Lightscoop: Perfect Holiday Gift

Looking for that perfect inexpensive holiday gift for your favorite amateur photographer whose camera has a pop-up flash? And, attention, pros: This is the perfect gadget for all those folks who ask you how to make their pictures better.

It's an easy-to-use device that easily slips onto your SLR camera and dramatically improves the quality of flash photography.

And it's got a catchy name -- Professor Kobre's Lightscoop.

OK, you don't have to take our word for it, just because we happened to have invented it.

Everybody's singing the Lightscoop's praises. Listen:

Wired:
"LightScoop Rescues Horrible Built-In Flashes"

Bizzie Mommy:
“Lightscoop: My new favorite photo accessory. I was actually on the verge of buying an external flash before I discovered the Lightscoop while flipping through a photography magazine.”

Doobybrain:
"WOW! The Lightscoop is amazing!!"

Lifetime Moms:
“I have been avoiding taking indoor pictures at night because I just hated how the pictures would come out with the camera flash on... Luckily I stumbled upon the Lightscoop...”

A Cowboy's Wife:
“I attached the Lightscoop to my camera and voila! Now THAT is a HUGE difference! I’m already sold and that was just the first comparison I did.”

The Gadgeteer:
“Professor Kobre’s Lightscoop is a clever and inexpensive ($35) device that clips on to the hot shoe of your DSLR or SLR camera.”

Gear Diary:
“Tired of flash photography that makes your victims look like a deer in the headlights? Here’s a cool photography tool designed for the everyday picture taker.”

GadgetSteria:
“The 'Scoop redirects light upwards, bouncing it off the tops of walls and ceilings which ends up giving the immediate surroundings more of a glow instead of spotlight appearance.”

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Plenty more accolades can be found here, including raves from David Pogue (New York Times), and American Photo, which awarded the Lightscoop an "Editor's Choice" honor.

And here's how it works:



One-stop shopping at LightScoop.com. Guaranteed to make your holiday season brighter! (And more evenly lit.)

P.S. Here's a little gift for you. Use this gift code when you check out, and receive a 15% discount just for KobreGuide fans: HOLIDAY.

Lightscoop.com: Lighter & Brighter

C'mon over and take a peek at our completely redesigned Lightscoop® Website at Lightscoop.com

What's a Lightscoop®? Glad you asked!

Lightscoop® is a smart low-tech device that creates soft, flattering light by redirecting your camera’s pop-up flash to a ceiling or wall.

Don’t let your convenient little pop-up flash ruin your photos with evil red eye, ugly shadows, hot spots, bleached out faces, underexposed colors, and blurry movement that exist only in your photographs, not in the real world.

Slip a Lightscoop® on your camera and never miss out on another fabulous picture! Lightscoop® creates soft, natural light and lets you capture the scene the way you see it.

Oh, heck -- why don't we just show you!



And now a word from our sponsor:

Where can you get your very own Lightscoop®? Glad you asked!

We Have a Winner!

When we reached 1,234 members* of the KobreGuide Facebook Group, we had a drawing for a free Prof. Kobre Lightscoop (retail value $35), which dramatically improves SLR flash photography.

And our winner is.... Amanda Koster (right), whose SalaamGarage leads groups of visual journalists to Third World countries, where they work with NGOs to help raise funds and awareness for worthy projects.

Congratulations, Amanda! We hope you'll take your new Lightscoop on your upcoming excursions to India, Guatemala, and Vietnam, and let us know how you like it. (Better yet, show us!)

Thanks to all who've signed up for our KobreGuide Facebook Group. It's the best way to stay abreast of KobreGuide.com stories and developments. (And you can follow us on Twitter, too!)

And please keep an eye on all the great work Amanda is doing over at SalaamGarage.com.

* Our Facebook Group is now up to 1,252 members. If you haven't joined yet, please do -- and invite your friends.

Video Narration: Whose Voice?

Do you generally prefer video stories that are "narrated" solely by interview subjects (w/natural sound), or those that are scripted for a reporter's voiceover?

Since most newspaper-generated videojournalism is a hybrid of TV news and mini-documentary, we find a variety of approaches.

Most still photographers and print reporters are not trained or adept at talking into mikes like a TV-style field reporter. So sometimes they find they are comfortable writing a VO script that helps glue together the images they have captured -- which they then record themselves, or ask a colleague to read.

Often videojournalists prefer to edit out their questions and let the interview subjects speak for themselves. Or they just opt to keep the camera rolling while they observe their subjects in their natural environment, capturing their candid behaviors and interactions.

There is no one correct approach; it's mostly a matter of what works best for you -- and for your story.

We posed the "narration" question on our Facebook Group Discussion Board, and here are some of the thoughtful replies we've received so far:

Scott Bryant wrote:

Personally, I think of the scripted voiceover and use of lower thirds titles as the "TV way" of doing things. I think newspapers ought to explore different ways of telling stories, ways that distinguish themselves from television. In my opinion, newspapers are doomed if they try to be television on the internet.

Letting subjects tell the story and using nat sound gives viewers a sense of being there without the filter of a reporter. And it lets them draw some conclusions without commentary. Joe Elbert exulted the search for "intimate" images, the ones that really touch us and enlighten us. I think this latter approach to multimedia story-telling is a more intimate approach.

Jamie Rose (Director of Momenta Workshops) wrote:

I think both are appropriate but it is dictated by the subject of the piece. Personal stories about sensitive issues can be more respectful and engaging when told by the subject. However, a quality voice over can help summarize or even complete a piece well.

I would argue that NPR has been doing this for years; not with images necessarily but a back and forth between subject and narrator to tell the story. Therefore, I'd say voiceovers are not totally a "television" way of using multimedia. I have tried to emulate the delicate balance NPR uses with subject/narrator in all my personal audio slideshows.

The one thing I've refrained from doing though is only using my voice. My voice is fine but there are people out there who are a lot better at reading a script. A common pitfall I see in portfolio pieces is hearing someone's grating or halting voice overs on their own pieces when a friend or colleague might have been the better choice.

The final comment I have though is I prefer sincerity above all else. The omniscient, pompous voiceover is never a good idea. However, if you feel strongly about a subject and the story is a good one, the choice between a script or an interview will normally rise to the top as the best way to communicate your message.

Great question! I look forward to other people's commentary too.

Randy Flaum wrote:

When we find the subject who happens to give a good "narrated" then you've got it. That doesn't happen too much. I'd rather have a natural audio over a voiceover but at the same time if the reporter adds something during the story it can really help. I don't even mind hearing a reporter's question once in a while. Viewers understand that there's a person behind the rolling camera so why not let that person add to the story? It's when every story has a reporter voiceover that I start turning off the video.

So there you have three excellent responses. What's yours? Go to our Facebook Group page, and contribute to our Discussion Board.

Haven't joined the Facebook Group yet? Now's the time! Here's why. We've got a contest going. It's called the 1234 Contest. When we hit 1,234 members, we're giving away a free Prof. Kobre's Lightscoop (ret. value: $35) to a randomly-drawn member. Right now, we've got 1,232 members -- so we're almost there. If you're one of the next two people to join, you'll have a chance to own your very own Lightscoop, which will instantly and dramatically improve your SLR flash photography.

Hurry!

Old Dog, New Trick

We've always been huge fans of New York Times technology columnist David Pogue, even before he gave my Lightscoop invention rave reviews exactly one year ago this month.

Today he posted five of the “Best Photography Tricks of All Time,” excerpted from his upcoming book on digital cameras.

I've been teaching photography for three decades, and even I learned something new! The first four tips are among those I hand out myself all the time to students. It's the fifth that grabbed my attention. Even grizzled pros will marvel at its sheer ingenuity. He's addressing compact camera owners, but the basic concepts apply to all cameras. When you use that fifth tip, though (and you will!), just don't use a long lens with a 35mm SLR. Otherwise, very clever!