Psst... Pass the word... 15% discount at www.lightscoop.com with coupon code BLACKFRIDAY (ALL CAPS).

All of you in the States... if Thanksgiving is here, Christmas & Hanukka are not far behind. And for those of you in other places in the world... Christmas & Hanukka are still right around the corner! Our thanks this year to all our enthusiastic Lightscoop users!

Here's some advice to prepare you for the season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

1. Take great pictures of Christmas trees with lights or Hanukkah candles burning brightly by fooling the automatic light meter inside your camera. Put your camera on manual (m) and then set your shutter dial to a slow speed like 1/15sec or even 1/8 sec. This slow shutter speed will let the lights from the tree or candles come out brighter. Remember to hold the camera very still or rest it on a desk, monopod or tripod.
   
   
2. If the room light is very low, try using flash. Set the flash setting on “moon”or “city scape.” This setting will keep the shutter open longer and pick up more available light coming from the tree or candles. You can use this setting in combination with Professor Kobre’s Lightscoop® for best results with the pop-up flash on 35mm SLRs. Bouncing the pop-up flash with the Lightscoop will result in an even more natural-looking scene — no harsh light.
   
   
3. If you have young children, get down on their level to shoot. Witnessing the world from their perspective will add a refreshing point of view to your pictures. And remember to come in close to your child’s face - the closer you get, the bigger the child will appear in the picture and the more the child’s smile will radiate the memories of the holiday. (And by bouncing the pop-up flash with your Lightscoop, you won't blast the little one's eyes.)
   
   
4. While loved ones are decorating the tree, wrapping gifts, or preparing candles,they are likely to be relaxed and engaged — and less likely to pay attention toyour camera. What a great time for candid pictures instead of frozen smiles.These are magic moments.
   
   
5.  Avoid the awkward delay that occurs with point-and-shoot cameras between the time you press the button and the shutter actually clicks. Frame your picturethe way you like it and then press the shutter half-way down. Keep the button partially depressed until your subject reacts in some fun way… with a smile or intimate touch. Only then, at that critical moment, press the button all theway down. Now the shutter will click almost instantly. Using this technique you can get more candid pictures — you can do this on your iPhone, too!

New York Times: Gadgetwise
“A Great Flash Add-On for Pets (and People)... The holidays are bearing down on us, and chances are you’ll be snapping a lot of indoor shots of your friends and family, not to mention the dogs and cats decked out in Santa hats, festive little sweaters, and reindeer antlers. The Lightscoop is a great little gadget for improving these indoor shots.”

CNET ULTIMATE HOLIDAY TECH GUIDE

“[THE LIGHTSCOOP®] IS a great stocking stuffer, especially for the dSLR newbie who might avoid using the flash altogether because it's ugly.”

WIRED.com

The Lightscoop “in one neat and simple stroke turns an almost unusable, on-axis light source into a big, soft,flattering sheet of light.”

WIRED.COM

”You won’t get results anything like those you’d achieve with external flashes and some creative know-how, but the difference between using your pop-up with and without the scoop is like(forgive me) night and day. Where the bare-bulb picture ... is harsh and full of sharp-edged shadows, the ‘scooped version is soft andshadow-free.”

San Luis Obispo Tribune

“Using the Lightscoop will soften the light and redirect it, resulting in much better images... At first I was skeptical, but the results are pretty amazing.”

Practical Photograpy, UK
“Professor Kobré's Lightscoop promises 'pro-like lighting with your SLR's pop-up flash.' This might seem like an outlandish boast (given the rabbit-caught-in-the-headlights look of pop-up flash pictures), but much to my surprise, it actually does work.”

Blogs

Essential Digital Camera (for beginners & others new to digital photogrphy)

“Check out the Lightscoop and see if it turns your photos of family gatherings into great shots instead of trash can fodder!”

Shutter Photo

“For many, it will be all you need to make your photos look leaps and bounds better. For many, it will help you to postpone the need to spend money on a good external flash – and $34.95*(USD, pricing as of November, 2009), it will certainly serve that purpose.  I would even hypothesize that many casual photographers will prefer the Light Scoop over a more complicated external flash system –especially consumers who primarily capture family functions, parties and so on.  For that matter, even more advanced photographers might prefer to travel with a Light Scoop instead of their more bulky and more costly external flashes.”

The Mommy Daddy Blog & Holiday Gift Guide

”I’ve always avoided taking pictures in low light situations because they’d always turn out disastrous... I found the perfect solution, the Lightscoop.”

The Gadgeteer

”The Lightscoop is a great addition to my camera equipment.  It works beautifully to redirect and soften thelight from my Nikon’s pop-up flash. With the Lightscoop, my pictures look more like what my eye sees.... Professor Kobre’s Lightscoop is a wonderful tool for taking beautifully lighted, intimate pictures.”

Terry White’s 2009 Holiday Gift Guide for the Digital Photographer

Terry White's Tech Blog
“Your pop-up flash doesn’t have to suck! ...When it arrived, I was thinking ‘this is never going to work.’ So of course I fired off acouple test shots (before and after) and I was stunned by the difference. Yes, it does work!”

GadgetSteria

“Does it work? For all intents and purposes, the answer is an impressed and resounding “Yes!” ... An A+ in my book.”

Mr. Gadget

“A little bit like no flash really. It won't replace my external Speedlight but I still have some use for it definitely. I like the weight or lack thereof from a big bulky external flash.’

PlunderGuide: The Buyer's Guide for Men

“So you’ve finally graduated from point-and-shoots and bought yourself a nice DSLR camera. You take thousands of photos but you become disappointed since most of your shots still suck. ...[With Lightscoop] ... and proper technique and practice, you can improve your shots and won’t cost you an arm and a leg in the process.”

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...”

BizzieMommy.com
“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.”

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.”

Prop Insanity
“We have got your little secret, your ace in the whole, the BIG fix!”...flip on the flash…your built in camera flash that is. Clip on your Lightscoop. Problem solved!”

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 inthe headlights? Here’s a cool photography tool designed for the everday picture taker.”

Red Ferret Journal
“Slot one of these gidgets over the top of your DSLR pop up flash and you’ll gain a bounced flash look for your photos without breaking th ebank.”

Doobybrain.com
WOW (the Lightscoop is amazing)!!

LukeFord.Net
“The Lightscoop is a perfect stocking stuffer. Get it. Use it. Keep it. Thank Ken Kobre for this amazing invention.”

I've written before about Rick Smolan's projects "The Obama Time Capsule" and "America at Home."

Apple.com is profiling Rick and "The Obama Time Capsule" on its site. "The Obama Time Capsule" integrates the buyer's personal campaign and election photos with those of professional photojournalists as well as with essays by professional political commentators. This profile is a good read about the project and how the creative Smolan put it altogether. The book is available only at Amazon.com.

First a reminder: November 30 is the last day to enter this month's UGLY pop-up flash photo contest.

Yes, it's a contest for UGLY pictures. The prize is the solution to those UGLY photos: a Lightscoop, of course.

And I've been remiss in announcing September and October's winners:


October's winner is Flickr member Sreejith K.

September's winner is Flickr member Cal-vin01.

Put YOUR ugly pop-up flash pictures to use...

You’ve been asking. We've been at work. Just in time for the holiday season! Our new Sony model Lightscoop should be arriving by the end of next week. We won't be adding it to the shopping cart until we have them in hand for shipping, so please check starting around Dec. 4.

You will need to specifically order the Sony model, as the other model will not fit Sony SLR cameras and their proprietary hot shoe.

Whew... soon to be even fewer UGLY flash photos!

There will be at least one LESS photographer making UGLY pop-up flash pictures. AbleApril on Flickr wins the August prize and provides a direct-flash demo at the same time. Congrats, AbleApril. Your very own Lightscoop® will soon be on its way to you. April, be sure to add your new, improved pictures to the Lightscoop Users Group on Flickr.

Have friends with UGLY pop-up flash pictures? Tell them to enter our UGLY Pop-up Flash Photo Contest.

Yes! Every beauty page on our new website features an image we found in the Lightscoop Users Group on Flickr. Wow! Talk about hard to choose! Finally, we narrowed down the choices, contacted the photographers & paid to use their terrific images. More than 20 photos by Lightscoop Users are on the new site! Do have a look...

The site also features tips on photographing kids, families, & pets... as well as advice on product shots for eBay sellers & others. More useful info will follow via Twitter & Facebook...
 
Please post YOUR Lightscoop shots on Flickr, as we are looking for other opportunities to showcase Users’ images. Yes, we will pay!

Photographer and photo project dreammaker extraordinaire Rick Smolan has hit another home run with his newest project The Obama Time Capsule. The book features the work of hundreds of professional photographers who followed President Obama's historic campaign and first 90 days in office — but also allows buyers to add their own photos, dedication and even their children’s artwork, to include their own involvement into the wider historic context. To learn more, visit: www.TheObamaTimeCapsule.com.

Here's a contest like no other... post your UGLIEST pop-up flash picture on Twitter... we're giving prizes to the UGLIEST...

Follow Lightscoop on Twitter...

If you're not on Twitter, sign up, then follow Lightscoop and post your ugly photo as directed:

Got a really UGLY pop-up flash pix? Post on Twitter by 7/5 with #lightscoop #uglyflashcontest

Prize is a free Lightscoop — the solution to UGLY pop-up flash pix!

Good luck!