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.

A common misconception among photographers when shooting outdoors is that you’ll want a nice sunny, clear day to take pictures. If it’s not beautiful weather outside, you won’t get beautiful looking shots, right?

In fact, I find the opposite to be true, and you will too, once you try it out.

When you’re shooting outdoors in bright, sunny conditions, you’ll find it’s hard to control the lighting. Sunlight is harsh, and will create harsh shadows on your subject, not to mention a tough situation to balance out. There aren’t too many light sources which are brighter than direct sunlight. » MORE

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

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.