Attaching the Gary Fong Lightsphere to Your Flash

I received an email from Frank:

" Hi - Saw .... diffuser at a wedding this weekend. Did not disturb the photographer but I am interested in how this attaches to my flash and how the unit holds together. Can you help me or direct me to a location on your site?
Thanks

Frank"


Good question, Frank. There is a tutorial DVD that comes with the Gary Fong Lightsphere, but if you haven't purchased, yet, that doesn't help you :-)

So, I made a quick video to demonstrate how to attach the Gary Fong Lightsphere, and also show some of its accessories. Hope this helps.

Amazing Movie Made From Still Photos

Do you ever go to the dictionary or encyclopedia to look up something and end up looking at dozens of other entries?

Yourtube is something like that. Today, someone sent me a link to a video on the Gary Fong Lightsphere. I went to look at it and found that the creator had links to several other 'movies'. One was to a series of movies from a South American photographer named Martin Crespo.

To quote Martin:

"This is my first short movie, done entirely with photo sequences from my Nikon D50, with non professional actors, original soundtrack and ambient sound (masterized). Three days "filming" (15.000 photos) and 2 months in the editing room and reconstructing the sound."

In other words, he created a movie just from still photographs - 15,000 ofthem!

I'll post the Trailer to his movie, but you should go to his youtube page and see his other work.

OPACO (trailer)

On locatiion Shoot with Gary Fong Whaletail Flash Diffusers

Last week, I had an on location job. I took a couple of Gary Fong Whaletails, so I made three videos to show what I took, and how I used them. The first explains what I had to take prior to using small flashes. It then shows what I use, now.

Parts 2 and 3 give more detail on how I lit the subjects and shows some samples.

The original videos are posted on youtube. Youtube is a great concept, but there isn't much production value. I capture the video with an elderly analog Hi8. I then convert to analog into video and import it to a MAC Mini. From there, I use iMovie to put the video clips and stills together. The result is a rather grainy and out of focus looking production -- I hope you can get some information from them!!

Part #1



Part #2



Part #3

Model Photo Session Using Gary Fong Whaletail Flash Diffuser

I get lots of questions about how to use the Gary Fong Whaletail flash diffusers to replace studio lights.

This video demonstrates the use of two Whaletails -- a Reporter size and the larger Studio size -- in a simple two-light studio setup. The session takes place in an apartment living room. Only about a 10 foot wide area was necessary - in order to allow for a simple black muslin backdrop.

Aperture

Since the last post, and accompanying video, dealt with shutter speed, I figured I'd better complete the discussion about exposure by making a video about aperture.

The aperture is the opening in the lens. The wider the opening, the more light that will be recorded on your film or digital sensor.

Take a look at the video, and the one of shutter speed. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Shutter Speeds

While this may seem pretty basic, I often get questions on what shutter speed and aperture are -- and how they relate to exposure - and to each other.

Shutter Speed is the time that the shutter remains open, when you press the shutter release button.

Exposure is determined by the combination of how long the shutter is open, and the size the lens aperture (opening).

Shutter speeds can range from one second (even longer if you have a B [bulb] option) to 1/4000th of a second on most prosumer cameras and higher on pro level cameras.

If you are shooting fast moving action, you will want to use faster settings. In low light, you will use longer settings, and may even need to put the camera on a tripod.

Here is a quick video demo of shutter speeds.

Camera Settings for the Gary Fong WhaleTail Light Diffuser

I got this email over the Labor Day Weekend.

It occured to me that other might have a similar question, so I made a quick video.

The Question:

I was checking on your site for settings and suggestions for owners of the Whaletail and a Canon 400D (XTi). I recently received my Whaletail and am enjoying playing around with it; but I am experiencing some lighting issues. I own two lenses. One is the Canon 1.8 50mm and the other is the Canon 17-85 EF-S f4-5.6.

The manual states to put the camera on Aperture Priority and set the F-Stop from 2.8 to 4.0, with an ISO of 400 to 800. Problem is that only one of my two lenses even goes that low, and that's my 50mm. I'm also noticing that my camera, even on program mode, dips below a flash shutter speed of 1/60.

This means I get a bit of blur, sometimes a lot of blur. I'm sure most of the purchasers of this product are professionals and have fully professional equipment. I'm still learning my XTi and I know it isn't professional grade and neither is my 17-85mm lens. yet, I have a suspicion there is a way to make this all work right even with my limited equipment.

Can you point me in the right direction?

Thanks! Kelly

The Answer: