power is very important. If your ring
flash cannot provide at least an f/16
at ISO 100 power output at 12 feet
or more, you’re purchasing a novelty
flash or a wannabe ring flash that will
wind up in the closet later. Most pro-
fessionals would never blast their sub-
ject with a ring flash from less than
ten feet because when the ring fires,
the subject will see white donuts for
quite some time, and this can damage
your subjects’ retinas. Also, in glam-
our photography, the image is very
much dependent on the subject’s
face—and if the subject is being bombarded with white donut flashes, she is
bound to look uncomfortable.
As a test, find where your ring flash unit will provide an aperture of f/16,
stand in front of your flash, and carefully look right into it when you fire it.
46 LIGHTING FOR GLAMOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
Photographers often struggle to capture the “fire” in fireplaces. Normally, the
problem is that their shutter speed is too fast. When I captured the fire here,
with model Candice, I used a slow shutter combined with a higher ISO and low
aperture. I also positioned myself on the floor for a lower camera angle and
found the right focal length for my zoom lens, so the fire would not appear
to grow out of her back. I illuminated Candice with a Hensel Integra 500 Pro
Plus monolight with a Chimera Super Plus Pro medium strip box fitted with a
Lighttools 40-degree grid for the main front light. I then placed another
Hensel monolight to the camera right, behind her, fitted with a 7-inch metal
reflector and a 10-degree grid to help add light to her hair. Another Hensel
monolight, also fitted with a 7-inch metal reflector and a 20-degree grid, was
placed behind her and to the camera left to accent her lower curves. (CAMERA:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II fitted with a Canon 70–200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens. SET-
TINGS:165mm effective focal length,^1 / 80 second shutter speed, f/4.0, white
balance at 6000K, ISO 200)