DISCOVERHOWYOUCANEXTENDTHE
CAPABILITIESOFYOURFLASHGUNBY
USINGSIMPLEFLASHMODIFIERSUSINGFLASH
MODIFIERS
A
FLASHGUNIS A VERSATILElightsource
that’ssmall,lightweightandcanbeused
tocreatea varietyofstudiolighting
effects,especiallywiththeaidofmodifiers
thatshapeanddiffusethelight.
Nakedlightfroma flashgunthatisn’t
diffusedbya modifieris commonlyreferred
to as being‘hardlight’becausethelightis
harshandtheshadowsit createsaredarkand
stronglydefined.Theresultis a flat-looking
lightthatcanbleachoutfinedetails.Diffused
light,ontheotherhand,usinga modifiersuch
as a softboxora reflectiveumbrella,is light
that’sreferredto as ‘soft’becausedetailis
maintainedandtheshadowsaregenerally
lighterwitha softgraduation.
Herewe'vegota setofportraitstakenwith
differentflashgunmodifiers,bothstraighton
andat a 45°angle,soyoucanseethe
difference.Themodelwasalsopositioned
closetoa whitebackgroundsoyoucansee
thebehaviouroftheshadowscreatedby
certainmodifiers– howhardorsoftthe
edgesare,andhowdarktheshadowsare,
asthisprovidesanindicationofhow
effectively a modifier softens the light.NOMODIFIER
DIRECT:Theresultofdirectandundiffusedflashis a flat
andunflatteringlightthatremovesthesenseofdepth
fromportraitsandlookshardandcold.Thisoptionis best
avoidedin 99%ofsituations,in particularforflattering
portraits,buton-cameradirectflashcanworkwellfor
slow-syncactionshotsin low-lightconditions.
45°ANGLE:Evenat 45°,thelightmaintainsa flatlook
withstrongshadowsonthemodel’sfaceandonthe
background.If you’regoingtothetroubleofshooting
withyourflashgunoff-camera,it willprovefarmore
effectivetousea lightmodifier;evenshooting at an
anglewithout a modifier isbestavoided.SOFTBOX
DIRECT:A softboxproducesa softandevenlight,butthe
exacteffectdependsentirelyonthesizeofthesoftbox
youuse.Smallersoftboxesareextremelyportablebut
produceharsherlightthana largersoftbox.Ideally,usea
flashgunsoftboxbetween40x40cmand1x1mforbest
results.Lastoliteoffersa goodrangeofoptions.
45°ANGLE:Ata 45°angle,softboxesproducesofterand
muchmoreevenlightingthanbouncedflash.Shadows
arevisibleandaddmoredefinitiontothefacethandirect
lightwithouta softbox.Largersoftboxesproducesofter
lightanda lowerpowerwiththeflash closer to the model
alsohelpsto soften the effect.BOUNCE
DIRECT:Whenyouhavenomodifiersat yourdisposal,
bouncingyourflashgunoffa whiteceilingprovidesthe
bestresultpossible.Boththequalityoflightandshadows
aresoftened,butsincethelightis reachingthemodel
fromaboveit canbeusefultopositiona reflectorbelow
themodel’schintoreducetheshadowhere.
45°ANGLE:Withbouncedflashsetat a 45°angle,you’ll
immediatelyseethere’smuchmoredepthanddefinition
in portraitscomparedtoundiffusedflashanda flashgun
witha push-ondiffuser.Lightis alsomoresculpturedto
thecontoursofthefacethandirectbounce flash, and
there’snobackground shadow.NOMODIFIERWITHDIFFUSER
DIRECT:Manyflashgunsarefittedwithanintegral
diffuserpanel(orincludea clip-ondiffuser)thatwill
softenlighttoa degreecomparedtoa bareflashgun,but
theresultisn’taseffectiveasusinga softbox,forinstance.
A push-ondiffuseris betterthannothing,butshouldn’t
bereliedupontoachieveprofessionalresults.45°ANGLE:At45°thepush-ondiffuserremains
unflatteringwithhotspots(brightpatches)stillvisibleon
thefaceandharshshadowswithlittlegraduation
betweenbrightanddarkpartsofthemodel’sface.It is
slightlybetterthanundiffusedflash,butit'sfarmore
effectivetouse a modifierthatprovides more diffusion.REFLECTIVEBROLLY
DIRECT:Reflectivebrolliesareversatilemodifiersthat
canbeusedtocreateanevenspreadoflightovera small
orlargeareadependingonthedistancefromthemodel
andthesizeofthebrolly.Positionedstraighton,a brolly
producesa softshadowbelowthechin, but not so dark
thatit separatestheneckandhead.
45°ANGLE:Whenpositionedat a 45°angle,a brolly
producesa similarlighttoa softbox.Themaindifference
is thatthewidespreadoflighttheyproducemeansthat
they’renotquiteascontrollableasa softbox,butfor
situationswhereyouneedtolighta largearea,theycan
beuseful.That said, a softboxis a better option overall.DI RECTDI RECT DI RECTDI RECTDI RECT45 °45 ° 45 °45 °45 °3 4
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60 DigitalSLR PhotographyJanuar y 2020
PhotoMasterclass