Diffused Flash

We were up in the Berkshires a couple of weekends ago with our friends the Pitmans.  It is always beautiful up there (unless it rains!).  We happen to hit a rough weekend but we still had a lot of fun.  One morning I looked outside and the rain had stopped, so I walked out the front door.  On my way back in I spotted a flower right on their front porch.  It was a great shade of red with a nice green background.  Not one to leave the Berkshires without at least one exposure, I got my camera and tripod (of course!!) and decided to photograph this flower which I call “Red Beauty.”  The image below is a straight shot with no flash.

It really is dull and lifeless as the sky was overcast.  I decided to take one with a flash.  As you can see from the image below it was way too much light.

At that point Bruce came out and said “Did you get a good shot?”  I said “not yet but I’m working on it.”  I showed him the first two exposures and said I want to try something.  I decided to take out my handkerchief (I know, I’m the last man who still carries a hanky) and try putting one layer of the linen hanky over the flash to diffuse that harsh light.  The image below is the final photograph which I like very much.

Bruce suggested that talking about the ‘trick’ of using something over the flash to diffuse the light might be a good blog subject.  So here it is and thank you Bruce for the idea.  I hope everyone is having a great summer, and I’ll “See You In September” as the song says, meanwhile just get out there and “Keep Shooting.”