How I Used Overhead Flash

[markandhisfish]

i was getting frustrated at how if i used flash it washed out the colours of the fish , so i joined a photography forum and i stumbled upon a great thread about using overhead flash. this guy had much better equipment and his shots were on a whole other level to mine . i didnt have some of his gear , but i sort of adapted it a bit improvised a bit , failed a LOT and eventually came up with this .

1st the eqipment
canon eos 500 d
canon speedlite 420 ex external flash
jjc jf t-1 wireless flash trigger .
1 empty plastic ice cream tub ( no im not joking!)

heres the trigger . transmitter on the left , receiver on the right

receiver fits on the flash like so

and the transmiter sits on the cameras hotshoe in place of the flash.
at 1st i tried with the speedlite on top of the tank like this , but i didnt have the difuser and the light was too intensely concentrated in a small area

so i put the flash facing upwards like this

now for the most expensive technical piece of equipment used!!! place the empty ice cream tub over the flash like so

this gave me a much more even light and was a lot more user friendly
early results are promising il keep on trying to improve/tweak things and any improvements il update
hopefully some of you may find this thread usefull . happy shooting!

 

[ZoddyZod]

Great write-up and really impressive shots of the fish.

Now to get myself the remote flash equipment.......forcing myself to eat a litre of ice cream should not be too difficult.

 

[markandhisfish]

thanks zoddyzod . its a slightly imperfect adaption/improvisation from the setup in the thread that inspired it , i need to get another polybox , then i can make the gizmo he made out of 1 which should give better more even light. you should see this guys shots they are unbelievable . in a totally different league to mine , his subject fish ( mostly big cichlids) are fantastic too

 

[Philuk]

which photography forum was it you have joined. i never managed to find one that was busy

 

[markandhisfish]

http/www.aquatic-photography.com/forum/forum.php this 1 but is very slow