Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce and general flash thoughts

[RobertP]

I bought one of these ridculously high priced pieces of plastic when I was getting my macro flash setup together - and I think it helped with the macro shots I have tried so far.

Since these are primarily sold for softening the light in general flash photography I took it with me last night to a party. It was my inlaws joint 40th birthday bash and i had been asked to circulate and get pictures.

I was driving so had only orange juice and the whole evening to play with flash. Never having used the Sto-Fen before I tried a few test shots in the hall before many guests had arrived. I expected the ETTL2 to mean the flash would just punch harder inside its plastic hat to give the same exposure. The pictures were under exposed

My 20D always under exposes with flash and I always have the flash set to +2/3. With the Sto-Fen I set to +1 and they were still under. Not having anything other than the back of the camera histogram and preview I played safe and did not push it further (but I should have).

Also tested the range and I could not light 10m away at f8 with the diff on - though I now think that could be for other reasons...more below.

Probably obvious to someone more used to flash work (I'm still learning) but small things in the foreground reflecting light really throw the metering. There were helium balloons with 1/4 inch white ribbons anchored to all the tables. Having one ribbon in the shot was enough to reflect the flash back and darken the shot. Things got better once I realised that

Reviewing the shots they are all underexposed by about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 stops - all recoverable. The diffuse light is definitely more flattering - so it is probably worth it just for not having to delete shots of ladies that say how horrible that picture of them is

I had fresh batteries in the flash and another set in my bag but did not expect to need them. The flash lasted 200 shots then the batteries faded. I replaced them and the ones I took out were warm. Based on previous flash use without the diffuser i would have expected the batteries to see the night out and still have more. The second set lasted a similar time but as I had no more batteries I took the Sto-Fen off towards the end. What a difference! Pictures were well exposed and the flash was ready again in 1 second instead of 5 (batteries were low).

So an interesting bit of learning. Still don't understand the exposure thing with the diffuser but I'm getting more confident with the flash now. Conclusion I suppose is the diffuser is worth having but it sure does suck power out of your flash!

Suppose I'd better include an example after all that waffle

Don't know who he is but it shows the exposure and the softer light.
As shot

And with +2 in RSE (OK maybe a touch too much but people like bright pictures )

This is where someone tells me where I went wrong....

 

[SDK^]

My 20D always under exposes when the flash (550EX) is used and like you I normally use +2/3.
I only use my Stofen when boucing off ceilings though and haven't really used it much to be honest.

Be careful when pushing exposure, in the bottom photo areas of the photo have lost detail i.e the mans blue shirt and the childs white shirt.

 

[CT]

There's actually very little wrong with your first shot there Robert. It's a tad dull but all the tones are there and it just needs a minor tweek to brighten it up. Your second version isn't it!

I'm not a huge fan of these things - I used to use them for weddings and whilst they soften the light somewhat, you still have the same basic problem in that you're producing an intense light from the same small light source, so you'll still get harsh shadows, despite the diffusion, where your subjects are near a wall for instance. I'm pretty sure I made no exposure allowance for the Stofen, and like you, I'd expect the flash to compensate for it's use - certainly at moderate distances.. This was with film though and my stuff went to a pro lab, so if there were any problems it was admirably corrected before I saw the results.

It would be interesting to see some of your under-exposed hall shots before the guests arrived, but I think you've sussed the problem, which was probably foreground objects reflecting light back to the camera and quenching the flash before the room was properly exposed. Flash can only properly expose within a very narrow plane from the camera anyway, with more distant objects being under-exposed and closer ones being over-exposed. Flash is very limited in this respect and explains the love/hate relationship photographers have with flash guns - fantastic bits of technology though they are.

Slow flash sync (metering for the ambient light) is the way to go, but it's not much use when your subjects are moving about. Some sort of portable flash bounce umbrella or reflector gives a far better spread of light, but of course they're not as convenient as these Stofen thingies.

 

[RobertP]

I did say it was probably too bright - but I know my audience for the shots and they have to be bright and clear

This should be +2/3 with diffuser

Flash range reduction device to the left

 

[CT]

Yep, look no further for the problem there - that white ribbon on the left is the villain of the piece. How high and what colour was the ceiling? You may have been able to bounce the flash off the ceiling for a much better result. Any colour casts picked up from the bounce surface can usually be corrected in RAW processing anyway, or so I've found up to yet, although I need to do more experimenting with that.

Interestingly Robert, your +2 stops exposure increase in the second shot has produced just the over-flashed shot you were trying to avoid, so your Stofen hasn't done too bad a job at all.

I find with both the 20D and the 1D that if anything, I need to reduce flash power a little - but that's without a diffuser.

 

[digitalfailure]

I've recently bought a stofen for my 430ex/20D combo and so far i've liked the results.

Re the not lighting beyond 10m's, i'm not that sure that it was designed to work like that, for normal people shots in rooms it's working great for me, I tend to give it a test exposure to see the histogram and tweak from there if needed, much depends on the ceiling tbh

 

[HIMUPNORTH]

I have a 20d / 550 EX combo and have been playing around with flash. I have found I want to remove the Stofen and reduce the flash output/underexpose to get a more natural result. This sometimes leads to more failed shots as the speeds you shoot at mean a lot more movement is picked up.

Have you tried the folded paper/card trick? set your flash up to the ceiling and use a largish piece of card held on with an elastic band rather than the pull-out plastic flash-bounce thing thats in the flash gun. This projects a healthier amount of light forward as well as provides flash bounce from the ceiling.

If you are really daring change to manual mode and dial in flash for distance to subject and choose an exposure for surroundings. A little experimentation can work but as you already know the small and overbright screen on the 20d does not always reveal the imperfections.

 

[RobertP]

The ceiling was about 3.5m and the same creamy beige colour as the walls. I am partially red green colour blind so I don't like editing colours (and WB)unless I have to, as I may get it wrong On those colour test pictures with the dots I can see both numbers - the one you see if normal colour vision and the one you see if you are colour blind.

Having looked at some previous flash pictures again I still think the biggest plus of the stofen is the more flattering light on the ladies - far less comments about how they look (in their eyes). Started the post really because I was so surprised at the way the flash had to work so hard with it on and short battery life.

A big lump of white cardboard taped to the flash might have got a few more smiles Light from the stofen is so wide there is a bounce element even when aimed direct. I think it is this lack of direction that makes the metering erratic.

I used to set flash manually back in my SLR film days. Not something I want to go back to. I'd rather let the electronics do the thinking these days

I edited the pictures with bright sunlight on the window behind the monitor....today in front of a dull window they do look a touch too bright. Not imprortant enough for the time needed to go back through them again. Another thing to remember

 

[whitewash]

strange, my 20D pretty much always over exposes a shot when i use the flash, my 580ex is pretty much always cranked down to -2/-3 simply to prevent it making the shots look overly flashed, having said that, im now using the manual settings more and more to create the effect im after