I'd like to either buy or build a flash diffuser before this weekend comes. They really come in handy for doing quick portraits, especially of large groups of people.
Gary Fong's "LightSphere":http://store.garyfonginc.com/liiido.html is wildly popular these days, and the results are quite nice. Of course, I think you can only get them online, which won't work so well for me and my "I want it right now" attitude.
The "StoFen OmniBounce":http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&tag=revjimnet-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&location=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2FB0007DDK7A%2Fsr%3D8-1%2Fqid%3D1157040604%2Fref%3Dpd_bbs_1%3Fie%3DUTF8 is very popular, fairly cheap, and widely available. I don't think the look is quite as good, but, it also takes a lot less battery power to use.
The list of available diffusion products is astounding. From the "Lumiquest ProMax Softbox":http://www.adorama.com/LQSB.html to the "Lumiquest ProMax System":http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/lq/index.html. A product named the "Flip-It":http://www.joedembphotography.com/flipit/ also gets great reviews. There's even a guy who will charge you $20-$50 for a few household items that an be used to make "A Better Bounce Card":http://www.abetterbouncecard.com/.
There are quite a few people who insist that you can make your own diffuser using household items. One quite popular version mimicking the Gary Fong device "uses a Udon Noodles container":http://flickr.com/photos/potatomato/sets/72157594198483848/ and, another "uses the bottle that rubbing alcohol comes in":http://www.diyphotography.net/homestudio/blz/soft-flash-diffuser. I tried the rubbing alcohol bottle, but it was just too small to fit around the heads of my flashes (Vivitar 283s). There are some crazy plans for "a large flash diffuser":http://www.diyphotography.net/homestudio/blz/flash-mini-bouncer which I attempted to mimic using slightly different materials but failed at. There are even "DIY Softbox plans":http://www.diyphotography.net/homestudio/cheap-diy-flash-mounted-softbox if you're so inclined.
I don't even know where to begin.
