Current Setup (K7, Metz 48, 18-55 WR)

Just took a quick shot for Facebook to show my current club/gig photography setup, and figured I'd put it up on here as well while I was at it




Taken with my old K100D, in my kitchen (laptop on top of the toaster; a perfect exhibition stand, eh?)

Don't the other togs in the pit complain about that diffuser??? Wouldn't a simple plastic clip on one be more appropriate????

Some information about the diffuser wouldn't go amiss, is it homemade or commercially available?

so thats two things for your shopping list

1 clip on diffuser
and some kitchen roll

actualy i like your diffuser.it looks a lot better than the similar one i made for my wireless flash.

It's an Opteka SB-5 "medium" softbox; lit area is around 8"x5", and luckily doesn't interfere with the AF assist beam from the Metz.

I got mine off eBay for about £20 with the additional "deluxe" cinch strap which means you can pop it onto any flash in a matter of minutes - or about 30 seconds with practice - useful if I need to switch to my Starblitz 3200BT for a bit more extra oomph.

http://opteka.com/sb10-1.aspx

I mostly use it when I'm doing club photography, as a) people instantly notice you as "the photographer" and grab you to have their shot taken, and b) it's FAR more effective than a stofen or even a lightsphere as the area is much larger, and therefore gives a much softer light. Ideally I'd want an even larger one for doing group shots; this works best when no more than 6 feet away from the subject, so single/duo portraits generally come out much better than groups.

Here's a couple of examples of shots with the softbox:










It folds down flat so I usually just slip it in my satchel and take it out if/when its needed Much more convenient than the DIY one I was using previously; an Ariel Excel Gel bottle with a hole cut in the top of it. People kept asking what it was, and I kept telling them to smell it; an interesting conversation starter, but not particularly professional

I actually bought a (knock off) Stofen but to be honest all they really do is force your flash to fire harder to provide the same amount of light on the subject. The softness of the light is purely a factor of the surface area of your light source, so in order to soften the light you need to increase the size of your light, or the relative size to your subject by getting closer. A softbox for close-ups and ceiling bounce with a bit of front-fill for groups tends to work well.

For the latter, a pot noodle tub (ideally king size) with a hole cut in the bottom and the label removed is a pretty good DIY solution, as it gives you the front fill (technically omnidirectional fill, which will also bounce off any nearby vertical surfaces like walls, or even glass) while still letting the majority of the light bounce off the ceiling. Much better than your average bounce card tbh.

Thought I'd update this with the latest kit beauty shot:




The K-x on the right replaced the K-7 for club work; along with a modified K-7 battery grip which fits nicely on the bottom of the K-x and makes it a LOT easier to handle.

However, the K-x may well be about to be retired in favour of my new Samsung NX11, depending on how it performs next Saturday. Biggest problem seems to be lack of an affordable flash for it :-

Anyway, here's pretty much all the stuff taken so far with the K-7 and K-x
http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/albums/?id=238186699572519

Can't you use the Pentax af360 on the NX11???

Unfortunately not; Samsung completely redesigned their dedication protocols for the NX series; Pentax flashes won't even fire when mounted, even on manual.

Hell, certain non-dedicated flashes won't even fire either; I've actually only found ONE flashgun in my crateful which fires, and that's the Praktica BC2400... it's all very odd :-