You can also try the built in flash, with a bounce card, +5.0EV (depends on ambient light), and proper exposure can get you pretty good flash pictures too:



This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Mar 21 2007, 02:22 PM

rubber band and strap it at the bottom of the flash so that it is directly blocking the flash and bounces it off to the ceiling, some diffused light will still go through but it will do virtually nothing.

I was using the 50mm, probably around f/2.8 or f/4...you'd need iso400-800

will try to take some pix if I can get a hold of my gf's cam...probably in the next two days, or i'll try to do it with a mirror tomorrow.

My library card and Chubb card (security card) is in all white. You can just use a folded piece of white paper. Don't continuously shoot the flash whever it recharges, you risk burning the flash and card (i did this and a small burnt mark was left on the card) If you let the flash cools down properly, it will do no harm.

edit: nvm, went out and took a sample:



taken at iso 800, f/4.5, +5.0 EV, at very low light. That's the 18-70mm btw.

brighter lens help alot, and post processing might be needed, so...take raw and mess around...you'd also get different result with different cards...as in how much light could go though and how much is bounced. Of course, nothing beats a proper external flash....the postman ought to bring me my sb600 already!

This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Mar 21 2007, 03:13 PM

Yup, exposure compensation. It will not look washed out because it is not direct flash. You need to play around with the compensation because u'd get different results in different lighting conditions. Whenever you wanna do this trick and don't wanna do too much post processing, just bump the exposure compensation up. Sometimes your camera wont be able to compensate for the exposure fully and you'd need post processing to bump the exposure up, so always take in RAW. The only problem I ran into is I always forget to set the compensation level back after im done taking picture with it

Direct flash + diffuser still looks very crappy to me, bouncing is the only way. Tissue paper works fine as diffuser, but if you shoot the flash directly, you will still get hard shadows and what not. The cigarette box works well as a bouncer anyway

and yes, that's a D50...poor man like me can't afford D80

This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Mar 22 2007, 03:01 AM

using film case is diffusing, not bouncing though.

that's the traditional way of using the bounce card. The sb400 will give you most of what you'd need, but the sb600 and sb800 will give you alot more flexibility. Here's a softlight bounce card I made following this tutorial:


bounce to the front

bounce to rear wall

you can also point the flash to the side and bounce it off a side wall, all sorts of wonderful thing you can play around if your flash can rotate.

here's the original turotial:
http://www.abetterbouncecard.com/

ps: the tutorial didn't use a diffuser with the card, I chose to use it coz I find that without the diffuser, there's still some harsh shadow when taken in short distance.

This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Mar 24 2007, 02:14 AM