use of lightsphere in room?

I just got a lightsphere - clear & so far I've got to say that I love it for fill flash. But I do have a question. In a dimly lit room, with no place to bounce (no white walls or ceilings) can I use the lightsphere and aim it directly at my subject (inverted dome in place/or not?)

 

A lightsphere is nothing more than a gorified piece of tupperware with an incredibly over-inflated price (besides, I see no reason to light the room *behind* me where the camera cannot see anyways). Use a bounce card for better effects/control.

I've tried them (lightspheres), and find all that they do is make the flash work harder, shortening bulb and battery life uselessly. A bounce card is way better.

Visit www.abetterbouncecard.com for a couple of cheaper and superior performing ideas.

 

in a large gym for unplanned basketball portraits (kindergarteners), I just pointed the lightsphere straight ahead. Yeah it wasted a lot of light, but it worked. Definitely, there are better solutions, but do what you need to.

 

Google "a better bounce card".

 

I disagree that the bounce card is useless unless there is an object like a wall or ceiling to bounce off of... the card itself *is* the object that it bounces off of. It increases apparent size of light, dispersing it far more effectively in the direction that is beneficial to the shot better than any lightsphere could.

Pointing a strobe forward with a lightsphere on it... all it does is eat a ton of energy to disperse light. Does it soften the light? Yes, by eating all the power wasted. A better way to do the same thing is to just lower the power of the flash a LOT and use a bounce card to get the same ending results.

Finally, I do agree that knowledge is power.

 

Yup, it's all about the size of the card used in relation to the subject distance. A 6x8 card is awesome for something very small and 6 inches from the lens/bounce card. The same card has almost no affect on a person 3 or 4 meters from the bounce card. At 5 or 6 meters there is like, zero "noticeable" difference.

Subject size, zoom, and cropping also have an affect but that gets complicated to explain.

 

Excuse me?? Six inches from the lens?? Are you saying the bounce card is only good if the subject is 6 inches away? Did I misunderstand, if not what's the use of using it?

 

Yup, that's pretty much it.

You can draw (in your imagination) the lines that will define the size/amount of the shadow softness (aka shadow falloff).

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Here's what Mike is talking about:

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