Lightsphere Cloud

jeffreaux2

I promised to share a photo or two using this device. I only recieved it last week, and still haven't really had an opportunity to use it for the type of work I normally do. I did bring it along to a basketball game the other night to capture a few photos of my daughter and her gang cheering at their last home game.....ever.....she is a senior.

Anyway.
The diffuser seems to offer wide & even coverage of light. It does throw shadows, but the edges appear to be soft. It throws better light at faces than bouncing with a bare flash. The shadows are much less harsh than when using a directly aimed bare flash.

I am pleased so far. I ordered the C4 (there was some debate here) for the 580EXII, and it fits very.....very snug. I doubt it will fall off unintended. It does waste some of the flash output, and I have no doubt that I will have to replace/ recharge batteries more often as many have stated. THis is a neccessary evil in my opinion, and I can't wait to use it for outdoor fill, and events.


These are very rough edits of some high ISO shots. The photographs themselves may not be anything to shout about, but I think they give an idea of what the device can provide.

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rwells

Jeff,

I think you'll find situations where the Lightsphere works very nicely


Also, about the shadows.


If shooting a subject in a room and their shadow is cast onto the wall behind them, you can almost eliminate them if you take the top off of the Lightsphere. This allows more non-diffused light to bounce from the ceiling and kill the shadows behind the subject.


Won't take long, you'll learn the tricks to using it.


Speaking of tricks: If you have success using it outside in bright daylight, let me know the how's and why's. I've not had much success with it there.

But, I've not spent much time trying to see if it's a good product for that scenario either. Hey, I'm a busy fella' too...

Elaine

What I like here is that you can see everyone's eyes...no racoon eyes! The bits of shadows under some chins seem appropriate for the gym setting and don't distract at all, IMO. It looks like the tool helped you do a good job here.

Did all of these have the top on the Lightsphere? Have you tried using it with the flash head pointing towards the subject, rather than facing straight up? If so, what kind of effect does that have? I wondered if that position would be beneficial for outdoors where there is no bounce surface? If you've got the chance or time, I'd love to see some with/without shots.

Thanks for sharing these!

jeffreaux2

Jeff,

I think you'll find situations where the Lightsphere works very nicely


Also, about the shadows.


If shooting a subject in a room and their shadow is cast onto the wall behind them, you can almost eliminate them if you take the top off of the Lightsphere. This allows more non-diffused light to bounce from the ceiling and kill the shadows behind the subject.

That's a great tip. You might have saved me months of experimentation there.....Thanks!!!

Won't take long, you'll learn the tricks to using it.

I hope it doesn't take as long as learning to use that flash!!!

Speaking of tricks: If you have success using it outside in bright daylight, let me know the how's and why's. I've not had much success with it there.

But, I've not spent much time trying to see if it's a good product for that scenario either. Hey, I'm a busy fella' too

I didn't intend to use it in bright daylight. I think a well balanced direct flash is acceotable in those situations. I do intend to use it in shade outdoors which is where I typically shoot. I find direct sunlight to be too harsh for my paid work, and usually stay in the shade or diffused light where it is safe(for me!!). I will be glad to share my discoveries and mistakes with this gadget.

jeffreaux2

What I like here is that you can see everyone's eyes...no racoon eyes! The bits of shadows under some chins seem appropriate for the gym setting and don't distract at all, IMO. It looks like the tool helped you do a good job here.

Yes!! No racoons!!! I am most impressed with the last shot. It was a pretty wide angle used there (20mm) and everyone is lit.

Did all of these have the top on the Lightsphere? Have you tried using it with the flash head pointing towards the subject, rather than facing straight up? If so, what kind of effect does that have? I wondered if that position would be beneficial for outdoors where there is no bounce surface? If you've got the chance or time, I'd love to see some with/without shots.

Thanks for sharing these

Whoa!!! you are way ahead of me but.....

My oldest girl has a twirp dance tonight and I will be taking indoor snapshots of them all dressed for the dance.......stay tuned!!

Update: I stopped and met a neighbor with an antique car, and he has agreed to meet us with it for the kids to take pictures alongside.
....so

I have no idea what the lighting will be like, but it will be very very late afternoon and outdoors. I will definately try to get some with the attatchment though!!!.

jfriend

The Lightsphere looks like it's working well for you. I thought I'd mention that you've got a bit of a white balance issue in these photos. You can see it in both the white uniforms and the skin tone as there's significantly too much blue. You might want to add a quick fix for that.

jeffreaux2

jfriend wrote:

The Lightsphere looks like it's working well for you. I thought I'd mention that you've got a bit of a white balance issue in these photos. You can see it in both the white uniforms and the skin tone as there's significantly too much blue. You might want to add a quick fix for that.

These are really just snapshots, but since you mentioned it......

The fix you suggest.....warming the uniforms and skin....is not a good fix for this photo. Yes it would correct the foreground, but the BG that is lit by a different temperature of lighting would be WAY too warm.

The correct thing to do would be to use a gel on the flash unit to match it's temp with that of the existing light so that WB corrections applied do not adversly affect one part of the image.

It is an easy thing to do, but wasn't really the point of the post.

jeffreaux2

Here is a sample in daylight outdoors with the gel and lightsphere. This is with it pointed straight down the barrel of the lens with the cap on.

jeffreaux2

From another thread.....http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=84766 (all taken outdoors with lightsphere and gel)

Elaine wrote:

I've enjoyed viewing these again!

Just wondered...when you use the gel with your flash, are you keeping it in place with the attached diffuser plate or something different?

I was confused by something you mentioned about gels somewhere...I think you said "1/2 CTO (blue)". How does CTO = blue? Maybe I misread or maybe it was a typo...CTB? Are you finding that CTB gels work best for outside flash work?

Sorry Elaine. Probably wasn't a typo, but just a regular mistake...like those a typical 40 year old makes.

Let me clear it up!!!

I am NOT using the built in diffuser to hold the gel. This works ok if the wind isn't too strong with a bare flash, but will NOT work with the lightsphere. The built in diffuser cannot be deployed with the lightsphere attatched. I have had to more closely trim the gel and use a couple pieces of tape to stick it in place over the flash lens and then slide the LS on over it. (I will take a few photos, and post them here when I get a chance.)

It is NOT a CTO....lol....It is a 1/2 C.T. Blue. It is a LEE Filters No.202 1/2 CT Blue.....Tungsten to daylight 3200K-4300K. I also keep a 3/4 in my bag, but have been perfectly satisfied with the 1/2 for my work which is mostly in shade, or late afternoon.

I hope this helps. I think I am going to get a business card and cut it to the shape I want for a template for gels. The gels cut easy, but are flimsy and slick, and want to walk around a bit when trying to cut them on the flash head.

I hope this clears things up?

Sorry for.......hmmmm.......being 40?.....oh....and please hold the applause for my product photography.

Here is the gel neatly (? ) taped to the flash head.

Here you can see that there is a lip inside the sleeve that prevents the attatchment from swallowing the whole flash. It also prevents you from sliding out the on board diffuser to hold gels.


Lastly, this is where I cut my gel from a LEE sample book. The info for the one I use is legable...I hope. Between my fingers is my own awesome invention. I taped one long end and one short end of two business cards together to form a semi rigid folder to hold the gels in my bag. It requires no room in the bag, and keeps them from getting bent and lost. I usually pop it in a shirt pocket while shooting.

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