Best Diffuser Solutions.

I thought I'd start a thread about diffusers, comertially available and DiY.

If you get a flash you will notice it produces harsh light and shadows which can be very unflattering to your subject and anso cause distraction. Many people aleviate this using bounce flash and/or diffusers of various types.

You can get:

Reflectors - Does what it says reflects or partially reflects the light from the flash onto the subject.

Diffusers - light passes through to be spread out over a larger area, also reduces intensity and can change colour balance.



I've been most impressed with the results I've seen from the Lightsphere and similar diffusers. Problem is they are expensive and hard to come by in the UK.

From an other thread:

My girlfriend's uncle has both the soft and the clear lightsphere and swears by them. I have been looking at them for a while and just came up with a replacement that works just as well and costs about 2p.

I have been very pleased using the Gary Fong Lightspheres when I've borrowed them but I can't spend £50 on a cast piece of transparent plastic.

What you need:

Elastic Band
Bubble Wrap
Glue

Make a cylinder out of the bubble wrap and glue it together. Leave it to dry for a few minutes. Slide the elastic band over the top of the flash then place the now dry bubble cylinder over the top of the flash which has been rotated to the same 90 degree angle Gary Fong recommends. Move the elastic band over the cylinder and hey presto, lightsphere equivalent for 2p!

Sounds like Blue Peter...

Here is one I made earlier:




The great thing about this is you can also build a whole range of accessories go with it just as cheaply

PS. The contraption I made is very tall but you can roll it down to change the hight and how it diffuses the light.



Please feel free to discuss and contribute with your own ideas

Clarky has developed at great length the MBD ( Milk Bottle Diffuser) which I have tried and it is pretty good. Try a double layer as well as a single. The locating mechanism is equally exotic in my case: a rubber band!
Seriously though, make sure there is a small gap (approx 1 cm or more) between the flash and the diffuser so that heat can escape from the flash unit. With repeated discharges you could wreck your expensive flash gun.
I wouldn't strap bubble wrap around tight like that.

My preferred method is to make a bounce card out of a piece of paper and a rubber band (see eg http://www.abetterbouncecard.com/).

The principal is basically the same as the Whale Tail, but made out of paper. You can't get any cheaper than that and almost as good as a lightsphere

It has attracted negative comments though about not looking professional when I've taken pictures using it at a few functions

R