You would point the flash head towards the ceiling or a wall and not directly at the subject. This will cause the ceiling or wall to act as a big defuser and it will seriously soften the light for you and give a more natural look.
First off, you need an external flash as it can't be done effectively with an onboard unit, Most newer flash units both swivel & tilt, making it easier to bounce the light. If you are in venues where there isn't a low ceiling to bounce the light off of or the surface is colored, you can buy bounce cards that fit on the flash head to do the same thing. I personally use a "Joe Demb" unit & it works great....Here is a link to his products
www.dembflashproducts.com/
Screamin Scott wrote: First off, you need an external flash as it can't be done effectively with an onboard unit, Most newer flash units both swivel & tilt, making it easier to bounce the light. If you are in venues where there isn't a low ceiling to bounce the light off of or the surface is colored, you can buy bounce cards that fit on the flash head to do the same thing. I personally use a "Joe Demb" unit & it works great....Here is a link to his products
www.dembflashproducts.com/
I guess I should have just waited for this reply instead of asking my own question about bouncing on board flash. lol Thanks.
I've tried it, and if you don't have an external flash it might be worth fiddling with (dial in extra flash comp), but I agree with Scott: a speedlight is the way to go.
Light that's pointed right down the lens axis is flat and tends to give us the snapshot look. A flash is also a very small light source which results in hard light. Bouncing the light off something changes the direction and increases the size of the light source. You can bounce off walls and ceilings, paper, curtains, concrete, anything.... Once I had a friend hold open his jacket to bounce off his white T-shirt and light colored jacket lining.
Bouncing increases the distance the light has to travel, and you lose 2 stops every time the distance is doubled. Textured surfaces may also reduce the amount of light bouncing. Lighter tones bounce more light than dark tones, and the bounced light will take on a color cast if the surface is colored. I love white ceilings.
In the photo below I positioned the couple so I could use the street lamp as a hair light, and turned the flash so it would bounce off the wall to my left.
Thank goodness for AF that can see in the dark. We were standing in a pitch black field for the one below. I bounced the flash off the white wedding tent.
I've tried it, and if you don't have an external flash it might be worth fiddling with (dial in extra flash comp), but I agree with Scott: a speedlight is the way to go.
Light that's pointed right down the lens axis is flat and tends to give us the snapshot look. A flash is also a very small light source which results in hard light. Bouncing the light off something changes the direction and increases the size of the light source. You can bounce off walls and ceilings, paper, curtains, concrete, anything.... Once I had a friend hold open his jacket to bounce off his white T-shirt and light colored jacket lining.
Bouncing increases the distance the light has to travel, and you lose 2 stops every time the distance is doubled. Textured surfaces may also reduce the amount of light bouncing. Lighter tones bounce more light than dark tones, and the bounced light will take on a color cast if the surface is colored. I love white ceilings.
In the photo below I positioned the couple so I could use the street lamp as a hair light, and turned the flash so it would bounce off the wall to my left.
Thank goodness for AF that can see in the dark. We were standing in a pitch black field for the one below. I bounced the flash off the white wedding tent.
think you may need to unlock those photos Henry, and I agree with henry and Scot
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