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Lightscoop Review + Giveaway!

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Giveaway Closed

Congratulations to #91 – Shooting Stars Mag!
An email has been sent.
***

As a blogger and new DSLR photographer, I have quickly learned the #1 rule for good photos can be summed up in two words: Natural Light. I strive whenever possible to shoot photos of my finished projects only when there is ample daylight to go around.

But, let’s get real: not every situation is amenable to picking and choosing your timing that carefully. What if it’s raining out, and you’re on a deadline? Or – even more importantly – what if you have precious children you want to photograph without washing out and/or scaring to death with a pop-up flash?

I am thrilled to say that I have finally found the answer to that conundrum: Lightscoop! 

This little device is downright brilliant. The concept is simple: Slide the Lightscoop over your camera’s pop-up flash to redirect that light to a ceiling or wall. The result? Gorgeous, brightly lit and natural-looking photos!

At $29.95, this is a fantastic, affordable, effective alternative to an expensive external flash. And, just to give you an idea of how wonderfully Lightscoop works, let me present Exhibit One: photos of sweet baby George taken earlier this week.

I never, ever use a pop-up flash with my kiddos, mainly because it twitterpates them so much that I can never manage a decent shot afterward. So, on this particular morning, were it not for Lightscoop, I would have been limited to the meager natural light streaming in through George’s bedroom window. The photo on the left is the result of just using the window light: dark and shadowy. Now, check out the photo on the right, after the Lightscoop was installed.

What a difference!


I assure you that neither of those shots has been edited in the slightest, other than to make the side-by-side collage for comparison’s sake. And, the fact that I was able to snap these within moments of one another indicates how incredibly simple the Lightscoop is to use and install once you familiarize yourself with the appropriate settings for your particular camera.

The Lightscoop is available for purchase at www.Lightscoop.com, which is brimming with information to help you get started:

After using my Lightscoop for the last couple of weeks, I honestly don’t know how I ever lived without it. I absolutely love this device!
Guess what? One lucky PS reader is going to win a Lightscoop of his or her very own!
The scoop (pun intended 😉 on how to get yourself entered to win:

Mandatory Entry
  • Leave a comment here telling me how you think Lightscoop will help improve your photos.
Additional entries:
  • Like Lightscoop on Facebook (be sure to tell them PS sent you!), and come back to leave a comment.
  • Follow Lightscoop on Twitter, and leave a comment letting me know you did/do.
  • Spread the word about this giveaway on Twitter, Facebook, or you own blog. For all you tweeters out there, you can copy and paste this tweet:
    • No more ugly photos! Enter to #win a Lightscoop: https://ow.ly/9YzZO with @splendidamy and @LightScoop at Positively Splendid!
Giveaway will end at 11:59 p.m. CST on April 5, 2012. Winner will be selected at random on or after April 6, 2012 and notified via email and announced in this post. Winner will have 48 hours to claim his or her prize. In order to maximize your chances to win, you must leave a separate comment for each entry. If your email address is not linked to your Google account, please leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you in case you win. I reserve the right to select an alternate winner for any entries lacking an email contact. Giveaway open only to continental US residents 18 years of age and older.
Oh – and one more thing! Lightscoop is offering an exclusive discount to PS readers. Simply enter PS15 at checkout between now and April 15 to earn 15% of your order at Lightscoop.com!

Good luck, everyone!!

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Disclosure: I have received payment from Lightscoop to write this review. Rest assured that all opinions expressed here are solely my own, and I am committed to sharing only products and services I earnestly feel my readers will benefit from and enjoy.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Laura says

    our home doesn’t have a ton of natural light so being able to bounce light easily would make a HUGE difference for my photos!!

  6. KariAnnS says

    I forgot to say how it would help my photos. It would save me HOURS of editing time!

    I ‘liked’ on FB, Twitter and re-tweeted!

  7. Megan says

    I rarely have my act together enough to wait around for good lighting for my blog photos/projects. I don’t like the harsh lighting of the flash for my kiddos either. GENIUS! Really hope I win!

  8. Mel says

    Since I work outside of my home, I get most of my projects done in the evening. Well, that means crappy and dark photos. I would love to win this. Thanks.

  17. April says

    This would help my pictures constantly. I’m always taking pictures as it’s getting darker or cloudy. And holidays and parties at other people’s houses would make my celebration photos so much better without having to edit all of my photos, leaving more time for picture taking!

  18. Lisa says

    I’d love to take pictures of my 7-month-old and 3-year-old that didn’t look either washed out or too dark! This looks like a great solution!

  19. Jenn says

    This is awesome! It looks like another great tool to help amature photographers (like me) take better pictures!

  20. Pam - diy Design Fanatic says

    Lightscoop definitely works!I bought one for each of my daughters when I gave them their dslr’s. I still need one for myself and it would definitely help me with the photos for my blog, especially in low light areas of my home.

  21. Jennifer Salter says

    My hubby works nights and sleeps during the day, because of that I am spend most of my time in the part of our house that has almost no natural light! I’d love to be able to bring more natural light to my project pictures.

  25. Unknown says

    I would love to have this! My photos are so lacking and I would love to be able to use something like this to help with the lack of lighting I always seem to encounter!

  34. Iuliana says

    I have finally gotten myself a DSLR. My pictures look so much better and all the time I try to learn to use more of my camera’s features. The pictures I take outside look really good. But with a baby so much of the action happens inside, at night with very little or no natural light. That’s where I need help.

    This looks like a very nifty thing to have for such situations. Would love to win it!

  36. Kara says

    Wow, I can’t believe what a difference it made in your photos of cute George! I would love to be able to take such beautiful pictures of my kiddos in lower light settings. Amazing!

  37. Sarah A. says

    This would be awesome! I take all my kids’ yearly photos and I’m still learning the ins and outs; this would greatly improve the final product!

  42. Amelia says

    My husband loves to take photos of our 11 week old son but hates when the flash goes off in his face, this would be wonderful for us!

  43. Michelle says

    This would help me take much better pictures on a much smaller budget! I’ve been saving for a long time for an external flash, but just had to use most of my savings on a new camera battery. Thanks for telling us about it!

  48. Janelle Shultz says

    the majority of our MT days are filled w/ clouds of somesort…and i just don’t have enough windows in my house! this would be a great & affordable solution!

  53. Krista says

    Would love to win this! I have a bunch of rooms in my house that have no natural light and this would be perfect for that.

  55. HOOTENANNY...Jennifer Jacks says

    This looks like an answer to my photography issues without spending lots of money! I have an Etsy shop and blog and I post photos of my products all the time even though sometimes they aren’t the best quality. I’ve even thought of hiring a photographer to do my photos so they would look more professional but I really don’t have room in my budget for this extra expense.
    Enter me in your giveaway please!
    Thanks,
    Jennifer

  58. #6 Drake Family! says

    oh my goodness! i have been wanting one of these for a long time! it would so improve my newborn shots because i’m an outdoors photographer so i don’t have a studio. so when i have to do newborns i hope and pray for a good day so i could sit by the window for the natural light because i hate the flash! i’m really crossing my fingers for this one!!

  59. #6 Drake Family! says

    oh my goodness! i have been wanting one of these for a long time! it would so improve my newborn shots because i’m an outdoors photographer so i don’t have a studio. so when i have to do newborns i hope and pray for a good day so i could sit by the window for the natural light because i hate the flash! i’m really crossing my fingers for this one!!

  61. ELNM says

    Like you I never use my flash because it washes everything out. This should help me get nice, evenly lit photos. Thanks!

  74. cassie says

    I would love this!!! Photoscoop would help me so much. I take pics of my son’s sports and during wrestling the pics are so dark. This would make the pictures so much better!!! So glad you found this!
    cassie
    [email protected]

  78. Lori says

    I always have problems with the correct lighting, so I know this will be a huge improvement for me. Great giveaway!

  81. Lori says

    I always have problems with the correct lighting, so I know this will be a huge improvement for me. Great giveaway!

  82. Kauaʻi Mommy says

    Aloha from Hawaii. With four children, even in this beautiful paradise, it is hard to get a good shot of all of them at the same time. Not worrying about lighting would be one less thing to have to worry about!

  83. Pip says

    I only have the popup flash, as I haven’t invested in a good external yet. This would be lovely to help with how drowned out it can make colors!

  84. Lee Ann L. says

    I think this is a very portable solution. I hate to carry around my big ol’ humongous heavy flash. Also, using the flash that is built in the camera stinks. This sounds like an awesome solution and will definitely improve my indoor candid photos of people.

    Thank you for a chance to win.

  88. allierae says

    I’m still learning how to use all the features of my camera but I think this would help me take much better pics of the kiddos!

  90. Shooting Stars Mag says

    this would be great for my brother and sister in law. they have a little girl and a nice camera, but I think this would really help get some better shots of her without worrying about the light.

    lauren51990 at aol dot com

  102. erika says

    oh, wow! i don’t have much natural light in my house, so this would be great! p.s. do you have the standard or warming version?

  111. Mel says

    So many situations where you need that extra light. This is a perfect solution for spreading out that light when you HAVE to use the darn flash. I love it!

  113. Boushey says

    I liked and left a comment.

    Like Lightscoop on Facebook (be sure to tell them PS sent you!), and come back to leave a comment.

  120. Lauras Crafty Life says

    This would be perfect for me. I do a lot of my crafts for my blog after the kids go to bed at night and it is so hard to get good pictures! Thanks for the giveaway! 🙂

  121. Jess says

    I love this!!! Always struggling with needing the flash sometimes, but the flash is so harsh. This is a great solution! Love!

  123. Christa says

    We have very little natural light inside our house so we can use all the help we can get. Thanks for the chance at winning!

  135. Kim says

    Oooh! I need one of those. All the late night photo sessions with NO natural light could definitely use it!

  137. VickiT says

    I’ve seen the Lightscoop before and read with interest about all the features. I know it would help us very much now because in the past 6 months we’ve had 2 new Grandchildren born. While you can take quilts and things like that you’ve made outside for pictures, it’s just not easily done with babies. With babies you really need great lighting too and you want to get those photos that may only happen once so having a great light helps tremendously so you don’t miss that shot. My husband has a fancy lighting thing on his camera but I have nothing for mine and with his light thing added, it’s horribly heavy too. The lightscoop isn’t going to add that huge amount of weight from what I can tell which would be perfect for me since I’ve had 4 different surgeries on both of my hands in 2009 and have lost some strength. I’d LOVE to win the Lightscoop.
    Thank you for the chance.

  146. Jess says

    I have a newborn and of course, LOVE taking pictures of him. However, my home is so dark and doesn’t have a lot of natural light, so having light scoop would make my photos look so much better! Want to capture every little thing.

  147. Jess says

    I have a newborn and of course, LOVE taking pictures of him. However, my home is so dark and doesn’t have a lot of natural light, so having light scoop would make my photos look so much better! Want to capture every little thing.

  148. Jess says

    I have a newborn and of course, LOVE taking pictures of him. However, my home is so dark and doesn’t have a lot of natural light, so having light scoop would make my photos look so much better! Want to capture every little thing.

  149. Cheryl Brickey says

    I love to try to take indoor pictures of the kids but they always turn out too dark. I think that this might be the solution.

    C_kaminsky(at)yahoo(dot)com

  150. Judy says

    Everyone comments on my outdoor photos but I really need help with the indoor ones. This is definitely the answer. If I don’t win I need to go look into these. Thanks for the chance.

  153. Teri says

    My house is surrounded by trees, so I don’t get much natural light in my house. Hopefully, this will improve the shots I take of my baby girl!

  163. brenda says

    THIS SHOULD WOULLD HELP WHEN TAKING PICTURES OF MY GRANDDAUGHTER AND THE GRAND BABY DUE IN OCTOBER THANKS FOR THE CHANCE

  166. Catherine says

    We just went on a little family road trip and I spent a good chunk of it frustrated with my flash photos, so I think having the ability to light up my subject without ridiculous shadows and bright spots would definitely improve my photo taking experience.

    Thanks for the chance!

  167. annesatx says

    Unfortunately our house is somewhat dark, so this would really help with all those indoor shots, such as at Christmas and family get-togethers.

  173. tlnovak says

    Most of the photos I take in my home happen in the living room which is a little dark because of the porch roof right outside the windows. The Light Scoop would be great for improving the photos I take during family gatherings.

  174. Blessed says

    Lightscoop would definitely help out with the lighting of my photos. So hard to achieve natural lighting all the time – lightscoop would help with that!

  177. Rae says

    I would love some extra light in my pictures i am a new professional photographer and slowing but surely getting equipment to add to my bag, this would help my business bloom!
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

  192. Laurie Sublime says

    Thanks for the opp to win a super cool product! I would love to use this tool to enhance photos I take of my kids, my blog projects, and esp my two kitty cats! These two little rascals r always up to mischief and are also beautiful animals. I would love to be able to shoot better pics of them doing what they do best – showing off their purrsonalities (sorry..couldn’t resist)! [email protected]