Gary Fong Lightsphere blog

I received my Gary Fong Lighsphere II in the mail. I have only played around with it a little indoors because it's been very cold outside.

Here are a few "side by side" comparisons. I used "straight on" flash (SB-600), regular bounce flash, bounced off of a 9 foot white textured ceiling, and diffused flash via the Lightsphere with the white inverted dome in place. Here are my results:

Straight-on flash:

The face is crystal clear, but you have the typical "flash" attributes, such as harsh shadows from the nose and chin. Also, the background is dark.

Here is standard, regular "bounce" flash. It is obvious that the light is coming from above (notice the shadows in the left eye area, caused by the nose and bridge of nose).

The light is soft, but some details are lost. If this had been taken in a room with a very high ceiling (or a dark, wooden ceiling) this photo could not have been possible with bounce flash at all.

Taken with the Lightsphere II. The face is much more evenly lit. You get the crispness of straight-on flash, but the softness of bounce flash. The face is completely lit, shadows are softer, and less of the background is lost.

These pix probably aren't the best examples, but it's too cold to go shoot what I really want. Bottom line: I'm very, very pleased with what this device will allow me to do in the future. It was worth the modest investment.