Everyone knows about the Gary Fong Lightsphere. Gary invented this flexible rubberized diffuser dome to fit onto the end of your flash unit, and included some seperate end pieces which come in various colors for color matching your existing light. The results were marvelous. The Lightsphere was an impressive little accessory that not only softened the quality of your light, it enhanced it.

The problem is that while this device is impressive, it’s my opinion that the Lightsphere is a little overpriced. Gary charges $50 for the actual lightsphere, and another $20 for the amber dome (which helps under tungsten lighting). I’m all for personal business ventures, especially in the photography world, but when I found the Lambency version of the Lightsphere on eBay for 1/4 of the price – I couldn’t justify spending that kind of money on Gary’s original version… especially after hearing stories like this and this. So I bought the eBay Sphere.

While I applaud Mr. Fong for his ingenious device, and would be willing to throw some money his way for it, I’m a little confused as to why this replica diffuser can be manufactured and sold at such low costs in comparison to his “authentic” Lightsphere. If you feel the same, and want to save yourself some money, check out the Lambency diffusers.

I’ve mentioned David Hobby’s Strobist blog on more than a few occasions. Hobby is spearheading a movement online that emphasizes the use of strobes (flashes) for lighting, rather than relying on larger, more cumbersome studio lighting. It’s a brilliant blog, and though the art of using flashes didn’t begin with Strobist, David has certainly inspired a lot of folks who may have otherwise felt like their strobes were unable to handle the task.

I ran across this article on Photonovice that was in response to a post from Oliver Neilsen, who asserts that strobists are loosing out on the point of their photography by concentrating on the lighting. » MORE

Radiopopper, who happen to have one of the coolest sounding company names in the photo world, is a new outfit that is creating radio frequency transmitters for use with SLR flash units. They have a new website which just launched and where you can get updated information on the products they plan to release very soon. » MORE

I’m always looking for new and interesting ways to light a subject, and one of the best places to pick up inspiration when it comes to lighting with strobes is from Strobist blogger David Hobby. Apparently, DIYPhotography thinks so too, and they’ve built a cool new tool for our strobes to play in. » MORE

I’m sure you’ve seen light paintings like this one before. Painting with light is a technique that’s been around since the days of film. All it requires is a camera which has a controllable exposure, a dark environment, and some lights. You can paint anything with light. This streaky pinpoint light effect lets you write or create fine lines in the air… similar to streaking tail lights on the highway, and using the same principle. You can also light a regular subject using bursts of light from a flashlight or strobe. » MORE

We here at Fotohacker hope that all of you had a fantastic (insert holiday name here) this year! If Christmas gift giving is your thing, and if you got any gifts that were wrapped with colored cellophane (fancy!) this Christmas, keep the cellophane handy for your strobes. That could be useful as a colored gel for some interesting lighting effects. Just don’t tell anyone that’s what you’re doing… or they’ll think you’ve gone nuts.

You can use an elastic band and wrap it around the head of the flash and bam… you’ve got some new colored lighting. Some of those ribbons could also be interesting gobos for creating patterns, and the shiny wrap can create some awesome effects on the wall if you bounce the light off it like a reflector.

There are a lot of clever ways to play with the light from your flash, but if you want a dirt cheap and effective way to diffuse the light coming from a popup or external flash, why not try putting something in front of it… like a coffee filter? Also effective is a paper towel, or even a piece of white copier paper. All of these will soften the quality of the light and make it look less harsh on your subject. They will also drastically reduce the range of the flash too, so don’t get too far away.