Terry,
I'd heard about the "Fuji" diffuser and that it got good results.
Thanks for the compliment. Believe it or not the shot you see is the FIRST ever with a serious 'professional' flash. Until then I avoided using any kind of flash like the plague. I just hated the look of it (which others do like). So for the most part I used the M6 with its fast lenses relying on higher film speeds to allow handheld shots under low light conditions. Portraits were generally 'environmental portraits' made with available light. It was limiting I know but that's the way I liked it. When I went 'digital' with Digilux 2 I have to admit I did use the flash on that camera from time to time because the good folks at Panasonic had ingeniously designed a 'bounce' capability by allowing you to angle the flash head that popped up. And I felt a lot of those shots were very nice. Probably similar to the results you're getting with your Fuji-diffuser. Still I prefer not using a flash at all relying on whatever is available for the most part.
As for my recent foray into the world of flash photography I attribute getting the G1 for that. As I mentioned on a previou post with its articulation screen I felt the G1 made a great portrait camera (similar to the twin-lens reflexes of yore which allowed the photographer to see the subject and monitoring the image on the camera's viewing screen). And so, for the first time in my life, I thought about doing some 'serious' portraiture using a full-blown monolight flash set up.
You should know that I've been an advertising copywriter all my career and a private photographer who shot for his own personal enjoyment even longer (and only recently have I become bold enough to share what I saw with others). That said, as a copywriter I would constantly see portfolios of scores of photographers (with the art directors and art buyers I was with) as well as spend considerable time on photo shoots for print ads (mostly eating lox and bagels they would provide and general schmoozing). In that time I saw a lot of different lighting set ups for a lot of different situations (food, fashion, cars..you name it).
For portraiture, I sort of fell in love with a look that I'd best describe as 'minimalist'. One light at most. With none of the hair lighting and other glamorous stuff you generally see. I liked what was soft and lit for what I call 'sufficiency' to get it.
Of all the set ups and the results of those set-ups I'd seen the portraits I liked most were shot with one large "softbox". Basically it's a HUGE diffuser that fits over a flash that allows the light to 'balloon' out and bathe the subject. By adjusting the position of the light as well as the power output (okay, okay, shutter and aperture ratios, too) you determine how much or how little light you need to make out the subject. I like it for its drama and simplicity. (I know it sounds complicated but it's not as much as you might think.)
Overhead a softbox makes for wonderful lighting on product shots. But on the side with a model or subject with just a black, brown or gray (or other neutral) background it makes fantastic portraits that, if done right, really bring out a subject's personality with little distraction.
Just this December I bought two excellent books, one titled "Light, Science & Magic" by Hunter, Biver and Fuqua from the Focal Press (who have a great selection of books if you're so inclined) which is an excellent introduction to the nature of light and photography and "Portrait Photography: Secrets of Posing and Lighting" by Michael Cleghorn published by Lark Books (who have a fine books on the M8) which I like because it reinforced what I'd suspected about the most basic of set-ups and the results I saw..
When you're ready to go beyond the 'baby steps' you've taken, these books are a pretty good place to start.
Peter
