Originally posted by skaktuss I understand it... I just need a wide angle lens to get everything in the frame, 50mm is too long for indoor party shots.
Only I don 't get this
Why off camera direct flash light doesn't make pictures look flat and ugly? It is the same harsh light that comes from on camera flash, the only difference is that flash unit is placed somewhere else, there is still the same not-softened light. Do You use just a streight pointed flash without any reflectors or diffusers?
ccodiac2600, for exaple uses whale tale diffuser.
The flatness is mostly due to the camera and the flash being together. The lack of shadows is flat and unnatural looking. Here is an image taken with the flash only about one meter away and no diffusion, but you can see from the shadows that there is a large angle between the flash and the camera:
You can use a reflector or diffuser if you want. The only diffusion I used on those first two photos was diffusion due to distance from the flash to the subject. Here is harsh (but not flat!) light from nearby flash:
And here is soft(er) light from nearby flash, but fired through a homemade softbox: