Thursday, September 10, 2009

Some new flash toys to play with!

In August I took IFLC's Flash I class and learned all about the various accessories we could get to use with our external flash units. Unfortunately by the time I saw all there was to order, it was the last class. Even though class was over, I went ahead and placed an order for a few of the basics (a flash sync cord to take the flash off of the camera, a pocket bouncer to soften the light and a gel holder to hold colored gel filters, which add color to the flash light).

I was so excited when I saw the Amazon boxes arrive at the office this week and pulled out a few of the new items to test them tonight.

Here's a comparison of taking a picture of my dog in the living room using my external flash with my new LumiQuest Pocket Bouncer attached:

Versus just using the external flash with no pocket bouncer (Rod taught us to always take a comparison shot):
Without the bouncer the light is way too harsh.

Here's a sampling of playing with the colored gel filters (the holder came with a handful of colors, but I'm looking to get more)...

Red filter:
Blue filter:
Green filter:
And lastly, a golden filter:
Fun stuff - next I will practice with my sync cord and bouncing the flash off of walls, ceilings and floors. And who knows what else I may find to order...I mean, since my travel schedule conflicted with the IFLC's course schedule this month, I'm justifying spending the money I would have spent on class on gadgets!! :) And I just want to sent a shout out to my buddies from Flash I - hope you ladies are still practicing and ordered some toys to play with, too!

6 comments:

  1. Mary-Jean,

    Lovely model. Neat photos too. The one with the pocket bouncer is so good and it is nice to see the straight flash to compare.

    I too got some stuff mostly after my classes were over...for using my flash but so far haven't done much. You are inspiring me to get going.

    Dorothy

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  2. Mary Jean
    Haven't had the opportunity to take the flash course, thats next. Your 1st photo using the pocket bounce and your model of course is great,especially the black background. Just using the external flash added too much to the background. Thanks for the comparison. How unique & creative you can be with photography using the gel filters

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  3. Thanks, Ladies. It looks like when using the red and blue filters I would need to increase the power of the flash to have the subject be a bit better lit, but the green and gold filters don't cut the light source as much. I definitely need lots more practice, but it's fun to experiment. My brother just asked me to be the photographer at his baby's baptism...nothing like a little pressure! I will definitely be using the flash! MJ

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  4. Love them...especially the one with the green filter!

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  5. Mary-Jean

    Love your dog pictures. Just taking Flash 1 and Monday is the last class. I just ordered the color pack for my flash. The green and red dog pictures pushed me over to order.

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  6. Thanks - I just had to try the colored filters when they came in, but it was night time and the dog was the only available model...I'm looking forward to playing with them outside when I get a chance and then I'll post my findings!

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