Lightscoop Love

I have a new gadget. It’s called the Lightscoop. And I love it. This is NOT a sponsored post. I just want to share.

Over here in Sweden we don’t have a lot of day light in winter as you have probably gathered from my complaints. It’s so difficult to take photos because after 2.30 pm there’s no light. At all. As a blogger that poses a problem since I work all day long on week days and often do my projects at night and as you guys want befores, afters and how-tos I’ve had to wait to do a lot until the weekends so I won’t have to use a flash. Not any more! Check this out:

 

Aside from the fact that that sweater dress makes me look wide as a barn door that flash also kind of makes this a bad photo. Understatement. I’m sure you agree.

 

Ha! Here’s the same shot with that little plastic n’mirror attachment, aka the Lightscoop. See how the image is light and bright and there’s no horrible flash bouncing back from the mirror. The Lightscoop makes the flash bounce off the walls (in vertical photos) or the ceiling (in horizontal photos) and evens it out instead.

 

Here’s another horrid flash shot without the Lightscoop. The flash casts shadows and everything looks really bad.

 

 

Here’s the same shot with the Lightscoop. All these after shots are completely un-edited so I’d do some editing to this one after (adjust the white balance etc.) but you wouldn’t be able to edit that flash shot and those shadows.

 

 

Here’s another example. I went into the basement and shot this in the dark. It’s the Christmas stuff that’s about to be put away in boxes.

 

With the Lightscoop you can actually see what is is (this would also be edited a bit further but I wanted you to see the sooc (straight out of the camera) shot. I’m amazed how well this works!

I read about the Lightscoop on another blog a couple of weeks ago (I’ve tried to find that blog post and link to it but I‘m afraid it’s lost in cyber space) and just had to try it. The Lightscoop is USD 29.95. You can order it here and they offer international shipping. The shipping to Sweden was USD 8.30 and it took about a week to arrive.

Comments

[Caroline]

Benita, that's an awesome tool I could definitely make use of here in California.
Your examples provide clear evidence of its value. I think it would be great for indoor portraits.

[Elisa @ What the Vita]

Wow this is a miracle tool, especially the last example! I am so definitely getting this... when I finally get a DSLR, that is. Pinned this, thanks so much for sharing!

[tinajo]

Oh - exactly what I need, I HATE flash! Thanks for the tip! :-)

[Leena]

Wow that seems way worth the price! Excellent photos.

[Dana @ Bungalow'56]

Thanks for this Benita, being from Northern Canada we have the same light issues. I will be looking into this!
Dana

[Weronica - En mammas dag]

You can sure sell it, girl :) Thanks for sharing!

[Maria/Husligheter]

Åh, tack - det här kan vara exakt den produkt jag drömt om i hela mitt liv! Klickade hem en omedelbart, tusen tack för tipset!

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

Haha, I SHOULD get commission on them, shouldn't I? :)

[Helena]

Wow! It looks as if you took those photos during bright daylight!! Great purchase!! :)

[@byebyebirdieuk]

Wow Benita, what a great find! There's not much (photo friendly) natural light in England either at this time of year. I get so frustrated when i can't capture the shot i want when i've finished a project.

It looks like you can also pick these up on amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Professor-Lightscoop-Standard-Universal-American/dp/B0017LNHY2) so you should definitely drop them into your amazon store :)

(and the sweater dress looks cute. not a barn door in sight!
x

[Anna]

AH, perfekt! Nu har jag också beställt ett:)
Tusen tack för tipset.

[Hxx]

That's a tiny barn you are talking there!
Great gadget!

[Mia]

Thank you for another great tip! Just one little question. Did you buy the "standard" or the "warming"?

[Judith]

I love it!! Definitely gonna get that little guy. No more flash terror, yay!

[Michelle]

that is brilliant and thank you for demonstrating it so clearly - you see I can trust what you say rather than some sales pitch by a company trying to sell me products. You're a star, thank you for sharing.

[Milla]

Nu har de fått också min beställning :D tack för tipset!

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

I bought the standard which I figured is good for my white interior which is where I'll be using it but if you want to use it mainly for portraits and people the warming may be a better option.

[Rebeccas.se]

Wow, tack! Den ska absolut beställas!

[nicolezh]

I like the dress- I am sure it is an uber cool skandi design...

[Katharina]

Following blogs is soooooooo expensive. Since Yesterday I need a slow cooker and today I found out we need a lightscoop, too!
Can't resist great tips :-)
Thanks for your ever inspirational blog!!!

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

It's from COS: http://www.cosstores.com/Store/Women/Dresses/Leather_pocket_dress/46881-243091.1 And I just noticed it's on sale now! :)

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

Haha, I know the feeling :)

[Annie]

Åh vilken bra idé! Så roligt att du kan fota alla dygnets timmar till oss på bloggen:). Och klänningen är skitsnygg, den klär dig och du ser bara cool, modern och sofistikerad ut, inte alls bred.

[Carin]

Oh Benita! What a fantastic little tool. I am so getting that! Thanks for the tip!

[Carin]

And I've ordered it lol. So excited!

[Steph]

WOW! What a difference that makes. I am totally sold on that after your post. The light just looks so natural diffused like that. Thanks for posting about it.

[Fiona]

That gadjet is simply amazing, Benita! I have a Canon and always have problems with tha flash efect on photos. Photoshop is a good tool but I don't like to use this software all the time. And I think this gadjet can help me a lot! Thank you for the tip! :)

[Kathleen]

Benita,
Thanks for this recommendation. I put my order right in and I'll let you know how it works for me. Believe it or not, the light in my Florida house is horrible and I've been looking for a solution to using a flash for years. I think this may well do the trick. Thanks!

[Anna]

Vilken skillnad:) Trevlig helg!

[Ava]

Yes, you should. I have already ordered one after reading your post. Greetings from Oslo (We share the daylight problem....)

[Anne]

Tycker nog företaget kunde sprida lite goodwill din väg efter detta inlägg och av kommentarerna att döma, för dem lönsamma resultatet :D

Själv har jag en digitalkamera från typ kritaperioden vilken tar urusla bilder som jag ändå inte kan föra över till datorn för att jag slarvat bort sladden...

[Sarah]

Vilket supertips! En sådan måste jag nog också beställa!

[Ellen*]

Great tip! Thanks!

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

Om du vill kan du låna min och testa lite!

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

Ja, eller hur?!

[Marianne]

I hardly ever use the flash on my camera as I hate the way it makes my photo look. Thanks for the tip.
Have a nice weekend!

[Mona]

Thank you so so much for posting this!! I am new at blogging and one of my recent posts was - what kind of camera should I buy? Now I know that I also need to get a Lightscoop. What a difference from the before shots!!!

[Giulia]

This is great. I use a bounce flash, but this would be a cheaper option. I never use the flash that's on the camera - all photos look bad with it, they might as well not add it to the camera. Have a great weekend.

[Kristianna]

AH, thank you so much for sharing this. I have had a lot of problems with indoor photos of the kids (they move so fast) where I need to use a flash to use a higher shutter speed, but then I get crappy overblown photos anyway. This is on my birthday list. :)

[Kirsti @ Lovely LaLaLand]

Oh my goodness! Thanks for sharing! I live in North Dakota--we have zero sunlight after mid-afternoon too. This is a great solution!

[Kathleen S.]

Wonderful idea. I just ordered one. Thanks so much for the inforamtion!

[Lisa Flaherty]

Haha! Agreed! And you don't even need to get up and go to a store!

[Jileen]

Benita this is Fantastic! We are Located in Scotland and much like Sweden, after 3pm in Winter = NO LIGHT. This is a heaven send, I am sooo ordering it.

[Kathryn]

Thank you for telling us about this! Our year round fog in San Francisco makes it SO hard to photograph but this will make a world of difference! And so affordable!!

[Kathryn]

Ha, I just realized they are sold right here in SF! They understood my pain of SF fog!

[marissa]

I've got one of these too and I adore it!

[Sarah]

My husband gave me this for Christmas in 2010 in place of the flash that I really want but cannot afford. I was dubious at first, but it has been great in the right situations.

It relies on an average ceiling height, which in the US is 8 ft, to bounce the light, too high of a ceiling and the effect is greatly diminished. And it works best with a white ceiling obviously. In your home, Benita, with so many reflective white surfaces I imagine it works well both horizontally and vertically. But, in many homes folks will be limited to horizontal shots due to interior wall colors, furnishing colors etc. Yes, editing is always an option, but it was drilled into me in art school, photograph the shot you want and aim for as little cropping as needed. I also find it a pain to travel with, and it cannot be used outdoors. But it does have it's place, at Christmas time I got some great night shots of everyone in front of the tree, and it doesn't need batteries.

Be sure to set your camera settings according to the directions that come with the Lightscoop. I have the standard, it works well for photographing people, they look natural- I think the warm would be too yellow.

[Christina]

Yes- as Sarah said- this really only works with low, white ceilings- if anyone has a color on their ceiling it will cause terrible color casts to their photos. Just thought I'd make sure people knew that before they order.

[rae]

i've been thinking about getting one of those. now i think i have too! thanks for the review!

[G.Sims]

Katharina and Giulia are so right.

Thanks for another great find! I won't have to ask my sons to re-take their photos again.

[Kukki]

Photojojo.com mentioned it quite some time ago. Glad you found it useful!

[Frau Taube]

this is abolutely awesome!! thanks for sharing!!

[Älvan]

Oh my, I totally "need" this! Thanks for the tip!

[oum oumeyma]

hello
i'm french and i delive t you a award on my scrap-blog
you see here
http://oumoumeyma.over-blog.com/article-un-award-par-shalim-et-pp-52-gourmandise-97288459.html

thnks you very much for the inspiration
good by

[Zosia]

This is great! Thanks for sharing.
I used your link from your Pinterest about how to take photos on manual mode (how to use that scale that you see in the viewer) and my photos are getting better.

[la marmotte]

it's excellent !
thank you for the idea
;-)

[Ann-Christine]

Tack så jättejättemycket för tipset!!
Oj, så glad jag blev nu, att det finns en sån lösning :)

[Glamorous Glutton]

Great gadget! Thanks for the tip, I will have to order one. GG

[ginger]

Bought and I sent them a comment about your review. Thanks for the great info, I'm looking forward to playing with it!

[amourette]

I just got the light scoop last month and I love it too! I did not realize they had a warming version though - I will have to check that out too.

[julia - rockthathorse]

Bought it. Thanks for sharing! And I love your blog!

[couple sweaters]

Katharina and Giulia are so right.

Thanks for another great find! I won't have to ask my sons to re-take their photos again.