanHamler wrote:
Personally if the event is inside, i personally suggest using no diffuser at all, and just bounce the flash all day long...i gave up on using diffusers...you end up with too much of a direct flash look....because think about it, the subject matter is USUALLY closer to the camera than the distance it would take the light to travel up to the ceiling, and then back down....so what happens is the light leaving the flash straight ahead reaches your subject first, and the proper exposure is achieved, before the light from the ceiling or other bounced surface has a chance to affect the exposure......however, YMMV, but this has always been my experience...
Sorry Nathan, but given physics and the speed of light, 186,000 MPH, that's an erroneous assumption. The light bounced from any surface in a room, in this situation is going to get to the subject and back to the camera at essentially the same time - as far as the camera's meter is concerned. There is going to be no difference, the meter won't just see the direct to subject light before the ceiling bounce - light is just way too fast for that.
THe OP's actual location, once he got to see it, means that bounce is going to be difficult (walls in churches are usually dark, at least in Australia), and ceilings both high and dark. And one of the other problems of bouncing is colour cast—it's a great technique if the walls/ceilings are white; not so great sometimes with other colours.
I have used a variety of bounce devices; I have found the old velcro'd on Lumiquest to be the best so far and not too obtrusive, and only used for fill (so 1.5–2 stops under ambient). One of the supreme advantages of the D700 is that it really is great in low light.
I always use the FV lock button on the D700 for working out the ideal amount of fill flash (assuming the setups vary in their lighting as you move around), and I have found no problem in setting the ISO as high as 3200 if necessary, using a big aperture (low ƒ stop) for nice DOF, and a relatively fast shutter speed (1/125–250) to freeze human movement.
In my experience, using the 24-70/2.8 will get most of what your clients want, as a poster above suggested, too (I use a 35–70/2.8 for the same reason).
Re. processing: it totally depends on how consistent you were able to get the lighting ratios, IMHO. No simple answer to such as broad question. Good luck, kl
