# Flash photography how to shoot subjects that are very close



## map101 (May 10, 2016)

After some experiments and other discussion on this forum I bought Rogue Flashbender. It was great for portraits. But, at events, it first of all felt heavy and difficult to manoeuvre through the crowd. Unless I was stationary which is not the case in events. Also, flash kept tilting down with its weight if I didn't hold the camera upright. Lastly, for subjects a bit far off I felt it wasn't that effective. What are you thoughts? Am I using Flashbender in the right way? After all there are limitations when flash is on camera. Flash I am using is EX600. Body is 5d Mark ii.

So on the event I went back to bouncing flash off the ceiling with a bit of a tilt. Luckily I got low ceiling so it worked great. Only problem is that I needed to be far in order to bounce with flash towards the ceiling with a bit of a tilt 75 degrees I imagine (90 degree being straight up facing the ceiling). However, every time the subject was close to me I was stuck. Didn't know what to do as bouncing flash straight up on the ceiling without tilt would make the light would fall awkwardly on the subjects and much stronger on their head. And with the tilt I needed to be much farther back for light to create an angle. Wanted to know how to we get around this when subjects are close? Where do we face our flash in this case? Secondly, what if the ceiling is high, which happens to be the case in some event locations? Ideas ...

Thanks in advance


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## astroNikon (May 10, 2016)

I don't do many events. But I use a different flash bounce.  It has supportive sides, and dependent upon how much you push up the sides you can change the angle from the flash head itself, of course you can change the angle of the flash head too.  But it prevents it from moving around or bending around.  I don't use the velcro I use a couple rubber bands tightly wound around the head to hold it in place.   I also have the camera and flash on a StroboFlip bracket


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## Big Mike (May 10, 2016)

> Didn't know what to do as bouncing flash straight up on the ceiling without tilt would make the light would fall awkwardly on the subjects and much stronger on their head. And with the tilt I needed to be much farther back for light to create an angle.



You can turn the flash around and aim it behind you.  Or bounce off of walls if they are close by.

Light doesn't always 'bounce' off of surfaces like a billiard ball, where the reflected angle is the opposite of the incoming angle.  It only works that way when the surface has properties of what we call 'direct reflection'.  A perfect example is a mirror.

But when the surface is not a 'shiny' mirror, then it will have what we call 'diffuse reflection'.  A primary characteristic of diffuse reflection is that it reflects light evenly and equally in all directions.   So you can hit it with light from almost any direction, and it will then reflect light in all directions.  

So putting this to use, you can aim the flash onto the ceiling behind you, while shooting a subject in front of you....and you will still get light on your subject.  Of course, some of the light is scattered in all directions and much of that is wasted because it doesn't really come back to your subject....but as long as your flash has enough power (and/or the room isn't too large) it should still work well.  

If the room is too large for effective bouncing, that is where something like your flash bender comes in.  It allows you to create a larger light source, and thus a softer light (softer than bare direct flash).  The trouble is that it's not huge, and thus doesn't make much of a difference when your subject is further away.  And as you are finding out, it's harder to shoot with a big 'thing' on top of your camera.

Now, I assume that this accessory also works in a similar way to most other flash accessories in that it allows you to also bounce some light off of a wall or ceiling.  What this does, is split the light, sending some forward while letting much of it go up to (hopefully) bounce off of a surface and come back.  Again, this can work well in smaller indoor spaces, but large rooms make it more difficult.  

So as you are already seeing, using flash indoors in a large space (or outdoors for that matter) can be difficult.  Well, difficult if you are intent on bouncing the light.  Sometimes you just have to realize that bouncing isn't a viable option and you simply must use direct flash.  

The next step up would be to use off-camera flash.  This allows you to get directional light without having to bounce, plus you can use accessories that would be too large for on-camera use, like a softbox or umbrella.  Of course, you then have to carry it around (and maybe a stand to hold it), or have an assistant carry it around for you.


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## Stradawhovious (Jun 6, 2016)

Homemade bounce card

You're welcome.



I've had tons of luck with this bounce, especially with subjects that are relatively close.


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