Higher-end units use higher-pressured, thicker
quartz tubes for more accurate color temperatures
and shorter flash durations. They can handle higher
power and deliver more true watt-seconds. These
units also have a glass dome over the tube. This is
a safety precaution, though it is rare that a high-end
tube will explode. Some covers have a UV-coated
and/or color temperature tint for warming the
color temperature. Inexpensive units use uncoated
tubes and cost up to ten times less than better-built
tubes. Many semi-pro and amateur photographers
are led to believe this is not important. However,
that’s not the case, especially if you photograph
people in clothes. Some synthetic fabrics will
change colors and fluoresce with the added UV
light produced by uncoated tubes. This will result
in various color shifts in the final image, and not
even shooting in RAW can correct this phenomena.
Additionally, uncoated flashtubes will produce a
higher blue in the actual color of the flash due to
their colder color temperature of 5600K and
higher.
The majority of flashtubes are filled with xenon
gas and discharge at their peak once they are ion-
ized and a high voltage is sent across the tube, pro-
ducing a broad spectrum of light that resembles the
color temperature of daylight.
Flashtubes are just one integral part of a flash
unit—other internal components, such as capacitors and circuits, also impact
the quality of the overall product.Ring Flash and Novelty Ring Flash Units.
The ring flash has been around for some time. Its popularity in fashion pho-
tography has been cyclical. In glamour photography, with the exception of
“over and under” lighting, it was never commonly used until now, due to re-
cent advances in ring flash technology.
Be forewarned: technological advances in ring flashes have given rise to
marketing hype and the introduction of wannabe units, which are limited in
use and more a novelty item than a ring flash. We will discuss these in a bit.LIGHTING BASICS 37FACING PAGE—Many photographers, myself included, tend to
use small metal reflectors on their studio heads for accent
lights. Obviously, these smaller lights illuminate a smaller
area—so if you want more of the model accent lighted, you will
then need to add more lights. There are times, however, when
I like to get as much side light as possible with fewer lights;
that’s when I use a strip light, as in this photo of Mari, to bring
more light to the body from the side. Here, I used two Hensel
Integra 500 Pro Plus monolights fitted with Chimera Super Pro
Plus medium strip boxes and Lighttools 40-degree grids. Basi-
cally, one light is aimed at the front of the model and the other
from behind the model. (CAMERA:Canon EOS 5D Mark II fitted
with a Canon 70–200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens. SETTINGS:73mm
effective focal length,^1 / 200 second shutter speed, f/4.5, white
balance at 6000K, ISO 100)