I'm a casual shooter but struggle with lighting so the Litepanels ads were attractive and with the good buyer reviews on various sites, I pulled the trigger on the stronger 'micro pro' product. Didn't see a lot of discussion here on it, so maybe too amateurish?

But, I also noticed a positive mention of it in an article in the Outdoor Photographer mag which just arrived so it seems to work well for some.

But, on my first few tries with it on 2-3 people casual shots in a dim setting, they complain about the brightness but the shot doesn't seem to have them nicely bathed in light like in the ad. For a 5-6 person pic, there are dark spots on the side so I now know to use my flash for these wider shots.

Questions:

* any tips for more effective usage--such as more of a fill light
* anyone mount it on a stand to use as an off camera light to complement the shoe based flash.

Thanks.