I first picked up my SB600 when I wanted to take a portrait type shot of my then 3-month old. The camera store guy recommended that I get the Fong Lightsphere to go with it to diffuse the light and create a softer picture. I recognized it as the same thing the lady who did the hospital newborn shot had on her camera and so I went ahead and bought it.
To be honest, I didn’t really care for it too much but I was hopeful that it could act as a softbox and allow me to light the food from above so I could get in nice and close. Eh. It still gave me a bit of a hot spot and it wasn’t really large enough to evenly light the whole plate. See that lovely mirror in the set-up shot? That was to try and over come the shadow caused by the coffee cup.
With light it seems like every time you come up with a solution for one problem another problem pops up. Kinda like a hydra.
And speaking of DIY lighting — have you seen what this guy is doing? I’d love to create that light thingee he’s got there!
Jessica, I’m learning a lot from your flash experiments.
At our annual Christmas get-together, my b-i-l told me I should get rid of my “cheap” Lumiquest Promax System, http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/lq/index.html, and get a Fong Lightsphere like his (oh, and he recommended a book, but told me I’d have to open my mind before reading it — I’m not my b-i-l’s biggest fan). I’ll stick with my Lumiquest. I use the 80/20 option a lot and have gotten some great shots with the silver and gold diffusers.
Here’s another guy doing some cool things with light and flashes: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26887294@N05/sets/72157615799137833/
Oh, Jessica, I almost forgot: have you seen these photo backdrops? http://www.etsy.com/people/SilverLiningBackdrop?ref=ls_profile