Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Wing Light Flash Diffuser

After having used most of the popular flash modifiers on the market, I decided to try out the Wing Light. The results posted in the demonstration videos and stills from its creator looked pretty promising and while it does look a little bit funny, it looks like a practical solution where lugging battery packs and lights stands around is not an option.

Basically what this thing does is split the beam of flash that comes out of your speedlite in two which you can then either bounce straight off a nearby surface, or you can attach the 'wings' which give out two soft beams of light. The photos below show the unit firstly without the wings and then with the wings attached.



Here's a couple of example photos that local model, Hanna ( Model Mayhem ID 3002308 ) was good enough to assist me with. The first shot was with wings attached and the next two were shot using the 'wall bounce' where the wings off. This is where the light is bounced straight off the available surfaces such as walls and ceilings. So far, I think I prefer using it this way as it looks bit more punchy and the catch lights look a bit better too  As with most speedlite modifiers, it will suck a fair amount of power out of the flash so you'll need to use around ETTL +1.5

This was shot with wings attached:


This was shot using the 'wall bounce' method:


And this was also done with the bounce method.. but obviously bounced off the floor and ceiling (concrete) as it was shot in portrait orientation:


For me, the jury is still out on this modifier. I want to do some more testing but I'm liking it so far. I still love using beauty dishes and softboxes but that's not always an option and that's where the Wing Light shines with it's portability and why it appealed to me. You can get very 'studio like' results very quickly with minimal set up. Other reviews have questions it's durability but it seems like a fairly well put together unit.

If you're interested in viewing extremely thorough videos on comparisons with the Wing Light and other popular speedlite modifiers, simply Google 'Wing Light Diffuser' 



Monday, June 10, 2013

National Cyclocross in Adelaide

I had a great time taking pics at the 2013 National Cyclocross event in Adelaide this weekend.  I always love shooting cyclocross because you can get really close to the action and choose from many different spots to shoot from.

I try to get around as much as I can and never stay in one position for long. This is why I usually take 2 cameras with me and try to make the most of the position I'm shooting from. I don't always get it right... and other times I feel I've nailed it.

I have many more images on my facebook page - www.facebook.com/jasonmilliganphotography


Sunday, March 10, 2013

2013 Fringe

It's the first time I've ever been..

The night went like this.. Meet girlfriend at the train station, off to 'The Depot' for drinks and churros, off to the fringe to check out a rocker/magician guy called 'Nigel Blackstorm' then off for more drinks at a very strange, but nice outdoor bar where zombie girl made an appearance (she was actually quite nice)




Wednesday, February 6, 2013

More track cycling photography...

After doing LOTS of photography at the track, I thought I'd try something different this time and set up some off-camera flash down at track level. I've seen this done before and was inspired by the moody, low key lighting effect, so I thought I'd give it a go. I manually zoomed in the flash head to about 80mm and 105mm to give the 'spotlight' effect.

Here's a couple of favorites.  The pics had a massively positive response on social media so looking forward to trying it again with some variation.