Comments on: the black foamie thing ..

By: Portrait of a Whippet | Marc de Ridder Photography

Portrait of a Whippet | Marc de Ridder Photography — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:58:13 +0000

[...] specifically caught my eye was the simplicity of it all, and Neil’s ingenuity to use ‘the black foamie thing’ for bounce flash. So the following day I went into town to hunt down some black foam. It [...]

By: Trev

Trev — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:25:56 +0000

Also, if shooting wide angle, that will make the flash spread a wider field thinking it needs to shoot wide, so manually zooming flash head in at full 200mm will help a little.

Remember, you are bouncing, so you already will get a wider return of flash and zooming in will concentrate the light tighter giving more power/range where it’s shooting to.

Trev

By: Neil vN

Neil vN — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:08:59 +0000

The BFT does cut some of the flash’s power. So if you have problems with the flash just not having enough juice, by all means do try it without the BFT.

Neil vN

By: Zach

Zach — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 23:14:00 +0000

Neil,
just wondering how much of the BFT extends out beyond the end of the flash head
when you shoot in decent size churches and large rooms. i shot a friends wedding yesterday at similar settings you would use, bouncing flash to my right and up off of the church walls during the processional. they were under exposed a bit as if the flash had little reach. could i have been cutting off power by having the BFT extending out too much? i read a reply by you on another post explaining this as a possible factor. the BFT was about 1.5″ – 2″ in front of my flash head. the church was fairly narrow.

Nikon D700
SB-900
24-70 f2.8

thanks!

By: Neil vN

Neil vN — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 03:50:36 +0000

Dro, bounce your flash into the direction you want your light to come from - just like you had set up an off-camera softbox. Then the catch-lights will be there in the eyes, nearly automatically. Neil vN

By: dro

dro — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 03:02:49 +0000

hi- Do u miss having catchlights in the eyes since you cannot use the white bounce card?

By: italiangirl

italiangirl — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:19:19 +0000

your book has finally arrived:) and I’m reading it. Unfortunately:(, I still have no idea what I could buy here that might serve the same purpose as the black foamie thing:(

By: Bipin

Bipin — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:00:56 +0000

Thanks for the reply Niel.
After I posted the question ,I saw somewhere in the comments that it is available in art stores.
I could pick one from AC Moore (found that it is also available im Michaels ,for anyone interested) and I put it to use and wow ,it brings a lot of difference and the best part is that it can be achieved under $1.
Thanks once again Niel for all the information and book.I need to get the Off Camera flash book soon :)

By: Neil vN

Neil vN — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 05:04:55 +0000

You can buy it as “art foam” from Michaels, the art supply store.

Neil vN

By: Bipin

Bipin — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:12:39 +0000

Niel,thanks you for all the great resources you are sharing.
I bought your On Camera Flash Book recently and it is great.

Can someone in US tell me where I can buy (not online) this black foamie thing?
Any of the chains like Wall mart or Target have this ? I don’t really know what to ask for !