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The Gary Fong WhaleTail
Flash Diffuser
by
J. Ramon Palacios
tell
a friend about this article
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Comparisons
with other systems
I
once made the comment about a colleague, that he was very
intelligent.
The reply from the outstanding man I was addressing was
"Intelligent for what?" Meaning that nobody can
be "Intelligent"
at everything. So
absolute statements around what light diffusion system
is best, should be followed by the question "Best
for what?" I
will be addressing in this page close-ups in interiors only.
With
some time, we may later do interiors, small, medium
and
large groups; then interiors under further mixed lighting
and finally move on to exteriors. Without live models at
hand,
I
selected a
couple
of objects
for
the
test. All shots under the same settings later repeated
for the portraits in the previous page, however from a
GT3530
Super Gitzo.
You
may click on any picture on a row to link to a somewhat
enlarged version of the images in that row.
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SB-800
no dome - forward |
SB-800
no dome at 60° |
SB-800
no dome at 90° |
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SB-800
+ dome - forward |
SB-800
+ dome at 60° |
SB-800
+ dome at 90° |
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GF
LightSphere II CLEAR
No dome - forward |
GF
LightSphere II CLEAR
No dome at 60° |
GF
LightSphere II CLEAR
No dome at 90° |
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GF
LightSphere II CLEAR
With dome - forward |
GF
LightSphere II CLEAR
With dome at 60° |
GF
LightSphere II CLEAR
With dome at 90° |
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GF
LightSphere II CLOUD
No dome - forward |
GF
LightSphere II CLOUD
No dome at 60° |
GF
LightSphere II CLOUD
No dome at 90° |
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GF
LightSphere II CLOUD
With dome - forward |
GF
LightSphere II CLOUD
With dome at 60°
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GF
LightSphere II CLOUD
With dome at 90° |
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GF WhaleTail
Front lid down Back lid down
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GF
WhaleTail
Front lid down Back lid up |
GF
WhaleTail
Both lids down at front |
Hard
to pick a best choice from images of this size, even
if just for this application. However, if you look closely,
at these short distances (62 inches
~ 1.60 meters) it
is always
best
to
point the diffuser upwards as recommended. The WhaleTail design
recognizes this fact and it is the only system not reproducing
a bright spot at the top of the vase (simulating a shinny
forehead) in all three sample test shots. And we have
not yet started to play with color inserts, amber and silver
flaps.
Summary
and conclusions follow |
