Saturday, January 8, 2011

Double Diffused

Double Diffused
I was reading an article in a photography magazine about lighting with hot-shoe flashes by one of the best in the biz, Joe McNally. He was diffusing his Nikon SB-900s through more than one layer - a shoot through umbrella and a translucent reflector. I've done stuff like this with powerful studio strobes but never thought to soften my flashes in this manner - I was afraid I would lose too much power. Being that my Canon 580exII is about as powerful as Joe's SB-900 I decided to try and make some extra soft light myself. I used a homemade softbox and then a shoot through umbrella(coming at me from left and up) - I used a second flash to light the background and a bit of my right side. I was happy with the quality of the light and still had enough power for a decent aperture. This little experiment was great because I'll now feel more creative in the diffusers I'll be willing to use on my small strobes.

Wes & Laura
Later that evening my friend Wes stopped by for a bit and I still had my new set-up on the light stand. I had him and my girlfriend strike a few quick poses in front of my lights.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Tat picture of Wes and Laura is great!

-K