Bouncing Flash !!

A single strobe gives hard shadows because it is a small sized source of light. The only way to soften the light, is to make the source of light larger. The most effective way of doing this with on-camera flash, is to bounce it.

If you bounce the flash off a wall to the side of you, or behind you, then the source of light relative to the subject, is much larger than if you had shot with the flash straight on. There is a world of difference.

By bouncing off the ceiling, you will also soften the light - if you’re using the correct angle. And here I want to stress something again - shooting with an omnibounce at 60′ (or 45′), should not be a default way of using flash. For the best result, some thought needs to be put into how you use flash.
Remember, the angle of reflectance = angle of incidence. You have to be aware of how close you are to the subject, and how high the ceiling is, and the angle of your strobe’s head. Keep in mind that the intended result is to have no discernable flash shadow.

If I bounce my flash by tilting and swiveling it, I get to bounce the light at an angle - away from the subject. Then the light that comes back, appears more directional. There are areas of shadow and light. Bounce flash need not look flat. By keeping the basic physics in mind of angles of incidence and reflectance, it is usually easy to figure out where to bounce from to enhance the available light, or how to make the bounce light soft but directional.

I mostly shoot with TTL flash (whether D-TTL or i-TTL or e-TTL) when I shoot with on-camera flash. Off-camera flash is usually easier to deal with as manual flash.

Since I shoot with TTL, I don’t often use the full power that the strobe is capable of, unless I’m using the flash at the extreme end of what it can push out. If your flash is your main source of light, it is important that you stay within the range of the flash’s output capabilities, with an appropriate ISO and aperture selection.

Bouncing your flash also reduces your flash’s output considerably - but your flash will compensate for this loss automatically if you shoot in TTL or Auto mode on the flash.

That is, if you stay within the flashgun’s power range. The direction I bounce in, depends on:

- where is the nearest or most convenient wall,
- which direction I need the flash to fill in from.