I got this Honl Photo 8" snoot last week: Took some test shots with it: They're not really the results that I have envisioned, because it's hard to control spill light in a small room and I don't have a large enough surface to get a clean background. The snoot, despite being 8" long, also still has a relatively wide coverage for what I was aiming for; I guess I would have been better served by a proper snoot that can support attaching grids at the end. Still, coverage looks good and can also be used for portrait work. Not gonna post any of that here though, for fear of death from significant other.
Is it really useful for general portrait shots? Or only those where you want the radial light effect?
Another try, using a different setup: Here the snoot is providing the main backlight from behind and above the camera. A very slight amount of fill is added to the front using a translucent shoot-through umbrella, plus a silver reflector underneath the camera to outline the bottom. And this one has the reflection photoshopped in:
Yeah, I was aiming for something like this: Probably needed to tilt a bit down more, since the X-Pro1 isn't as curvy as the 1D.
thank you! i think i fell in love. Didnt know there are so nice cameras out theese days. I was afraid touch screen is gonna be everywhere soon
Well, basic answer is to control light spill. In a studio environment, you have various lighting tools for different uses. Umbrellas provide the widest amount of light coverage, followed by softboxes. But sometimes you don't want your light to go all over the place, especially if you are shooting low key and don't want additional light to spill and bounce off nearby walls and ceilings, or if you are shooting product shots and want very specific lighting on specific parts. There are many means to control spill. You can attach modifiers on the light source itself, e.g. for softboxes you can install barn doors or grids on them; for flash heads, you can install portable barn doors, small grids or snoots. You can also prop up what is generically known as "gobos", black cards etc in between the light source and the subject to block light from reaching the subject (e.g. to prevent unwanted highlights on reflective material). So, a snoot is just basically one of many accessories to control light spill. The tool you need depends on how much spill you want to control, sometimes you need a snoot, sometimes you need a grid, etc. But in general, in terms of least spill coverage to tightest spill coverage: - barn doors - snoots and grids (depending on length of snoot, or angle of grid) - snoot with grid
I use a "Better Beamer" with zooms for wildlife. Its essentially a Fresnel lens mounted to concentrate the flash. "Better Beamer" Flash Extenders - The NatureScapes.Net Store
Yeah, I've heard of better beamers. They're designed more to focus/concentrate light at long distances, rather than control light spillage. Different tool for different purpose.
