Bounce the light

Bring a little softness to your images

NO FLASH

he hardness or softness of light depends on the relative size of the light source, and how far the light is from what its illuminating. So while direct sunlight is very hard, on an overcast day the whole sky acts as a giant diffuser, effectively increasing the surface area of the light source, so the quality of light is much softer. Similarly, a ashgun produces a fairly direct, harsh light that can be unattering for portraits and makes for poor still life images, but by using the bounce and swivel features of a ashgun you can redirect the light to reect off ceilings or walls. Naturally, this works best if the ceiling is quite low, or the wall is nearby, and theyre white or off-white in colour (you can always correct a colour cast later if

reected light creates one). After bouncing back off a large area of ceiling or wall, the size of the effective light source is greatly increased, and therefore produces a much softer light. Another neat trick is to use the ashgun off-camera. With Canon bodies like the 7D and mid-range cameras like the 600D onwards (but not the 100D), you can use the pop-up ash as a wireless master. This gives the option of using the ashgun off-camera, giving you more exibility over its placement. For example, you can position the ashgun high and to one side of a portrait sitters face, for a more artistic and threedimensional modelling effect. If your camera doesnt act as a wireless commander you can use a remote ashgun cord, which costs about 50.

DIRECT FLASH

BOUNCE FLASH

With no ash this image is gloomy, Direct ash creates a harsh light. Bounce ash gives a more natural, even illumination