Nikon SB-600 Bounce flash test with Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce

All photographers know that using direct flash is a big no-no -- it is absolutely the last resort, no-other-trick-up-our-sleeves kind of light. It produces harsh shadows and the typical washed out colors associated with flash photography. Strobist.com is a great resource for off-camera flash and strobe techniques. However in this post we at IDIC Photo explore the next best thing to off-camera flash -- bounce flash. Most external flashes provide the ability to change the angle of the flash lamp so that it can be bounced off the ceiling or a wall (white ceilings and walls work best for obvious reasons). Even the excellent $100 Nikon SB-400 can be used in bounce mode. In this post we present various shots taken with the Nikon SB-600 with direct flash, bounce flash at different angles, and then bounce flash with a Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce attached to diffuse light.

First, the setup: a doll and stuffed toy serve as our subjects. Nikon D40 mounted on a Manfrotto tripod. All shots were taken with the Nikon 18-200mm VR at 65mm in Apperture-priority mode (F5) and Auto-ISO. There was some tungsten-ambient light in the room but not much.








1. Direct Flash. Notice the washed-out colors and harsh shadows. The second photo below is with the Omni-bounce and even with direct flash it manages to diffuse the light and reduces the shadows to produces a more pleasing image.

SB-600 Direct flash (head facing forward

SB-600 Direct flash with Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce (head facing forward)

2. SB-600 head at 45 degrees

SB-600 Bounced 45 degrees

SB-600 Bounced 45 degrees with Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce

3. SB-600 head at 75 degrees

SB-600 Bounced 75 degrees

SB-600 Bounced 75 degrees with Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce

All images are straight out of the camera. It is clear that even though bouncing the light produces a very good result, the Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce improves that further by 1) diffusing the light even more, and 2) bouncing some light straight-back (a bounce-card effect). What I did not compare was the difference in light thrown by a bounce card vs Sto-fen. Perhaps in a future post.

Using window light for portraits

You will often hear photographers raving about window light -- especially for portraits. Scott Kelby, Joe McNally are among the few who have included examples of portraits taken with this wonderful, soft light. At IDIC Photo we try to leverage window light as well wherever possible. When doing formal portraits at a client's home, we try to setup our portable studio (background stand, muslin cloth background, fill light) near a north-facing window. This casts a beautfiul, warm light that is perfect for head-and-shoulders shots and even 3/4 portraits. An example of a portrait taken using window light (with some bounce flash and a lastolite reflector used for fill) can be viewed at http://www.idic-photo.com/gallery/5120971_hhS2h

Scott Kelby announces Lightroom 2 for Digital Photographers

IDIC Photo is a big fan of Adobe Lightroom and we have been using the Lightroom 2 Beta since it came out. Adobe nailed it as a great workflow (AND basic editing) tool needed by busy digital photographers -- whether amateur or professionals or prosumers. We are also big fans of Scott Kelby's and had no hesitation in ordering his new book on Adobe Lightroom 2 that he announced today on his blog. We will post a review of the book (and more thoughts on Lightroom 2) later.

OPEN Washington D.C. Chapter's Annual Picnic

I covered the OPEN Washington D.C. Chapter's Annual Picnic yesterday. It was at Lake Fairfax Park in Virginia and it was a HOT (and I mean 100F HOT) day! But still, the picnic was a hit with great food and fun activities for the kids. Check out some photos below converted to B&W in Adobe Lightroom or head over to the gallery at IDIC Photo to view more.

Hands on with the Nikon D700

I just got back from Ace Photo in Ashburn, Virginia where they had arranged a hands-on with the brand-new full-frame Nikon D700 (read preview at Ken Rockwell) and what an awesome camera it is! I played with it quite a bit; they had a bunch of lenses and a D3 and D300 for comparison. It is essentially a D3 in a D300's smaller body. The only negative I could see with the D700 was that the D3 and even the D300 have 100% viewfinder while the D700 is 95% (though the D700's viewfinder is physically bigger and brighter almost like the D3's which is beautiful). Like the D3, the D700 is a low-noise wonder at high ISOs and it ideal for low-light photography. As Derek from Nikon USA aptly put it -- "ISO3200 is the new ISO800".

A lot of prosumers showed up to check out the D700 and some had even ordered it already. it should be shipping by end of July for a street price of $2995.95 -- about 2K less than the D3.

Check out some of the shots I took of the D700 with a variety of lenses.

Fruit tart

My wife got this colorful, yummy-looking fruit tart today from Wholefoods market and of course, I had to shoot it before it became dessert! I used a simple white cardboard and shot it with window light, some SB-400 bounced off the ceiling for fill.

Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations Photoblog

Hello world! I'm AJ and I recently launched a photography website - www.idic-photo.com and thought having a blog focused on photos and photography would complement the site perfectly. IDIC Photo strives to provide excellent photography services at extremely competitive rates in the Washington D.C. metro area (Virginia, Maryland, D.C.).

I have also maintained a pro Flickr account for several years and my photostream has received about 30,000 views. I'll use this blog to showcase portfolio photos, other interesting shots from everyday and also to comment on photography technology in general (e.g. I plan to attend the Nikon D700 hands-on at ACE Photo tomorrow in Ashburn, VA).