Help for party photography please

[wonderer]

Hi all

So I have been asked to take photos of a friends 30th birthday party. Basically she has hired a hall and wants me to go round during the evening and take a selection of both posed and candid shots.

Problem is im fairly new to using flash in these environments. I have a cheap Jessops flashgun which will be fine for the situation but I was fretting about the harsh light and the easiest way to solve it. I was thinking that one of these would solve my problem but not sure whether they do the job or not for something like this ?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0017U0WM8/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001692AFC&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1AD97GY3ZCETQ92AR1RY

It seems like the easiest option to carry around the hall all night ?

 

[HoppyUK]

They're good outside, when you have no ceiling to bounce off, but if you do, bounce-fill is the best technique.

Your Jessops gun probably has a pull-out bounce card, called a hi-lite panel or something. Pull that out, point the gun straight up, shoot. Or maybe make something a bit bigger with a piece of white card and a rubber band. Very easy. Or a Stofen-type diffuser cap which does much the same thing.

You can also drop the shutter speed to pull in some ambient light for the background.