#flowertherapy might be right up there with #water #flowertherapy might be right up there with #watertherapy.  Love passing the time in secret wildflower patches. As you do. 🌸
I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon was on the way home tonight, and my friend pulled over right away so I could grab a photo. That’s when someone really knows you! It was just too beautiful to resist. 🌙
Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ C Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ 
Context: 1/ picture perfect weekend, 2/ threw together a quick meal w udon noodles, steak and broccoli, so good, 3/ the sun reflections on this painting struck me today, looked like a cross 4/ it takes all afternoon but nothing like Sunday Gravy, 5/ six months old, 6/ when he wants some serious zzzz’s, he covers his eye with his ears, the cutest, 7/ breakfast pastries at @coniglios
I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New Jersey banned the plastic ones last year. But when I spied this beauty for a buck, how could I resist? It just is so darn happy, which makes me happy. The little things aren’t so little. 💛
Cheers to the weekend! This may look like a staged Cheers to the weekend! This may look like a staged photo, but Lola just has ZERO boundaries and Clifford is exceptionally patient. 😂
I’ve been on a smoked salmon kick lately (it’s I’ve been on a smoked salmon kick lately (it’s so good for you), so when I saw that a local patisserie has a smoked salmon croissant available (weekends only), I added it to my list of things to seek out. I popped into @chocolatinenj early on Mother’s Day and was rewarded with this deliciousness. Layers of soft flaky croissant dough, tender smoked salmon, light whipped cream, thinly sliced red and green onion slivers and dotted with capers… it was every bit as amazing as you’d imagine it would be. If you’re local, don’t sleep on this one. 😋
Weekend photos in review, the belated edition. 1/ Weekend photos in review, the belated edition.

1/ hit up a few yard sales and snagged this beautiful pasta dish from Italy with my favorite color for a buck, 2/ and one of these printer trays came home with me too, 3/ pre Mother’s Day celebrations with 30 local moms, 4/ finished the weekend supervising furniture assembly
Today would have been my friend Cathy’s 53rd bir Today would have been my friend Cathy’s 53rd birthday. Unfortunately she’s not here to celebrate because she died suddenly at age 49. I think of her often … every Mother’s Day because we spent most of them together since her husband worked weekends … when I discover a new food adventure (we once did a day long donut crawl) … when I’m sharing a special time with my kids knowing that her then-11 year old is growing up without her. Before she passed, I always appreciated every day, but since then, even more so. You never know what the next day can bring, so relish in the sunshine, surprise rainstorms, making wishes over railroad tracks and all the wonderful randomness life can throw your way. Don’t waste a single second, say yes, live on the outskirts of your comfort zone, laugh often, tell people you love them, give eight second hugs, and squeeze every ounce of joy you can out of life. Do it for the people who can’t. ✨
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Press
  • Writing
  • Contact

Sweetnicks

Food and Life

Review: Lightscoop

January 13, 2010 · Photography

light-scoop

I get frequent emails about what type of camera I use.  Up until last January, it was a point-and-shoot, but last year I switched to a “big girl” camera.  The nice folks at Nikon let me try out their D60 for a few months and I was hooked.  Thank goodness for a generous media discount!  I promised them I’d review the camera, and still need to, but that review will wait until I feel I’m using more of all the camera’s capabilities.  I’m probably only using about 50% of its features now, so a review isn’t fair to them yet.

Last year, I decided to apply myself to photography a little more.  Once you start getting into it, you can very easily get carried away buying different types of lens, props and the like, so I started with reading books on the topic.  And I bought a strap since mine disappeared, for a grand total of $3.  Then I discovered the Lightscoop.  And it changed everything.  For a crazy 24 bucks.

It slides right over where your pop-up flash is on your DSLR.  Thirty seconds later and you’re ready to take it for a spin.  What it does is it serves as a “bounce” for your flash, so instead of having the harsh light of your flash on the subject that you’re photographing, it bounces it up and out to a ceiling or wall, and you (and your photo) get the light of the flash, but not the ill effects of it.  One of the first rules I learned with photography was no flash, no flash, no flash.  This gives you the affects of it, without the negative aspects of it.  Pros use all sorts of things to diffuse the harshness of a flash … umbrellas,  for example.  This does the same thing.

If you look at the (untouched) pictures above, you can see the difference.  The picture on the left is with the regular pop-up flash doing its thing.  The picture on the right, I still had the flash on, but also put the Lightscoop on the camera.  You can see I still got the “light,” but look at how soft everything is.  How warm it is.  It doesn’t have that harsh, fake brightness of the regular flash.  Look at Mary’s veil in both pictures.  And the Baby Jesus.  How rich and warm the colors are with the Lightscoop.  And how washed out they are with the flash.  Isn’t that the coolest thing?  Love a bargain accessory for the camera, and thought it was the perfect thing to share with you guys.

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPRINT

Posted In: Photography · Tagged: camera accessories, DSLR, Lightscoop, Nikon D60

Comments

  1. claire says

    January 14, 2010 at 5:45 am

    Looks like you put a spotlight on the baby Jesus! This is neat. I hate using a flash but sometimes you just need it.

    Reply
  2. Joanne says

    January 14, 2010 at 7:12 am

    Thanks so much for the info about this! I have a point and shoot with no possibility of getting a big girl camera at any time in the near future, so this may be a worthy investment.

    Reply
  3. Patsy says

    January 14, 2010 at 9:38 am

    bouncing the flash is a great way to make the lighting not wash out whatever you are trying to capture. I love my “big girl” camera and my hubby didn’t see this device when shopping and I ended up with a new bounce head flash attachment… didn’t know this item even existed!

    Reply
  4. paula says

    January 14, 2010 at 9:54 am

    ‘No flash’ just doesn’t work in my house when most of my pictures are taken well after any natural light is coming in. I always look so longingly at the ‘good’ cameras in Costco when I walk in but then I figure what is the point of spending that much on a camera when it won’t change the fact that I have no good lighting?

    Reply
  5. Shannon says

    January 14, 2010 at 9:57 am

    i’ve been thinking of getting a diffuser for my pop up flash, but this seems to be getting better reviews… does it require specific settings on your camera or you really just pop it and go in automatic, macro, or other settings?

    Reply
  6. Ramona says

    January 14, 2010 at 10:05 am

    Neat, I’ll have to check on one of those.

    Reply
  7. Casey says

    January 14, 2010 at 10:31 am

    Oh, this is a fantastic tool. When I finally move to an SLR, I will be buying one immediately. Great tip!

    Reply
  8. Josie says

    January 14, 2010 at 11:00 am

    This is my latest quest- a new camera. Mine is just a generic digital point and shoot, and it is at least 5 years old. It doesn’t even have a macro setting! I’ve figured out how to take better pictures with it lately, but still nothing great.

    Reply
  9. Merry says

    January 15, 2010 at 1:07 am

    I think I’m buying one of these ASAP! Thanks for the tip!

    Reply
  10. Meg says

    January 15, 2010 at 5:12 pm

    The Lightscoop looks/sounds awesome! My mom recently bought a diffuser for her large DSLR camera and loves it, but I’m still using a point-and-shoot (a Panasonic Lumix with a Leica lens — LOVE!). When I invest in a “big girl” camera, I’ll definitely look for the Lightscoop!

    Reply
  11. pamela says

    January 17, 2010 at 10:10 pm

    I so want one of these!! Thanks for letting me know it was out there.

    Reply
  12. Diana says

    June 30, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    Hi I just got my lightscoop in and I also have a Nikon D60. I do not know much about camera so I def. needed a step by step direction or video on how to change all my setting to the right ones for the lightscoop. But the directions given on the lightscoop website don’t exactley help me since it’s not the D60 and I’m just basically need more details on how to get to some of these functions! Help please! :)

    Reply

Leave a Reply to pamela Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Storytelling…
Through photos.
Words. And recipes.

Archives

Categories

Instagram

#flowertherapy might be right up there with #water #flowertherapy might be right up there with #watertherapy.  Love passing the time in secret wildflower patches. As you do. 🌸
I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon was on the way home tonight, and my friend pulled over right away so I could grab a photo. That’s when someone really knows you! It was just too beautiful to resist. 🌙
Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ C Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ 
Context: 1/ picture perfect weekend, 2/ threw together a quick meal w udon noodles, steak and broccoli, so good, 3/ the sun reflections on this painting struck me today, looked like a cross 4/ it takes all afternoon but nothing like Sunday Gravy, 5/ six months old, 6/ when he wants some serious zzzz’s, he covers his eye with his ears, the cutest, 7/ breakfast pastries at @coniglios
I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New Jersey banned the plastic ones last year. But when I spied this beauty for a buck, how could I resist? It just is so darn happy, which makes me happy. The little things aren’t so little. 💛

Pinterest

#flowertherapy might be right up there with #water #flowertherapy might be right up there with #watertherapy.  Love passing the time in secret wildflower patches. As you do. 🌸
I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon was on the way home tonight, and my friend pulled over right away so I could grab a photo. That’s when someone really knows you! It was just too beautiful to resist. 🌙
Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ C Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ 
Context: 1/ picture perfect weekend, 2/ threw together a quick meal w udon noodles, steak and broccoli, so good, 3/ the sun reflections on this painting struck me today, looked like a cross 4/ it takes all afternoon but nothing like Sunday Gravy, 5/ six months old, 6/ when he wants some serious zzzz’s, he covers his eye with his ears, the cutest, 7/ breakfast pastries at @coniglios
I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New Jersey banned the plastic ones last year. But when I spied this beauty for a buck, how could I resist? It just is so darn happy, which makes me happy. The little things aren’t so little. 💛
Cheers to the weekend! This may look like a staged Cheers to the weekend! This may look like a staged photo, but Lola just has ZERO boundaries and Clifford is exceptionally patient. 😂
I’ve been on a smoked salmon kick lately (it’s I’ve been on a smoked salmon kick lately (it’s so good for you), so when I saw that a local patisserie has a smoked salmon croissant available (weekends only), I added it to my list of things to seek out. I popped into @chocolatinenj early on Mother’s Day and was rewarded with this deliciousness. Layers of soft flaky croissant dough, tender smoked salmon, light whipped cream, thinly sliced red and green onion slivers and dotted with capers… it was every bit as amazing as you’d imagine it would be. If you’re local, don’t sleep on this one. 😋
Weekend photos in review, the belated edition. 1/ Weekend photos in review, the belated edition.

1/ hit up a few yard sales and snagged this beautiful pasta dish from Italy with my favorite color for a buck, 2/ and one of these printer trays came home with me too, 3/ pre Mother’s Day celebrations with 30 local moms, 4/ finished the weekend supervising furniture assembly
Today would have been my friend Cathy’s 53rd bir Today would have been my friend Cathy’s 53rd birthday. Unfortunately she’s not here to celebrate because she died suddenly at age 49. I think of her often … every Mother’s Day because we spent most of them together since her husband worked weekends … when I discover a new food adventure (we once did a day long donut crawl) … when I’m sharing a special time with my kids knowing that her then-11 year old is growing up without her. Before she passed, I always appreciated every day, but since then, even more so. You never know what the next day can bring, so relish in the sunshine, surprise rainstorms, making wishes over railroad tracks and all the wonderful randomness life can throw your way. Don’t waste a single second, say yes, live on the outskirts of your comfort zone, laugh often, tell people you love them, give eight second hugs, and squeeze every ounce of joy you can out of life. Do it for the people who can’t. ✨

Copyright © 2023 Sweetnicks · Theme by Vicki Harrison Design