2005:09:24 17:20:48
16-35mm @ 35mm
1/60 sec, f/4
Mode: Program
Metering: Evaluative
ISO: 800
AF mode: One-shot AF
Drive: Continuous: frame 1
White balance: Auto
Flash: External E-TTL + Red eye reduction
File size: 3,310KB
Image size: 3504 x 2336
Saturation: High
Sharpness: High2
Contrast: High
Picture Effect: Normal
Tone: Normal
Custom Functions:
CFn 2: Long exposure noise reduction: On
CFn 5: AF-assist beam/Flash firing: Only ext. flash emits/Fires
CFn 8: ISO expansion: On
CFn 11: Menu button display position: Previous
CFn 13: AF point selection: Multi-controller direct
For a dark room shot, it's good - but it does needs a little boosting still. Still good! I used my LS2 yesterday at a wedding and it was good enough for me
Is this designed to be used so close? The light is uneven on her face. The forehead is much brighter than the chin. I don't know how you shoot, but this is far from real world situation for me.
It is good to give up on gadgety flash modifiers. A little light shaping can be a good thing though. It is amazing what acouple of 580's with an umbrella and a light stand of some sort can do.
wphodog wrote:
Is this designed to be used so close? The light is uneven on her face. The forehead is much brighter than the chin. I don't know how you shoot, but this is far from real world situation for me.
I have given up on gadgety flash modifiers.
Joel
Yes, the light's a little uneven but not nearly as uneven as a bounce from the ceiling would be.
My question is, what do you consider a "gadgety flash modifier" and what isn't?
This is MUCH better than straight on-camera flash would have been, much better than bounce would have been. For on-camera flash, I think it's pretty darned good.
I noticed you had a very high ISO (800) and a very short lens (35mm setting), so you must have really been up close to the subject to get such a clear shot. I would have liked to seen what that same gadget does when shots are taken from a distance, which is usually where we shoot when doing a wedding. We don't often get that close to the brides face. I would like to see a sample, before I even consider buying one.
I've never purchased one. I think if it deserves to be done well, then bring out the umbrellas or the lighboxes. Or have several flashes set up to have the studio effect.
emandavi wrote:
I think if it deserves to be done well, then bring out the umbrellas or the lighboxes. Or have several flashes set up to have the studio effect.
True for formals, but for PJ shots, nobody wants to wait. (At least that has been my limited experience.) I have the LSII and it certainly beats a bare flash in those PJ shots.
emandavi wrote:
I noticed you had a very high ISO (800) and a very short lens (35mm setting), so you must have really been up close to the subject to get such a clear shot. I would have liked to seen what that same gadget does when shots are taken from a distance, which is usually where we shoot when doing a wedding. We don't often get that close to the brides face. I would like to see a sample, before I even consider buying one.
I've never purchased one. I think if it deserves to be done well, then bring out the umbrellas or the lighboxes. Or have several flashes set up to have the studio effect....Show more →
Well it seems from your post you are not aware that I am a current wedding photographer and have been for 9 years.
I have been using Gary Fongs first model LS for several months, and now I upgraded to Gary Fongs new model. You wrote that you do not currently own the first model. I question that with all the people who raved about it here in the threads (with photos to prove its excellent results). Why you did not buy one?
So that leads me to this question, why would you even consider the new model if you did not buy the first model that everyones been using for months.
I'm with wphodog on this one....I have been suckerd for every Flash modifier known to man...If I just balance to daylight / ambient...or at least comes close I can save myself the bother!
I think what would be better is to give us a baseline. We don't really know what to compare your current picture with..... Your shot could be great - but it could also use some improvement - relative to what you have been getting in the past. How about shots without the lightsphere? Like: 1) straight-on with the same flash, 2) bounce off ceiling,...etc..etc and of course the shot you have with the lightsphere. That will give you a better way to compare..?
Judging from your picture, and the thousands I've taken with my LS2, the LS2 creates much more even lighting from the bulb itself. I take it you were shooting with a low cieling, which is what the cap on the LS2 was built for. Your photo is far too top heavy, and the cap on the LS2 would cut down on this and make the image much more balanced. Maybe if you had a higher/no cieling your results would be better.
Both. In the lab we use the term FLAT, round-a-round lighting does that, theres more modeling in her hair than anywhere else.
Think! We basically see light from one direction, high, the SUN. With that said: If you see light from below you have a problem, you are upside down in your coffin. In portraiture, you create a main and a fill in ratio. Basic shooting 101. With the gizmo you create BLAH, no ratio, all is even, it's blah!
I'm not sold on the grenade, even the photos Gary put in th Rangefinder look flat. I've seen better stuff with a thin piece of silk over the flashhead. I also agree with whoever said two flashes, softboxes and 2:-3: to one ratio was right. (emandavi, I think)
Got to go with the flo...nivana has not been achieved yet..the magic bullet is still in the gun, a basic bounce is just as good and calibrating modeling light to ambiant is the desired effect. So flame on, I have seen lots of the shots taken with it and you just can't do surgical work with a hand grenade.
Really whether it's a free bouncecard or a $39.95 modified light bulb cover, good lighting is still a technique as well as a gadget. "Nichon" Hale once said give me softboxes or give me (forget death) a bottle of Jack Daniels!
He drank the Daniels and was found upside down in his coffin.. eyes open like staring at a light....
