sbohne

Sto-fens are good, and I used one for several years. Gary Fong actually used and recommended them. He used their idea and improved upon it. But you're right, it did a good job. The Fong design gave a little more roundness in my results.

carl hervol Loc: jacksonville florida

Go to amazon you can pick up a diffusers for 10.00 15.00 take a look there cheep as dirt and just like fongs.

sbohne

No...they're not. I've tried those. A Sto-fen is better than those knock-off jobs

scsdesphotography Loc: Southeastern Michigan

Weddingguy Loc: British Columbia - Canada

I think the motivation to use a Gary Fong style diffuser is based on the goal of eliminating shadows.

Shadows are your friend. Without shadows the human face/figure loses all depth and modeling.(3-D effect)
The flatness adds weight to the subject. (not popular these days). It's like throwing the ideal "Rembrandt lighting, split lighting, butterfly lighting, etc. . . right out the window as they ALL depend on shadows to be accomplished.

The goal should NOT be to eliminate shadows. . . but to control them. This is the opposite to what is accomplished with a Light Sphere type modifier on-camera.

Just my humble opinion of course as a portrait/wedding photographer for over 5 decades.

sbohne

In portrait photography, absolutely. In weddings...maybe. You are working quickly. Often you are working with groups of people. With an assistant, you can dual light, which I did often. However, the average customer prefers no shadows! The LightSphere lets the photographer do a good job for the customer under conditions that are often less than optimal.