instance, if you took a 4x6-foot softbox
equipped with louvers and closed off^1 / 4 of
the left and right sides, you’d be left with a
strip opening. Take some black Rosco Cine-
foil or Photofoil and equally mask off the top
and bottom of the softbox, and you now
have a more square beauty light source. This
is much better than just using a smaller box,
as the studio flash is deeper in the original larger softbox than a smaller one.
When the light is fired, it bounces around the softbox and then pours out of
this smaller opening. With the size of the source reduced and better directed,
the light becomes softer than a box of the original equal size.
Honeycombs.Honeycomb grids (also called egg crates), usually in the 40-
degree spectrum, are often used to make the light from a softbox more direc-
tional while providing dramatic light falloff at the edges. The grids also slightly
increase the image contrast and can add appealing catchlights in the eyes.
These are normally used with small and medium softboxes and strip lights.
94 LIGHTING FOR GLAMOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
This image was taken at my Editorial Nude workshop in Atlanta, where
I asked Raven to lie on the couch as I illuminated her from behind with
a Hensel Integra 500 Pro Plus, fitted with a 7-inch metal reflector and
a 10-degree grid. An image like this requires some trust from the
model; I assured her we’d have strategic shadows in the proper places.
Notice, though, how her hands and the deep shadows add eroticism
to the image. (CAMERA:Canon EOS 5D fitted with a Canon 85mm f/1.2L
USM lens. SETTINGS:85mm effective focal length,^1 / 100 second shutter
speed, f/6.3, white balance at 6000K, ISO 100)