Okay, I do wedding photography and I am convinced that I am going to buy a Gary Fong Lightsphere in the next couple weeks. My only question is, the cloud or the clear? While I do mostly only do weddings, I don't really like my pictures to be SUPER soft. Would the cloud be too soft for what I would want? Does anyone here have either of these? Thanks...
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Light Sphere question.
- Thread starter techster85
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The more diffuse the light, the less harsh the shadows. You really don't want harsh shadows, so I'd go with the cloudy one (well, I'd go with a foamy bounce thing and make the back wide enough to diffuse more than standard.
While I agree about the light, the point of the lightsphere is to diffuse the light already, so the clear one does not produce shadows as it is, I'm just wondering if the cloudy makes a difference...
and explain "a foamy bounce thing" haha
I have the cloud and here is why. Most of my portraits are single person shots. I met with Gary Fong's associate in person who explained things to me very well. He said that I should have both, of course, he is not kidding though. The clear will give you more light if you're shooting a group. The cloud will not over soften your subject but will give even distribution of light. In the end you really should have both, but if you shoot large weddings or weddings I think the cloud would work and then you take it off and bounce your flash for the group photos. The cloud definitely is a savior for me as it lets me get the flash straight onto my subject without it looking like the flash was aimed at their eyes!
You get the foamy craft stuff at Wal-Mart or your favorite craft store, some Velcro- make a few cuts, staple/glue it in the right places (especially if you're using white for the reflective part and black for the outside and adjust the "cup" part for each shot to give more or less direction to the light.
Here's someone's project http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/1427850
Here's one of the two good DPR threads including the above link:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1025&message=18308364&changemode=1
It's way more portable than the Tupperware-ish Lightsphere, and you can make at least half a dozen to a dozen for the same price. Staples seem to be the best way to connect the two halves and Velcro.
I just got the Lightsphere II Cloud, used this past weekend on a cruise that a buddy and I went on. Wish I could share the pics, but he has a thing about internet privacy.
But let me tell you, it really works! The first shots had harsh specular highlights. When I put the Lightsphere on, they vanished. I can't wait to try it out some more.
What I can say is that the examples that Gary Fong shows on the website (like the model shoot) are what you can expect in real life so far. I can see the benefit of Jessica's comments about possibly needing both the Cloud and the Clear Lightspheres.
What I can share is a pic that I did with the Nikon 10.5 fish-eye of our cabin. (See attached photo) I am assuming that there would have been a bit higher contrast with the Clear in this sample.
The other thing to note is that the bounce cards that have been mentioned, direct the light - while the Lightsphere primarily bounces light in a 360 degree direction. As one can see in my sample image, this picked up on the heavy use of orange that Carnival uses at least on the Imagination. The ChromeDome might have yielded more neutral results, while still providing 180 degree illumination.
Looks like I might be back to Fong's web store....
But let me tell you, it really works! The first shots had harsh specular highlights. When I put the Lightsphere on, they vanished. I can't wait to try it out some more.
What I can say is that the examples that Gary Fong shows on the website (like the model shoot) are what you can expect in real life so far. I can see the benefit of Jessica's comments about possibly needing both the Cloud and the Clear Lightspheres.
What I can share is a pic that I did with the Nikon 10.5 fish-eye of our cabin. (See attached photo) I am assuming that there would have been a bit higher contrast with the Clear in this sample.
The other thing to note is that the bounce cards that have been mentioned, direct the light - while the Lightsphere primarily bounces light in a 360 degree direction. As one can see in my sample image, this picked up on the heavy use of orange that Carnival uses at least on the Imagination. The ChromeDome might have yielded more neutral results, while still providing 180 degree illumination.
Looks like I might be back to Fong's web store....
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Wow, thanks for the responses guys. I think I'll probably end up buying both spheres over time, but I'm going to go with the Clear to start off. The other issue is that my fiance shoots every wedding with me and she is about to get a SB600 as well. SO basically, there are two more light sphere's haha.