Studio equipment page

Honeycomb Grid

The honeycomb grid is a tight structure of a similar shape to the honeycomb made by honey bees. It’s affixed to the front of a studio strobe. Or it can be fixed to an off-camera flash. The light shines through the grid and creates a tight beam of light. The aim is to create a focused beam with little diffusion. It is effective in creating such a beam, but it is not as intense or focused as a snoot. The “honeycomb Grid” is a simple device to direct the light in a tight beam. It is an example of a range of grids used in front of lights to harden the light source and prevent the light from spreading out into a wider, more diffused beam. The colour is black to prevent light bouncing off the sides of each little channel. Bounces would diffuse the light. The colour and tightness of the channels creates the tightness of the beams focus. The size of the grid itself dictates the tightness of the beam. Thus, the exact grid for the work being done should be assessed ahead of the shoot. Often honeycomb grid light modifiers are used for precise work. For this reason the need to create the right shape, size and intensity of light will need to be subject to experimentation.

With Grid

Without Grid

Snoot

A snoot is a tube or similar object that fits over a studio light or portable flash and allows the photographer to control the direction and radius of the light beam. These may be conical, cylindrical, or rectangular in shape. Snoot lighting restricts the spread to a narrow beam, so that some areas of the frame are not lit at all by the flash. It is an effect that is not just useful for portraits, it can also be used for still-life arrangements, where you only want one thing on your table top to be highlighted. The light from a snoot is ideal for isolating a subject. For example, a snoot is often used to create a single beam of light to highlight an object or person. A frequent use of snoots in fashion and portrait photography is to create a ‘hair-light’. This is where the light is directed onto the back of the head creating a bright highlight of the hair. This flattering effect makes the hair look like it is catching a beam of sunlight. It is an effective method of illuminating the hair to separate it from a dark background.

Example of using snoot lighting

Softbox

A soft box is a type of photographic lighting device, one of a number of photographic soft light devices. All the various soft light types create even and diffused light by directing light through some diffusing material, or by "bouncing" light off a second surface to diffuse the light. The best known form of bouncing source is the umbrella light where the light from the bulb is bounced off the inside of a metalized umbrella to create a soft indirect light. A soft box is an enclosure around a bulb comprising reflective side and back walls and a diffusing material at the front of the light.

Beauty dish&socks/diffuser

A beauty dish is simply a shallow parabolic disk that attaches to a light source. There is a plate covering the flash head – this causes the light to reflect back into and out to the sides of the main dish. Most of the light is aimed forward at the model because of the size and curvature of the dish. The beauty dish provides a concentrated light source where the center is the brightest and the light gently falls off at the edges. Due to the fact that the light wraps around the subject, it creates good contrast and highlights angles. A drawback, however, is that it is not very forgiving and can also draw unwanted attention to skin flaws. Photographers usually set up the beauty dish high and pointing downwards, accentuating a model’s high cheekbones. 

 One way to create additional softness is to cover the beauty dish with a diffuser called a sock or honeycomb grid. This provides the photographer a variety of different moods and results with just a solitary light source. 

Gels

Lighting gels are coloured transparent sheets used to alter the colour of a light source. There are basically three ways that lighting gels can be used: for colour correction; to create a special effect; or to simply illuminate an area or subject with a particular colour. The key to using lighting gels well is to use them subtly and in moderation. Unless you are using a lighting gel for colour correction. Coloured filters and gels complete your stage lighting design and help create the atmospheric lighting effects

Two strobes with color gels, one on each side, subtle touch of color. When a very thin rim light on the model's cheek, you usually point the colored light approximately at the back of the model's head.

Mono-Block flash lights

These are the source of the light - A bright and very brief photographic flash from a single position (usually very close to the camera) or, in a studio environment, from several. Studio flash units are fitted with a continuous lamp, which can be seen on this photograph sitting in the centre of the circular flash tube. Because of its position it gives a very accurate indication of the angle and quality that the flash will produce when fired. This makes your lighting easy to set-up.

Light Meter

A light meter is a device used to measure the amount of light. In photography, a light meter is often used to determine the proper exposure for a photograph. Typically a light meter will include a computer, either digital or analog, which allows the photographer to determine which shutter speed and f-numbershould be selected for an optimum exposure, given a certain lighting situation and film speed.

Reflector dish/board

In photography and cinematography, a reflector is an improvised or specialised reflective surface used to redirect light towards a given subject or scene. Also known as plane reflectors, "flats" or bounce boards, this kind of reflector is located independent of a light source; the light is reflected off its surface, either to achieve a broader light source, or control shadows and highlights, or both. As a result, it is most commonly used to control contrast in both artificial and natural lighting, in place of a fill light or "kick" light. In this case, light "spilling" from the main ambient or key light illuminating a scene is reflected back into the scene with a varying degrees of precision and intensity, according to the chosen reflective surface and its position relative to the scene.