Actually, this is better than sliced bread - I mean the Gary Fong Collapsible Lightsphere. I've been selling them and their predecessors for years to the customers and I finally worked up the courage and curiosity to sell one to me. For real money. Did I get value?
You bet your aperture I did. I've just completed the experiment of setting up a do-it-yourself photo booth at a dinner I attended this weekend. I placed the Lightsphere on top of a Nikon SB 700, on top of a Stroboframe Press T bracket, on top of a Nikon D300. A dear old 20mm lens sat on front and a radio trigger hooked into the command port of the camera. I set it on a sturdy tripod in front of a green screen and invited the punters to take their own picture - any way they liked.
Of course as the evening wore on the poses became a little looser, but the joyous thing was the fact that right from the start the Lightsphere did as good a job of even illumination - with a little top modelling - as anything I have seen. As good as a big umbrella or beauty dish.
I know - I cheated beforehand and tried out all the above combinations in my studio. All I really needed was the Lightsphere with the top open up above the lens axis. The fact that this also meant the whole arrangement sat on only one pair of legs was a bonus - if people are going to be moving around in semi-darkness you need to obstruct them as little as possible.
The real eye-opener of the evening was the big group shot at the end. We just swivelled the camera out from the stage to see the party revellers and dialled in +1 stop extra power on the flash. The result was a hall fully illuminated without blowing out the front subjects and all in one shot. As I had the radio remote in my own hands at this point, guess who got to be the center of the picture? You be the judge...
And, yes, it is a wig...
