lightshpere or whaletail any good ?

[THORHAMMER]

anyone use these for portraits or anything ?

Im thinking about getting another flash so Ill have 2 that I can use in conjunction wirelessly (canon 480ex plus a 580 ) and was wondering If I set them up on stands how cool that would be for portraits and formals.

Should I see any REAL improvement from the whaletail or lightshpere,
does the whaletail actually do any good at letting you direct your light
and
is the lightsphere just the same as the omnibounce ? I like how its open on top though...

any ideas, or experience with these products.

 

[fmw]

anyone use these for portraits or anything ?

Im thinking about getting another flash so Ill have 2 that I can use in conjunction wirelessly (canon 480ex plus a 580 ) and was wondering If I set them up on stands how cool that would be for portraits and formals.

Should I see any REAL improvement from the whaletail or lightshpere,
does the whaletail actually do any good at letting you direct your light
and
is the lightsphere just the same as the omnibounce ? I like how its open on top though...

any ideas, or experience with these products.

Sorry, Thor, I'm not familiar with these products but, as you know, size of light source is the issue when it comes to softening light for formal portraits. In my experience the light source should be larger than the subject at a normal light to subject distance. Whatever diffusion device accomplishes that would be the way to go. Pretty hard to beat soft boxes and umbrellas. Portrait shooters have been using them for decades.

 

[JIP]

I am a big proponent of Gary Fong's gear I believe the "Whaletail" you mention is a new Fong thing right? I used the last version and got great results from it. If you want to use flashes off-camera a good place to go for some ideas is http://strobist.blogspot.com/ it is really excellent place for all kinds of lessons on off camera lighting using simple flashes and realtively cheap gear with the exception of the Pocket Wizards most of what he uses are relatively inexpensive.

 

[THORHAMMER]

I should have prefaced... more mobile formals and portraits.

When your on the move and inside reception halls and running down a field to outpace an overzealous group of people the umbrellas and all that are not so practical anymore.

I totally didnt mention that. sorry.

just curious if there a gimmick, or if they can hold their own in a pinch.

 

[JIP]

I should have prefaced... more mobile formals and portraits.

When your on the move and inside reception halls and running down a field to outpace an overzealous group of people the umbrellas and all that are not so practical anymore.

I totally didnt mention that. sorry.

just curious if there a gimmick, or if they can hold their own in a pinch.

They do excellent work. Of course they have their place if you can use more extensive lighting go for it but in general they do an excellent job and are well worth the money.

 

[Garbz]

They work. They are ludicrously over priced though. I prefer the simple flash card for most situations. Just a larger sheet of inkjet paper rubberbanded or velcroed onto the back of my flash. The advantage is it's cheap and can be customised to suit the situation (different sized cards).

Down side is you get some stupid looks.

 

[S2K1]

I use the Lightsphere and I really like it. It really softens the light although I've only used it for outdoor portraits so far.

 

[Mike_E]

Hi, check out this thread...
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93759

Read on down.

 

[Big Mike]

The 'Fong Dong' and his other products can serve a purpose but they are not really a good tool for every situation. Basically they spread light all around...and if there happens to be good surfaces for that light to bounce off of...then you get soft, even lighting. If there isn't something nice to bounce off of...then all you do is waste a good portion of your flash power, which slows down the recycle time and eats up the batteries.

I haven't watched the videos on his web site in a long time...but I've heard from some knowledgeable people that say that the videos are a complete farce.

I believe that a good knowledge of how flash and lighting works, will go a lot farther than any particular flash product.