Documenting a 50th Birthday Party

**MJS** · 03-05-2008, 09:04 PM

I've been using the lumiquest diffusers for years with great results. I will be trying one of the fong units in the not to distant future. When in a real rush, I just go with the diffuser supplied with my SB800 and point the flash straight up when the cieling is at a normal height and is white. I will tell you that the smaller difusers are useless at distances over 10 feet, they just become large point lights, so save the f/stops and pull the thingees off after the 10 foot mark. The TTl cord and stroboframe are a fantastic tool for events. Lots less redeye and nice shadows. I actually use mine wit a photoflex small softbox for up close and personal events.

**gahspidy** · 03-06-2008, 12:32 AM

Originally Posted by MJS

I've been using the lumiquest diffusers for years with great results. I will be trying one of the fong units in the not to distant future. When in a real rush, I just go with the diffuser supplied with my SB800 and point the flash straight up when the cieling is at a normal height and is white. I will tell you that the smaller difusers are useless at distances over 10 feet, they just become large point lights, so save the f/stops and pull the thingees off after the 10 foot mark. The TTl cord and stroboframe are a fantastic tool for events. Lots less redeye and nice shadows. I actually use mine wit a photoflex small softbox for up close and personal events.

Mike, is that the 12x16" softbox that mounts over the flashead? I was thinking of getting that as well. I just purchased the Photoflex Medium Lite dome softbox with hardware and mounting to shoot my 580 EX ll through it on a light stand. they say that is the biggest box they would recommend for the shoe flash. I am going to experiment with it tomorrow.

**MJS** · 03-06-2008, 06:35 PM

You got it, the 12 x 16 works pretty good for a single hair and shoulder light and isn't totally unwieldy on the flash frame at events, provided you stay within the 10 distance. I have a few small umbrellas, so I didn't bother with the medium size for my portable strobes. I can go bigger if need be with the studio stuff.

**photophorous** · 03-10-2008, 07:58 PM

Well, I did it. I can't say I got any great shots, but I definitely learned a thing or two. I didn't even think about having focus problems, but my auto focus was very unreliable. Several times it wouldn't focus at all and it was too dark to focus manually. I used the flash on full auto TTL mode and sometimes it worked great. Other times it severely under exposed, and I had to crank it up as much as 2 stops. I also took a few with the 50 f/1.8 wide open at 1600 ISO.

All in all, I think I got enough good shots to make the birthday boy happy (considering my minimal fee of three Bud Lights and some chips and queso). I'm not sure if I want to do anything like this again, but if I do, I think I'll be a little better off for having done this. Thanks for the help. Here's a few that run the gamut:

1. The birthday boy, with his wife and daughters.
2. Birthday boy on bass. The whole family plays instruments, so the band let them do a couple of songs.
3. His brother on the keyboards.
4. It got kinda wild by the end of the night.