Grid Spots.
Grid spots are honeycomb-shaped metal grids that snap onto the light hous-
ing. The comb in the honeycomb grid prevents the light from spreading out,
producing a narrow core of light that falls off quickly, so there is very little
spill. This gives you a great degree of control in placing the light.Snoots.
Snootsaretop-hat-shapedaccessoriesthatsnapontothelighthousingtonar-
row its output to a very thin beam. They are often used for small edge lights
from behind the subject.Umbrellas.
There are two types of photographic umbrellas. Most common are umbrel-
las with a black exterior and white or silver interior. When using these, the
concave side of the umbrella faces the subject. The strobe is fired into the
umbrella’s reflective surface and its light bounces back toward the subject.
Because umbrellas are relatively large, this results in soft lighting (see page 32
for more on the quality of light). A silver-lined umbrella produces light that
is a bit harder than that from a matte-white umbrella.
The second type of umbrella is made of translucent fabric and used in the
reverse position, with the rounded convex side toward the subject. In this
type of light, the strobe is pointed into the umbrella and shines through the
translucent fabric onto the subject. This produces softer light that is very
much like that from a softbox (see below).Softboxes.
A softbox is a fabric box, usually with fiberglass rods for stability, that houses
one or more undiffused strobe heads. The front surface of this box, toward
which the strobe heads are fired, is usually a double thickness of translucent
nylon. The sides are black on the outside and white on the inside.
Softboxes come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Most are square or rec-
tangular, but there are also round and octagonal ones. Strip lights, which are
basically long and skinny softboxes, are also very popular. Softbox sizes range
from 12-inches square all the way up to 5x7 feet. Softboxes allow you to put
a lot of diffused light in a controlled area. They also provide more precise
control than umbrellas, which tend to lose light intensity due to scattering.
Practical Example: Soft and Beautiful.To photograph a model so that
her face is soft and beautiful, it is usually best to spread the light source out
and soften it with an umbrella or a softbox. When I am shooting on location,
I usually bring one of each for versatility and to cut down on equipment. For
image5-16(next page), I used a silver-lined umbrella to camera left and a
24x32-inch softbox to camera right. This produced light that spread out
LIGHT MODIFIERS 795-15.Umbrellas are available in a vari-
ety of sizes and shapes. Some have
opaque backing for maximum light out-
put; others are translucent for shoot-
through effects.