Don't get scammed by Gary Fong ... how to get soft light with your flash.

Рет қаралды 8,923

4 ай бұрын

Don't get scammed with all of those light modifiers out there that promise to diffuse light. They don't work how you think they do. This is how to get soft light from you flash without any of those things.
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Пікірлер: 67

@bernadetaserafin2760 Ай бұрын

Have you shot with Gary Fong at night in open space? No ceiling, nothing to bounce light off of. I have, shot many events at night and I can assure you Gary Fong works and it does diffuse light.

@jm3231 Күн бұрын

LOL I got scammed. Twice!! As a beginner I mistakenly thought the same thing about the fongs softening the light. Years later I learnt how to bounce my on camera flash. I now use a black card strapped with a hair tie to the flash to bounce and direct the light. This is such a great vid. And funny.

@Lexielmore 3 ай бұрын

I love all of this! I would also love a video on these topics: - Do you use fill flash outside on wedding days? If so, when? - How exactly do you bounce your flash for toasts, speeches, dances, etc? I'm a little confused about where you position/angle them. Thanks for your insights!!

@lestsauce 4 ай бұрын

This video is actually so important and something that every photographer needs to know

@joshuataliaferro 4 ай бұрын

dude so good.

@momentumvisualfactory9078 4 ай бұрын

Basics. Lots of people get into photography without knowing / learning basics. And lots of youtubers are preaching... well, false truth :-) Recomendation to new and/or young photographers - buy any photography book printed before 2000. 🙂Good luck to all...

@jhicks1774 16 күн бұрын

Thanks! Good info.

@BablisDimos 3 ай бұрын

What do we do when we have a huge room with a ceiling height of 8 to 10 meters, while the walls are also very far away..?

@jasonbodden8816 Ай бұрын

The dome does diffuse light but it doesn’t actually make the light softer, just more pleasing. So you can’t just tell people what you’re saying without clarifying that because that’s important. Diffusion itself only pertains to specularity, not actual softness.

@jeremiblurton_yt 4 ай бұрын

Same with some of the Magmod stuff.

@jbello9398 4 ай бұрын

Yes, guilty here!😂😂

@1Soul1337 4 ай бұрын

can you talk about lighting placements? especially one light? I want to learn outdoor flash photography or even if it was doing products inside a store but I haven't found someone who could talk about that

@quagmire321able 4 ай бұрын

For outdoors flash photography, if you are using on camera flash, just point it straight on and dail down the power to fill. Nothing to bounce. But for off camera, single flash and human subjects, my general starting point is have the flash around 45degrees above and to the side of the subject's face. Start with a lower power, shoot slightly backlit.

@AGag47 4 ай бұрын

No regard to whether there are no walls (large event spaces), colored walls, no ceilings, colored ceilings, reflective objects off the walls such as frames, mirrors in smaller venues etc. I don't use the Fong but I have used the Magsphere, only because you just pop that sucker on. While the Sphere is overhyped, there are situations where it can compensate for difficult lighting conditions.

@CoolTatts Ай бұрын

I use the 20mm diffuser on my SB910 during direct daylight so I can fill shadows (at -1/3 TTL) while reducing the harsh flash at the subject. Making it easier on their eyes. It’s not a Gary Fong but uses the same principles. Am I wrong?

@jaytcapinpin 4 ай бұрын

Some examples would be great.

@MarcusSortijas 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for spreading the word about those dome diffusers. How do you handle situations where you cannot bounce a flash because the walls and ceilings aren’t white? Or you’re outside? Learned about these flash modifiers from KZfaqrs that have worked well for me. I like to use a “black foamie thing” as taught by Neil Van Niekirk if I’m in a room with white walls. Anywhere else, I use a Rogue FlashBender (thanks to Omar Gonzalez). To be fair, you could attach a 3x5 white index card to a flash with a rubber band and get similar results. Love your flash photography tips. Hope to see more. Your pictures are beautiful.

@lukewtcleland 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching! That's a whole other video. I plan on making one dealing with different colours than white. Outside, you find anything, side of a building etc, but otherwise you need to use direct flash or video light of some type. Or, yes bring something to bounce the light off, the bigger the softer the light. Thank you!

@ecobooster8298 4 ай бұрын

That's easy. Learn off-camera flash. You'll never have to depend on a ceiling or clouds.

@jasonbodden8816 Ай бұрын

@@lukewtcleland Sometimes that's just not feasible and an on camera flash modifier is the best way to go. The light isn't soft but it's much better than bare flash. They aren't a scam at all, just the marketing for them is a scam (as you said). And by the way, diffuse doesn't necessarily mean soft. You can have harder, diffuse light and soft, diffuse light. Diffusion and softness are not the same thing. The marketing is a scam as the light isn't soft BUT it looks more pleasing, even outside when you have no buildings or any surfaces to bounce off of. Let's face it, there are MANY times when outdoor events are in the middle of some field where there are no buildings or ceilings to bounce off of, where bringing a reflector to bounce off of would just not be feasible. So I'm with you as far as the bullsh*t marketing about these making soft light. However, The Gary Fong and modifiers like it have their place. We'll disagree that they're of no use outdoors because it's just not true.

@shutterhead 4 ай бұрын

I need to start engaging in the comments of your vids. Agree here 100%. Is interesting because in and of itself bouncing a flag off the ceiling can create some unflattering looks but if you experiment enough it’s like bouncing it off the clouds. Love your vids man.

@gerhardsteinhofer 4 ай бұрын

A little bit offtopic, but it would be very interesting what do you do if you are booked for a wedding and not able to photograph the wedding because you are ill or injured. Was already such a case in the past? What will be your Plan B if this happens in the future? It would be very nice if you could make a video about this topic.

@caleidoo 4 ай бұрын

I could write a book of seeing other photographers - pro and amateur - misusing and misunderstanding how on-camera flash works. The best ones are the ones using a tiny diffuser dome outside in the open, to light up a subject in front of them, or even better, pretty far away. I always want to tell them whether they really think their flash light is strong enough to hit the clouds and bounce back onto their subject. Maybe dial in +1 just to be sure. Or if they brought enough batteries to shoot all around the landscape and only let 20% light up their subject. I understand people using domes and big plastic ones on their flash INDOOR, but I'm not a fan of the look and the flatness it brings, when you light up a whole room on all sides, 360°. My style is more a directional bounce, like I'm walking around with a nice big natural light window with soft cloudy weather outside, shining on my subject(s). If that doesn't work, I just don't use flash.

@viciwo3396 4 ай бұрын

All these modifiers for on-camera flash are not necessary if you have a white wall or neutral colored-wall to bounce your flash. I have a flash bender and only use it only when there is nothing to bounce my flash on.

@oluobasanu4299 4 ай бұрын

So what do you advice for when the ceiling or wall is far away.

@ecobooster8298 4 ай бұрын

off-camera flash

@AGag47 4 ай бұрын

How convenient...insert sarcasm@@ecobooster8298

@kennethlui2268 4 ай бұрын

I used to use Gary Fong diffuser a lot. Now I don’t. It is too bulky and awkward to use. Bounce if walls and ceilings are not too far away. Use the white card on the flash. Lower the strength of the flash and ensure ambient light is not underexposed.

@jasonbodden8816 Ай бұрын

The white card on the flash is absolute balls. Better to use a modifier than that little piece of crap. Fyi, the main purpose of those built-in bounce cards that come standard with speedlights is to just give some semblance of a catchlight, not to give any kind of even remotely flattering light. They're just so the eyes of your subject don't look completely dead.

@leftycrafter 3 ай бұрын

But some rooms have massive ceilings or are a funky color ... how will that impact the result?

@jasonbodden8816 Ай бұрын

You wouldn’t use a Gary Fong Lightsphere in a case like that because the light is going to pick up that color and bounce it everywhere, including on to your subject.

@tonyhayes9827 4 ай бұрын

hang on a minute...are you saying marketing is misleading? I'm horrified! Lighting 101 and already I'm disillusioned! Lol! Great vid Luke.

@lukewtcleland 4 ай бұрын

hahah

@bananaman-zd4lq 4 ай бұрын

I shoot my flash at a reflector to bounce it around the room to get soft light but something I've noticed is that if I shoot a couple times really fast and then look at the pictures side by side, there is a slight colour shift and the brightness doesn't seem exactly the same. I use a Godox v860iii. Is there something wrong with my flash or do flashes just not have perfect consistency? sidenote, I dropped my flash yesterday and now when it turns on it makes a weird noise, anybody know what that could be? Thank you

@lukewtcleland 4 ай бұрын

A reflector works great to bounce light! Yes my guess is that flash isn't very consistent. Dropping it probably didn't help. Not sure what could be wrong, haven't dealt with fixing gear like that.

@bananaman-zd4lq 4 ай бұрын

@@lukewtcleland is the v1 more consistent?

@linusfotograf 4 ай бұрын

My problem is when shooting in spaces with dark ceilings and walls.

@lukewtcleland 4 ай бұрын

Yeah there is no easy way around that one. Flash bouncing will work, you will just have to adjust for colour casts, and need a lot of power.

@joelkuhn5704 4 ай бұрын

@@lukewtcleland Or use something like a Gary Fong or Magsphere!

@caleidoo 4 ай бұрын

@@lukewtcleland Or just bump up the ISO, the cameras can handle it. Combine that with fast glass wide open and you're almost always good to go. Only the rare very high ceiling totally black non-reflective venue is going to stop you then.

@Shot_Geek 4 ай бұрын

I understand what you’re trying to say but it’s not really correct. If you bent the light over and pointed these diffusers at the subject then I’d be on board with you. Using your own logic, by using these modifiers to spread the light to more surfaces, and then that light bouncing back from more surfaces to the subject, you will get a larger area coverage and as such a softer light. When you just bounce the flash off a wall or ceiling you are creating a directional hot spot of light with some diffusion of the closest walls and ceilings. This works great when you want to give the impression of light direction. The only negative I notice when using these diffusers is the 1 stop of light loss (ceiling height depending)

@lukewtcleland 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for your comment! I love a good discussion. I would disagree. That larger area of coverage would only matter if you were only ever a few feet from a wall and ceiling at all times. (That's actually where these diffusers would work, if you were in really tight areas all the time) The spread on most flashes is pretty broad, and once you get any distance from a wall the difference between using a diffuser and not is minute or even not noticeable. And in most realistic wedding scenarios, which is where I am coming from, that loss in power is actually worse than having a slightly bigger spread on the reflective light. If you're only getting hot spots, and very directional lighting from using a flash, then I would say your not bouncing in the correct areas. But to your point, if you want no directional light at all, then using a gary fong type thing would work. But you could still do the same thing with a flash. Because I do it all the time. It just depends on how the room is set up etc. And my whole point is you can achieve very similar if not better flash results by not using it (in my opinion, and in my style). And one last thing that I didn't mention in the video, which has always bothered me about these type of diffusers, and no one talks about - is that they cast a harsh spot of light if you are close to the subject, and its not aiming completely away. That is why when I had the gary fong I could never figure out why I was still getting a little bit of harsh light. Unless it's faced away from the subject you always get that direct light from the diffuser, causing harsh light. Thanks for watching and giving your thoughts!

@noelitocamacho8673 4 ай бұрын

@@lukewtcleland WHAT IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A CEILING OR A WALL TO BOUNCE YOUR FLASH WHAT IS THE SOLUTION

@philipsutton8921 4 ай бұрын

Ha, Ha dude - I love this so much. You are so correct and I hope all the GF aficionados now have their noses out of joint. For all my paid gigs (always hot and sunny here in Perth, Western Australia), and unfortunately they are all between about 10am and 3pm, I always shoot HSS, TTL, fill flash outodoors. The other way you make it really soft Luke, is to get really close to your subject. I see the other pro's around the traps and they stand back with their 70-200 lenses and blast away (all their subjects have racoon eyes because of the sun). I shoot everything up close with my Z24-70 2.8s, mostly around 24mm - 35, with my Godox V1 in their faces. My images are incredibly soft and gorgeous and that is why I'm the only photographer now for the organiser of all the major events here in Perth, WA. Also - my V1 doesn't have a Gary Fong attached - he he!

@samarianosans 4 ай бұрын

can I see your website ?

@lukewtcleland 4 ай бұрын

Haha. Awesome! Great to hear, yes that's the whole sun illustration, the closer the light source the softer the light. Great to hear you're doing well! Thanks for watching from Western Australia!

@bananaman-zd4lq 4 ай бұрын

I would also like to see some examples/your website edit: I looked up your name and Perth and found your website, very nice photos. Do you point the flash directly at the subject with no diffuser when shooting midday? I'm wondering because one of your blog posts seemed to imply you use some kind of diffuser so I'm wondering how you get those nice looking midday photos

@NicBox 4 ай бұрын

It’s about understanding quality and direction of light - been shooting with a 70-200 for over 20 years and never had ‘racoon eyes’ (slight exaggeration!). Although I don’t envy you shooting in Australian midday sun 😀 (BTW, most of my subjects now are horses which might explain the lack of racoon eyes!!)

@lukewtcleland 4 ай бұрын

@@NicBox Good point. You can shoot in harsh light, with no flash, with a 70-200 and get beautiful images! Know how to deal with the direction of light, and shade etc is huge.

@NateThach 4 ай бұрын

Gary Fong has entered the chat…

@lukewtcleland 4 ай бұрын

LOL

@jbello9398 4 ай бұрын

😂😂😂

@TomSparks 4 ай бұрын

Fong Tupperware!

@quagmire321able 4 ай бұрын

Lol... So you got Gary Fong'ed... Not even sure if they are still popular now. I remembered when they were popular in my country, everyone had one but I refused to pay that much for a piece of plastic 🤤 For events indoors, this is how I work : bounce if I can; if not use the white card as bounce, point flash head upwards if whitish ceiling; if not, just direct flash to fill 🤓 IMO, flash diffusers do work for events but only in very specific scenarios like group photos / portraits for a small group or less when you can't bounce (black/dark ceiling or outdoors). I might carry one in my bag but they don't get used much. Yes, I finally bought a couple of cheap flash diffusers

@ravenwolf51 3 ай бұрын

Gary Fong isn't scamming anyone. How dare you slander in such a way for profit. There are scammers in China producing a lower quality product putting Gary Fongs name on it. Maybe make sure you are purchasing from a reputable supplier affiliated with Gary Fong.

@MarinaGarrison 3 ай бұрын

Seems to me that you didn’t understand how the diffuser worked or when to use it despite Gary Fong’s channel having dozens of demo videos with before and after. I don’t think it’s a scam at all - he explains when and why you might want one - but that’s a decision each photographer needs to make. Instead you are “clickbaiting” with your title and disparaging someone’s reputation. No I won’t be subscribing thank you.

@Slicktune Ай бұрын

Shhhhhh grown men are at battle here.

@jasonbodden8816 Ай бұрын

Actually, I’ve seen a bullsh*t video by Gary Fong where he was trying to get us to believe that in a huge palace with ridiculously high ceilings that you can’t bounce light off in a million years, that he got the huge, gorgeous light he showed us in the final image of his model in a gorgeous, long dress in a huge staircase. And there was absolutely no way a single GF Lightsphere was giving that lighting in that location space. So yes, he did have suspicious marketing BUT having said that, the GF Lightsphere is very useful when you know what to expect in different scenarios.

@rgl168 2 ай бұрын

This dude talks crap for over 7 minutes and doesn't even show examples of the photo results, with or without Lightsphere, demoing various techniques, where to bounce the light, etc.

@lukewtcleland 2 ай бұрын

There’s even longer videos where I talk even more crap!

@dougmckillop9352 Ай бұрын

@@lukewtclelandGood response. I like your “crap” - keep it up! 👍

@rgl168 Ай бұрын

@@lukewtcleland If you like to talk crap then apply to be on a political campaign team