Who is Gary Fong and Why are you Touching His Lightsphere?

That's what I was thinking too when I heard of this thing, named, remarkably, the Gary Fong Lightsphere. Invented by, yes someone named Gary Fong.

So I'm planning this trip to the snow, a family holiday. And, self promoting nut that I am, blabbed about it to the guys at Camerasdirect.com.au. "Hey fellas, let me know if you have anything you need tested" is what I recall saying.
After sorting through the usual prank emails like "see if it's true that you really shouldn't eat yellow snow" or "try to photgraphically capture the term 'shrinkage", I got a couple geniune suggestions. One was to test out something called a Gary Fong Lightsphere. Being the self confessed lighting junkie that I am, I was secretly excited.
I gotta admit, being a bit of a nerd, I had heard of the Lightsphere. Mainly by fashion and wedding photographers. All of them would marry it and have it's babies if they could, everyone that uses one frickin loved it.
So, this is my mission. I'm gonna use it on an average family holiday, and see if has anything to offer.

My first impressions:
Appearance = As soon as I picked it up, I felt like an idiot. I looked over my shoulder to make sure noone I knew was around. Let's face it, the thing looks about as cool as pooping in your pants. It is literally tupperwear that goes over a flashgun.
Build Quality = This thing redefines the term "simple concept". The most complex thing about it is the velcro strap that is used to attach it. I hate myself for not inventing this thing.
The setup = 1 tupperware looking thing with different tops which resemble giant contraceptive devices to adjust white balance, in "amber (golden glow)" "cloud (neutral)" and "silver (no idea)".
Size = Cumbersome. Doesn't really fit in my camera bag, so dont know how I'm gonna carry it around.
Initial results = Frickin awesome! I fired off a couple frames at home on camera and want to make little brown babies with it. Really nice soft lighting, eliminates harsh shadows, and is almost impossible to overexpose...practically foolproof!
Over the next couple days, I'll be reporting on the Lightsphere, the snow, the southern Australian Alps, the ups and downs of travel and everything in between.

Bookmark this page and keep checking for updates.