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INSTALLATION,
USE AND SHOOTING INSTRUCTIONS FOR
- THE
LIGHTSPHERE II WITH THE VINYL GRIP ADAPTER
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- TO INSTALL: Your Lightsphere II comes with
a Vinyl gasket adapter which will allow you to use the same LSII
with different types of flashes. Therefore, if you switch flash
systems, you can use the same LSII and save room in your camera
bag. Adapter kits are available by emailing me at garyf@garyfong.com
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- Place the
Vinyl Grip over the flash head . Slide the LS2 on in a diagonal
approach, and push the unit down as far as you can. This
will insure a tight fit.
- CLICK
HERE
TO SEE A VIDEO OF THE LIGHTSPHERE IN ACTION
- WHEN TO USE THE SUPER-SOFT
HALF-DOME: The half-dome is used
only with very low ceilings and when shooting directly at the
subject outdoors. For a majority of your shooting, you will not
need to use the half-dome. Think of it as a reducer for extra
softening.
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- EXAMPLES:
- These photos
below were done outdoors in the middle of the night. They show
the effectiveness of the dome diffuser (compared to other diffuser
methods) even when there are no walls or ceilings to bounce.
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For best results, set your flash on E-TTL and point flash directly
upwards. DO NOT point
the diffuser in a 45 degree direction, you will greatly reduce
the diffusion effect! Tilting the flash at a 45 degree angle
will reduce the output because the light surfaces will be pointing
behind you and towards the floor rather than towards the subject.
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- When shooting
in vertical, simply flip the flash head vertical, and the quality
of the light source will not change.
- Here are
the shooting positions:
- This is the Lightsphere
in H Position
- This is the Lightsphere
in Vertical Position. No need for a bracket.
- In low-light
situations, set your
camera on M mode (manual) so you can adjust the shutter speed
and aperture to allow ambient light for the most natural look. Feel free to lower the shutter
speed to make more of the ambient light mix in with your soft
diffuse flash. For most indoor reception situations, I've found
great results shooting on Manual at 1/45sec at f 3.5 at ISO400.
If the ambient lighting is more dim, you can experiment with
even slower shutter speeds or higher ISO's. When shooting outdoors
set your camera to "P" (program) mode with your flash
at E-TTL
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- This shot
was done at 1/30sec at f2.8 ISO400 on E-TTL, with the diffuser
pointed straight up, no dome:
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- It is not
necessary to use exposure compensation on your flash - while
the LS2 lowers your effective output by about a stop, your E-TTL
metering will compensate for the diffuser.
- When shooting
direct AND you do not require diffusion, simply point the LS2
straight forward with the half-dome removed. You do not need
to remove the Lightsphere2 to shoot direct. When doing portraiture,
you will find that the half-dome is an excellent softening diffuser
for shooting direct flash:
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- This image
was shot with the LSII pointing directly at the subject, using
a 17-35mm lens with the half dome attached. When shooting outdoors
in bright light conditions, set your camera to "P"
mode so the camera can automatically increase the shutter speed
and close the aperture to prevent blowout:
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- The half-come
will greatly reduce the "blowout" look of shooting
direct flash. Make sure you have a lens shade over your lens
to prevent lens flare.
- For portraiture,
the LS2 works great. This shot was taken indoors, with no half-dome:
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STORAGE
- The base unit and the cone can fit easily over any of the lenses
in your camera bag:
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- Feel free
to email me with your questions/comments by clicking here