92 PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY
I
F YOU’VEGONETOTHETROUBLEOF
investingin an off-cameraflashsetup,it makes
to talsenseto takethenextstepandmodify
the light.Solelyusinga bareflashgundoesn’t
yi eldthemostflatteringresultsor creative
opportunitiescomparedto whatcanbe achieved
withsomesimpleandaffordableadditionsto your
ki t. Modifiersallowyouto getcreativeandproduce
professional-lookingphotosby softeningthe
li ght,controllingthecoverageor changing
the colour.If youliketo shootportraits,
thenthemostusefulmodifierwouldbe
a softboxor umbrellato diffusethelight
fr omyourflash.Bothof thesewillcreate
a softerlightsource,buta softboxgives
greaterdirectionalcontrolthroughthe
fr ontpanel.An umbrellawillsendthelight
inmultipledirections,causingflashto bounce
aroundthescene.Youcanalsousegridsand
gelswhenshootingportraitsto achievea range
oflooks.As always,thebestwayto learnis to
experimentwithmodifiersandtheirresults.
THREE ESSENTIAL MODIFIERS FOR YOUR OFF-CAMERA FLASH
EFFECTS GETTING
CREATIVE WITH
FLASH MODIFIERS
TIP
USEMULTIPLE
MODIFIERS
Tocreatea widerangeof
interestingeffectstrycombining
multiplemodifiersatonce.Fit a
colouredgel to yourlightbefore
addinga gridor softbox
toproducestriking
re sults.
Soxtbox
A softbox should be part of every flash
photographer’s kit. It’s perfect for
portraits as it creates a soft light with
a gentle gradation between the shadows
and highlights. It has greater directional
control than an umbrella as it doesn’t
bounce light around the room, so you
can create more contrast in an image.
Honeycomb grid
Grids are great if you want to limit the
spill of the light. Using a bare flashgun
will create a wide beam of light which
will essentially cover the entire frame
even when shooting with a wide-angle
lens. When you want to just light your
subject – and not the rest of the scene
- then a honeycomb grid is the solution.
Coloured gels
The colour temperature of a flash is set
to 5500k – the same as daylight. When
you use flash indoors there’s a contrast
with the colour balance between the
different light sources. You can use
coloured gels so your flash matches
the internal lighting colour temperature,
or change the colour for artistic results.
