40 14 March 2020 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
I
f thereis onethingthatevery
portraitphotographerwantsit is
a large,soft,lightsource.The
low-contrastlightsourceis a
flatteringwaytolighta person,softening
facialfeaturesandskintexturethanksto
thesubtleshadowsthatarecreated.The
resultis a verynatural-lookingportrait.
Onewaytoachievea largesoftlight
sourceis tousenaturalwindowlight,
particularlyona bright,butovercastday;
however,thatisn’ta practicalsolution
whenyouareworkingonlocation,orinan
enclosedstudiospace.Windowlightalso
isn’tflexible;youcan’tmovea window,and
areatthemercyofever-changingweather
conditions,whichcanchangetheavailable
lightquitedramatically.
Whenphotographers,orfilmmakers,
wanttoreplicatea natural‘daylight’look,
theywillusea largediffuserinfrontof
theirlighting,beit a flashgun,studioflash
oranLEDlight.Themostcommonlyused
formsofdiffusionarelargesoftboxesor
shoot-throughumbrellas.Bothofthese
lightmodifiersdiffuseandsoftenhard
artificiallightsources,andthelargerthe
diffusionthesofterandmoreflatteringit
is whenlightinga portrait.
Rotolight’ssolution
Rotolighthascreateditsownsolutionin
theformoftheRotolightIlluminator.
Whetheryouareshootingstillsorvideo,
Rotolight’sIlluminatormodifieris a
circularsoftboxthatmeasures 51 inchesin
diameter,thathastheeaseofuseofa
shoot-throughumbrella.Simplyslidethe
umbrellamechanismlikeyouwoulda
regularumbrellaandtheIlluminator
opensupandis readytouse.Bestof
alltheIlluminatorcanbemounted
likea standardumbrella,meaning
thatviatheRotolightUmbrella
Bracket,theIlluminatorcanbeused
withvirtuallyanyflashgun,theRotolight
NEO2,AEOSorAnovaPRO2,ora
third-partystudiolight.Simplymount
Size51indiameter
Price£124.99exVAT
IlluminatorUmbrella
Bracket£20.82exVAT
IlluminatorBundle
(Modifier+ Bracket)
£131.24exVAT
Seerotolight.co.uk
formoredetailsor
topurchaseKEY FEATURES
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
Light up
the room
Rotolight’s Illuminator produces a large soft
light source that’s perfect for portraiture
your light to the Umbrella Bracket, open
the zipped opening at the bottom of the
Illuminator, thread the umbrella stem in
to the bracket and pop-up the modifi er
around the light.
To create the softest light possible for
portraits, the closer and softer the light the
better, so for headshots it’s great to be able
to use the Illuminator up close to the
subject, just out of the shot. The diff usion
material maximises diff usion whilst
allowing as much light to pass through as
possible, helped by the rear refl ective. The
diff usion also retains a neutral colour,
making white balancing straightforward.Perfect for working on location
Unlike a traditional square softbox, or
even an octagonal softbox, the
Illuminator’s circular shape creates a
fl attering natural-looking catchlight in the
subject’s eyes.
Like an umbrella, the Illuminator
collapses down in seconds and comes with
its own lightweight case so that it can be
easily carried with an accompanying light
stand. It is a great option if you want to
quickly set up a large light source on
location and it pairs very nicely with the
Rotolight NEO 2 providing a small,
highlight portable studio fl ash kit.The Rotolight Illuminator
was used to capture this
ethereal fine-art image
© LUKE AND MANDY WOODFORD