[jeffw]

Any forum reviews on the Gary Fong flash diffuser? Some recommendations on a portable diffuser or a soft box would be helpful. I have "volunteered" to photograph a police promotion ceremony inside a board room. Flash will be necessary. Thanks for any help.

Jeff

[Class A]

Any forum reviews on the Gary Fong flash diffuser?

Save your money and get a "Black Foamie Thing" instead.

If you really want to indiscriminately throw light everywhere than just repurpose a used plastic milk bottle or similar instead of paying an insane amount of money for a piece of tupperware.

[MikeD]

lots of stuff on Youtube about diffusers. Sto Fen has been the standard for a long time, mine works well for what you are trying to do. Also Youtube has vids on how to use diffusers properly. Gary Fong makes a good one but it's really pricey. Look at the youtube reviews and see if you want to spend that much.

[Wingincamera]

Save your money and get a "Black Foamie Thing" instead.

If you really want to indiscriminately throw light everywhere than just repurpose a used plastic milk bottle or similar instead of paying an insane amount of money for a piece of tupperware.

I want to second the use of the "black foamie-thing". I use it a lot now. Here are some baptism photos I took using it. The photos have been retouched in PS to more blur the background, but in my opinion the main subject came out fine: These photos were taken with the DA 35 macro & K-S2

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Last edited by Wingincamera; 12-02-2015 at 02:34 PM.

[frogoutofwater]

I have used the Gary Fong diffuser and it worked but it was a bit fiddly and it still took up a fair bit of space in my camera bag.

I prefer the Fstoppers FlashDisc because it diffuses the light a bit more and is much more compact. I added a bit of velcro inside the disc and to my flash so that it would attach more securely.

http://www.amazon.com/Fstoppers-FlashDisc-Portable-Speedlight-Softbox/dp/B00KHBZ85E

[MikeD]

I want to second the use of the "black foamie-thing". I use it a lot now. Here are some baptism photos I took using it. The photos have been retouched in PS to more blur the background, but in my opinion the main subject came out fine: These photos were taken with the DA 35 macro & K-S2

what's a Black foamie thing?? those pics look great, I want a black foamie thing

[Tanzer]

Are you sure you need a flash? I shot a police promotion ceremony in a court room / board room earlier this year. There wasn't much motion during the ceremony, just guys standing at attention and occasionally holding up their right hand from time to time, so a slower shutter speed would have worked fine. Also the generic board room environment/surroundings allowed me to crank up the ISO a bit without huge amounts of visible noise. I wasn't going for artistic portraits, just trying to capture the event. I used my 18-135, and DFA 100 on a separate body. The 18-135 was fast enough.

But if you do need flash, I would agree the black foamie thing and a hotshoe-mounted tilt/swivel flash will be a reliable "go-to" combination for this kind of event. Google Neil van Niekerk's site for tips. You should check the room before hand to confirm the ceiling is white or neutral in color, and not ridiculously high like you might find in a wedding chapel. A normal board room should fit this criteria, but check it out before hand.

There was a local press photographer there who was wielding a softbox on a large flash bracket. I'm guessing it probably worked okay for fill, but I didn't see his results.

I have played around using a 1/2 gallon plastic milk jug and it works much better than my old Gary Fong diffuser, because it has greater surface area. But it doesn't look too professional sticking up on your camera. And anyhow, in shooting situation you describe, I think you can get better results bouncing the flash off the ceiling, or maybe a nearby wall (but probably just the ceiling will be fine).

Make sure you gel your flash to match the color temperature of the indoor lighting.

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Last edited by Tanzer; 12-02-2015 at 03:46 PM.

[Wingincamera]

what's a Black foamie thing?? those pics look great, I want a black foamie thing

The prior post had the link, here it is again:
http://neilvn.com/tangents/about/black-foamie-thing/

you can also google it and get more responses. Very cheap to make, you might already have the material at home. I purchased a 12" square of black material and a bunch of hair bands at the dollar store. The author used one of his daughter's hair bands until she complained about it.

[jeffw]

Are you sure you need a flash? I shot a police promotion ceremony in a court room / board room earlier this year. There wasn't much motion during the ceremony, just guys standing at attention and occasionally holding up their right hand from time to time, so a slower shutter speed would have worked fine. Also the generic board room environment/surroundings allowed me to crank up the ISO a bit without huge amounts of visible noise. I wasn't going for artistic portraits, just trying to capture the event. I used my 18-135, and DFA 100 on a separate body. The 18-135 was fast enough.

But if you do need flash, I would agree the black foamie thing and a hotshoe-mounted tilt/swivel flash will be a reliable "go-to" combination for this kind of event. Google Neil van Niekerk's site for tips. You should check the room before hand to confirm the ceiling is white or neutral in color, and not ridiculously high like you might find in a wedding chapel. A normal board room should fit this criteria, but check it out before hand.

There was a local press photographer there who was wielding a softbox on a large flash bracket. I'm guessing it probably worked okay for fill, but I didn't see his results.

I have played around using a 1/2 gallon plastic milk jug and it works much better than my old Gary Fong diffuser, because it has greater surface area. But it doesn't look too professional sticking up on your camera. And anyhow, in shooting situation you describe, I think you can get better results bouncing the flash off the ceiling, or maybe a nearby wall (but probably just the ceiling will be fine).

Make sure you gel your flash to match the color temperature of the indoor lighting.

The board room is at an Airport with one wall all glass. I am worried about shadows and all of the lighting is LED inside of the room. I can get some test shots to check out results .

---------- Post added 12-03-15 at 12:18 AM ----------

The prior post had the link, here it is again:
http://neilvn.com/tangents/about/black-foamie-thing/

you can also google it and get more responses. Very cheap to make, you might already have the material at home. I purchased a 12" square of black material and a bunch of hair bands at the dollar store. The author used one of his daughter's hair bands until she complained about it.

Reminds me of using lens tissue and a hair band to soften flash back in the old days ! Creative and cheap , worth a try.

[clackers]

what's a Black foamie thing?? those pics look great, I want a black foamie thing

It's called a 'flag'. I use a Rogue Bender one.

But its use is very different from that of a diffuser. It's to support your directional bounce flash technique.

The Gary Fong Lightsphere and Stofen (I have both) are not for bounce, they're to make a soft, very wide, very even light source that eliminates hard shadows, includes the background, and covers more people in a picture. Think a raised lampshade.

Both are handy. Fong make a snoot/grid with the same sort of flexible fixing to your speedlight.

[RAART]

I do like Lite-Scoop as flash modifier... BFT (black foamie thing) is good as well however I did some modifications there and glued two of them together maybe a year ago. One side white, another black... works better in my opinion. I find out afterwords that company that make Lite-Scoops have almost identical to my version of BFT, their version of bounce card but with added velcro strap. Go figure... they are charging 20USD + 4USD for SH+H. It cost me less than 10$ but I got bunch of different colors sheet at arts and craft local store. YMMV.

[Class A]

The Gary Fong Lightsphere and Stofen (I have both) are not for bounce, they're to make a soft, very wide, very even light source that eliminates hard shadows, includes the background, and covers more people in a picture.

On their own, the Fong and Stofen do not create soft and even light.

They need surrounding surfaces to work. So they are for bouncing, but not for controlled bouncing, but for for bouncing indiscriminately using everything nearby.

This lighting approach can be useful (e.g., for fill light) but it is often better to use controlled bounce to create images with depth.

[clackers]

On their own, the Fong and Stofen do not create soft and even light.

The light isn't coming directly from the speedlight, it's being re-radiated from the plastic shapes.

The Fong has a larger area than the Sto-fen, so you don't need additional surfaces.

Here, the ceiling actually *absorbs* the flash:

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

You've seen my pic in another thread, which is very directional, but it would have failed if a second person was in the subject's shadow.

Different situation, different expectation ... different gear. :-)

[Class A]

The light isn't coming directly from the speedlight, it's being re-radiated from the plastic shapes.

The plastic addon is way too small to make a significant difference.

Even much bigger pop-on softboxes for speedlights are inadequate for generating good portrait light.

The Fong has a larger area than the Sto-fen, so you don't need additional surfaces.

Excuse me, that's nonsense.

Shadows will be slightly softer as the light source is slighter larger compared to bare flash, but a Fong/Stofen will only create soft light with surfaces around to bounce from.

Here, the ceiling actually *absorbs* the flash:

1. We don't see what other bounce surfaces are around.
2. The before/after photos are not comparable regarding exposure and colour treatment.

It's an advert from the seller...

[clackers]

We don't see what other bounce surfaces are around.

Oh, come on, Class A! 😀

The top is double the surface area of a flash head.

I normally use a very small velcroed softbox at an event, but am happy with the Lightsphere, too, even without *any* surface. It's not as flimsy, important as people brush past, and stains are more washable. :-)

Check out this one if you're looking for hidden walls, reflector held by an assistant or whatever else you imagine:

Youtu.be

Youtu.be