my choice of flash modifiers
There is a fundamental principle in lighting :
the larger your light source, the softer your light.
Using any of the myriad of flash modifiers that are on offer, helps in achieving that - spreading the light from the on-camera Speedlight much wider, thereby creating softer light that direct flash would’ve given. However, (and this is a big however), these flash modifiers also throw light forward. Ultimately all flash modifiers do the same thing - they disperse a lot of light around the room, while throwing some measure of light directly forward to lift shadows under the eyes and bring a sparkle to the eyes.
That is a huge step up from using direct flash - (or poorly bounced flash.. ie, flash at 45′ or 60′ forward) - but won’t be as good as directional light. Directional light falls onto your subject from a specific angle. This direction can very often be carefully chosen even when you use an on-camera flash indoors.
The image at the top is from a wedding I photographed a few weeks ago.
I touched up the WB in RAW, and that’s that. Simple, and it looks just great.
The light is soft, and the baby wasn’t bothered by any direct flash … since there was NO direct flash at all.
[edited to add on Dec 15 : I originally used the term 'scrim'.
I have since changed it for the more correct description of 'half-snoot'.]
The way I achieve directional light from my flash is by adding what is in effect, a half-snoot to my on-camera flash. The half-snoot will partially block the light, and also direct it. I also very often when shooting in tungsten light, use a filter on my flash to bring the cold light of the flash closer to the warmer tones of tungsten light.
I simply stick a piece of gel over the head of my Speedlight with some gaffer’s tape. It is low-tech, but it works.
By gelling my flash for tungsten I change the grungy orange backgrounds to a more pleasing warm tone.
The gel used in the image of the baby above, was full CTO. I keep my camera’s WB to Tungsten. And in post-production I fine-tune the WB, since by bouncing my flash, it picks up an additional colour from the walls and ceiling. The gel shown in the illustration here is 1/2 CTS. I then keep my WB of my camera to 3800 K, which is still much closer to Tungsten, than the 5400K of flash.
The black half-snoot that I add to my Speedlight is just as simple. It’s a piece of thin black foam bought from an arts store, and then cut smaller.
I keep the piece of black foam tied to my Speedlight with a hair band that I stole from my daughter. Yup, low-tech and simple … and it works!
This piece of black foam around my Speedlight has two advantages:
1. Directional light. I can now much more precisely direct where I want my light to come from.
2. Less annoying to others. In turning my flash to the side or to point behind me, I would risk blasting other people directly in the face with flash. This piece of black foam keeps that from happening. I now direct my flash over people’s heads, and no flash hits people directly in the eyes.
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And thatis the flash modifier I most often use. Total cost is less than $2.oo
However, if you feel the need to splash some money on hardware that is custom-made for you, send $40 to my Paypal account. I will cut a piece of foam for you, add the hair band, and even sign it with silver pen. Oh, go on, you know you want one. It will surely become a collectible. |
| The additional advantage with this light modifier is that you retain the cool all-black stealthy ninja-photographer look.
This is Elisabeth, who often works with me as a 2nd photographer. |
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The only other light modifier that I use, is a Stofen cup. This I use when I am in a situation where I do need light thrown directly forward. I also use it in rooms where the ceiling is too high to successfully shoot with the black half-snoot.
However, I still want a measure of control over where I direct my light. Therefore I cut a hole in the top of the Stofen so that the majority of light can still be thrown in a direction of my choice, instead of being scattered all around. (I do keep a spare Stofen on hand that is unblemished, as well as an Amber coloured Stofen.)
To be able to flip the Stofen in and out of position, I keep it down with a piece of gaffer’s tape. So if I want to take a shot without it, I simply flip it over.
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And there they are - the only light modifiers that I use when I use on-camera Speedlights.
In my weddings and portrait work, I often do use off-camera lighting, whether Speedlights or Q-flashes. But with on-camera strobes, these are the only light modifiers I use. And they are all I need.
Peter Said,
December 13, 2007 @ 11:07 pm
Pure brilliance. Such simplicity. I am a 100% convert to this blog.
Keep it coming.
albert Said,
December 14, 2007 @ 12:17 pm
like it! Nice look and great effect. Do you find that the foam “blocker’ allows enough light to hit the subject in front of you?
Neil Said,
December 14, 2007 @ 3:09 pm
Joel Howell Said,
December 14, 2007 @ 10:46 pm
Wonderful Information! What is the difference between the gel material and the amber stophen and when would you use one over the other?
Neil Said,
December 15, 2007 @ 1:05 am
Craig Smith Said,
December 15, 2007 @ 11:01 pm
Hi Neil,
Very impressive !!! Peter Gregg said to check you out, and he was right … you have the touch. I too use a Stofen, and reside in Santa Cruz where Stofen is located. If you ever plan on heading out this way, let me know. Dinner is on me!
best regards,
Craig
Rishi Said,
December 17, 2007 @ 2:39 pm
Hi, your blog is awesome. It’s truly very informative and helps people like me steal a few paces up the learning curve of flash photography. Thanks. And can’t wait for your next post!
Eileen Said,
December 18, 2007 @ 4:09 am
Just echoing what Rishi said. This is a great blog. Thank you for being so generous and sharing your knowledge with us learners.
Brian Said,
December 19, 2007 @ 1:15 pm
Neil,
You stated that the for the picture of the baby you used a full CTO gel. Was that to match a different temperature? Personal preference? If you were matching a different temperature how did you come to the conclusion of using the 2900K gel?
Great blog as always..
Brian
Neil Said,
December 20, 2007 @ 11:54 pm
Stephen Said,
December 21, 2007 @ 11:15 am
Hi Neil,
I have to obtain an extra Stofen, so I can cut a hole into it. That will be somewhat helpful in convention centers where the ceiling is so high up, that the speedlight has nothing to bounce off.
I appreciate this blog more after having sat down with you for the instruction.
–Stephen
Steve G Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 6:35 pm
Hi Neil, Thanks for your insight.
I shoot a lot of community events (not sporting) in a large gymnasium - pretty high ceiling. Next time, I’ll give the Neil-ized Stofen a try. I have a few questions, though.
-Due to the size of the room, I believe using any stofen would waste all the light being thrown behind the camera. I was thinking of putting black gaffers on the back of the stofen to prevent some light loss. Have you ever tried this? Would this throw too much light directly forward?
Thanks and Happy New Year.
Neil Said,
December 29, 2007 @ 7:28 pm
Lance Said,
January 3, 2008 @ 8:51 am
Hey Neil, great article. When you shoot with your black modifer are you using any other room lights? Also, can you give me an idea of what ISO and f stops your using? I’m guessing your maybe shooting at around f4 ISO 1600 or so. I love the effect and can’t wait to try it.
Lance
Neil Said,
January 3, 2008 @ 7:21 pm
Kafka Said,
January 5, 2008 @ 6:31 am
Hi, Neil,
Thank you for sharing your insights. They are very helpful.
I found a product of LumiQuest (http://www.lumiquest.com/lq931.htm) that shares the fundamental concept of your 40-dollar black half-snoot, although its price tag is no less than yours.
The bonus of its entire system allows you to redirect the flash forward with a (coloured) metallic card attached to the opening end of the hallf-snoot, when the flashgun is directed upward or to the side without too much tilt. It also allows you to further difuse the redirected lights with another screen attached to the opening side of the half-snoot.
I am wondering if such concept is useful when a direct flash is not ideal, when bouncing is not possible, or when shooting outdoors, as well as if this would result in a better light quality than Sto-fen as far as on-flashgun diffusion is needed.
How do you see that the inside of the half-snoot is somehow reflectible?
I used white half-snoot (more reflectible) with a wider opening (less directional) but I love so much you ninja style. I believe your design or adjustment is based upon some experience and renders better light quality. Would you care to share with us the reason?
Many thanks and Happy New Year !
planet neil - tangents » this is going to hurt you more … Said,
January 11, 2008 @ 4:24 am
[...] recent wedding. My on-camera flash was used in the way I described recently in the posting on my choice of flash modifiers. (btw, that’s a Q-flash lighting up the background [...]
planet neil - tangents » choosing your direction Said,
January 16, 2008 @ 10:10 pm
[...] reason why I usually choose the home-made black foam half-snoot , instead of a white card is that I do not want ANY light directly from the camera’s [...]
planet neil - tangents » sticky filters … Said,
January 24, 2008 @ 5:57 am
[...] compensate for this, I quite often gel my flash to tungsten - and bring the colour temperature of the light from the flashgun closer to that of the tungsten [...]
Geoff Said,
January 31, 2008 @ 10:04 am
Regarding this:
This piece of black foam around my speedlight has two advantages:
1. Directional light. I can now much more precisely direct where I want my light to come from.
Does this also in effect mean that the required power of the flash could be dialled down slightly as you are not losing as much light ‘around the sides’, or negligible effect?
Neil Said,
February 2, 2008 @ 10:47 pm
Nigel davis Said,
February 4, 2008 @ 7:23 pm
Hi Neil, Do you use the H setting of the Canon 580EX? I believe it lowers the output level, but it seems to simplify things. To me, it doesn’t appear to mentioned much, for something that appears to be a useful idea.
Neil Said,
March 11, 2008 @ 10:51 pm
planet neil - tangents » … and far away … Said,
March 15, 2008 @ 2:31 am
[...] aluminium case with the red ends.) - one spare batteryfor the Canon 1D mkIII bodies. - two pieces of black foam which I use as my light modifiers, - on top of this I have displayed the cord and plug to recharge my iPhone and my iPod. - [...]
planet neil - tangents » flash brackets revisited … Said,
April 12, 2008 @ 12:04 pm
[...] my choice of flash modifiers [...]
Christopher Luk Said,
April 16, 2008 @ 4:36 pm
Thanks for sharing so many of your techniques with us on your blog! You’ve helped me learn so much about using my Speedlight effectively and making flash not look like “flash”. Perhaps I will see you in August when you come to Toronto.
I love the half-snoot idea of not blinding people! I’ll have to add one to my arsenal.
I still had a question about the situation of a venue having high ceilings or the walls/ceilings being strong colours. You’ve shown us that you’re using a Stofen with the gel; would you actually shoot the flash head straight forward in these situations? That brings us back to the direct straight-on flash that we all despise, but how do you still keep your classic Neil-styled captured light and shape?
Thanks again for your willingness to help and all your advice over the years.
Neil Said,
April 16, 2008 @ 8:46 pm
Fran Colonna Said,
April 20, 2008 @ 4:12 pm
Hi Neil, I just bought a D300 and set my in-camera flash settings to 30 and 320 but now when I put the SB800 on, it always indicates that it is in FP mode. I thought that it would only go in FP mode when you set your shutter to 250 or higher. What am I doing wrong or is there something wrong with either the flash or the camera?
Thank you for all the info—-I have hit sooo many ahaaaaa moments reading your blog!!
Fran
Neil Said,
April 22, 2008 @ 8:41 pm
Godfrey Tan Said,
May 10, 2008 @ 2:09 am
Neil,
I really like your sharing of flash techniques. Thanks so much. I love your tips.
Cheers,
Godfrey