Lightsphere II believer

Zoom Raider

Well, I didn't take any pictures. I didn't think about how the LS distributes light all over the place.
There were people all over the place. I was on the front-row, so there were people behind me and right and left.
I took a test-flash, and a couple people behind me said that it was very bright and it could bother some others when the seminar begins.

So I have to find another way to get good pictures at the seminar without the LS. I won't be using the LS probably all summer anyway,
since I broke my SB600 tonight. The story about that is in my thread called "Dropped my SB600". Over $200 down the drain.

saurora

Zoom Raider wrote:

Well, yay! I finally got my LSII at 11:28am - est.
I ordered the Clear model, but it has an opaque lid.
Are both the Clear and Cloud models suppose to have the opaque lid?
It doesn't seem it would matter, just wondering.

This LS doesn't seem to be as big as I thought it would be,
so it doesn't look as goofy to me as some say it is.
I'm okay with its appearence.
Now let's see if my close-ups and portraits will look better.

Saurora, did ya get yours yet or is it still on back order?

Yes, I got mine the same day you did. I thought ordering through B&H would be faster than through G.F. My thinking was that perhaps because they were dealing with such a reputable and major camera store that G.F. would ship faster to B&H than they would to little ol' me. But I guess my thinking was delusional. Not B&H's fault...they always ship pronto when stuff is in stock. I haven't tried it out yet, in fact, I haven't even had a chance to practice with my new flash. Hopefully will get in some practice this weekend. I want to take some portraits of my niece down on the beach and I am thinking I may want to use the Lightsphere II. My last couple of portaits sessions have not been to great with just natural lighting. Conditions were not so great as it is that "gloomy" time of year. This weekend of course, it is going to be really hot!

Zoom Raider

saurora wrote:

Yes, I got mine the same day you did. I thought ordering through B&H would be faster than through G.F. My thinking was that perhaps because they were dealing with such a reputable and major camera store that G.F. would ship faster to B&H than they would to little ol' me. But I guess my thinking was delusional. Not B&H's fault...they always ship pronto when stuff is in stock. I haven't tried it out yet, in fact, I haven't even had a chance to practice with my new flash. Hopefully will get in some practice this weekend. I want to take some portraits of my niece down on the beach and I am thinking I may want to use the Lightsphere II. My last couple of portaits sessions have not been to great with just natural lighting. Conditions were not so great as it is that "gloomy" time of year. This weekend of course, it is going to be really hot!

I'm glad you finally got yours, too. I hope you will always get great shots from it.
I wouldn't know how good it really works for me... I haven't had time to use it.
Then of course ya know what happened to my flash.

Scott_Quier

saurora wrote:

Hopefully will get in some practice this weekend. I want to take some portraits of my niece down on the beach and I am thinking I may want to use the Lightsphere II. My last couple of portaits sessions have not been to great with just natural lighting. Conditions were not so great as it is that "gloomy" time of year. This weekend of course, it is going to be really hot!

Let us know how these go. I'm wondering if, in an outdoor setting, one would want to point the flash at the subject or if one would still want to point it up (even though there's nothing there to reflect the light). The second option would seem to me to waste a lot of light. But then again, the first option, even with the diffusor dome installed, might still deliver light harder than desired.

saurora

Those were my thoughts, too, Scott. I won't be shooting these until my niece has some "free" time, but I'll let you know how it goes....or, if it goes!!! Meanwhile, I will practice on my dogs!!! They love the attention.

Scott_Quier

saurora wrote:

Those were my thoughts, too, Scott. I won't be shooting these until my niece has some "free" time, but I'll let you know how it goes....or, if it goes!!! Meanwhile, I will practice on my dogs!!! They love the attention.

If you shoot inside, the answer is easy - point it up. Works great, see this for an example ....

Pezpix

docwalker wrote:

FYI. It appears that B&H will be stocking these soon.

Ok, count me in as the goofy tupperware looking photo nerd. My order finally arrived from B&H for my new Lightsphere II cloud. It has been backordered but only took an additional 7 days to recieve

I plan on taking it to Colorado for my wildflower expedition next week and hope to see some great results!

hgernhardtjr

Back on the first page of this thread I stated that I rolled my own diffusers ...

But last month I found I needed to use one a bit more often, and a cut-to-fit milk jug on a flash does look kinda funny at a wedding ... so I broke down and got Gary Fong's clear LightSphere II.

As I stated back then (after having borrowed and used one only a few times), it works very well. But as I use it more and more I find it almost indespensible. This is one fine and convenient accessory, and this aging photographer won't be without his LightSphere!

saurora

Would you believe it has taken me all this time to use my new flash and GF Lightsphere? After getting the Canon flash and reading the manual I set it aside for a time when I thought I could concentrate better!!!! Finally this past week I bit the bullet and fired up the flash. Holy Cow Batman! It works!!! So then I popped on the GF Lightsphere and fired off a couple quick snapshots of the dog (who else?). While not the greatest shots, I was so THRILLED not to have those weird green eyes she usually gets!! I detest fixing red/green eye!!!! I did use a little blur to soften the look, but it's not bad. I plan on experimenting some more in the next week, so I'll post something if anything great should happen!

Scott_Quier

saurora wrote:

Would you believe it has taken me all this time to use my new flash and GF Lightsphere? After getting the Canon flash and reading the manual I set it aside for a time when I thought I could concentrate better!!!! Finally this past week I bit the bullet and fired up the flash. Holy Cow Batman! It works!!! So then I popped on the GF Lightsphere and fired off a couple quick snapshots of the dog (who else?). While not the greatest shots, I was so THRILLED not to have those weird green eyes she usually gets!! I detest fixing red/green eye!!!! I did use a little blur to soften the look, but it's not bad. I plan on experimenting some more in the next week, so I'll post something if anything great should happen!

You call it "not great" but I think the photo is kinda cute (and I'm not a pet person).

In reference to "Holy Cow, Batman!" - I think Queen said it best, "and, another one bites the dust!"

jdfaith

I have been very happy with my LSII, used in concert with my *istD and Pentax 540FGZ flash. Here are a few samples:

Zanotti

Got it Today
About the third shot in, auto mode, night room light:



And about the 5th shot in:



Oh yeah, looked at the exif and accidently left it on ISO 1600 from last night.

I tell you that Gary Fong is brilliant - I am never taking this thing off!

Zanotti