By John Siskin
One of the most important things about using tools is understanding
what the tools do. This is particularly true of lights. Our tools do
some of the same things that the lamps you might have in your living
room do. Lampshades broaden the light source to make it softer and
spotlights draw attention to a specific area.
 Michael J. Pratt Set-Up #4 Umbrella and diffuser as in image #3, with large silver reflector. Reflector is bouncing light from umbrella through the diffuser. This shows how large light sources are used in the studio. © John H. Siskin All rights reserved |
Lighting tools fall into two basic groups, tools that broaden light to make it smoother and tools that concentrate light so that you can affect just one part of a photograph. I use, and I think most others do, more of the light broadening tools. These would be things like umbrellas, light panels and soft boxes. The light source, whether it is a strobe or a quartz bulb, is a very small source and consequently produces harsh shadows like an uncovered light bulb. Light broadening tools work like a lampshade: making the light seem like a bigger light source. This instantly reduces shadows and softens edges. A bigger light makes it easier to light most things, both people and products.
 © John H. Siskin All rights reserved |
The tools for detail lighting include snoots, grid spots and barn doors. All of these control the spread of your light, but they have different characteristics. A grid spot is a metal honeycomb that goes over the light. This reduces the spread of the light more than any of the other tools. A light with a grid spot that is six feet from the subject may light an area that is less than a foot around. There are various sorts of grid spots so you have some control over the size of the spot. A snoot is an empty tube that slips over a light. This reduces the spread of a light dramatically, although not as much as a grid spot. Both the grid spot and the snoot are used with strobes rather than hot lights; they would trap too much heat on a quartz light. Another great tool for this purpose is a set of barn doors. Usually a barn door for lighting is four flat metal blades that are used to control the spread of a light. These give more varied control than the other two tools, but barn doors do not limit the spread of the light as much as the snoot or the grid spot do.
 Norman Grid Spot © John H. Siskin All rights reserved |
One other tool I use with my lights is Cine Foil. This is a black aluminum foil. It can be adjusted for many purposes; including cutting down the size of the light from a grid spot or a snoot. I can also be used over a soft box to make a thin strip light from a soft box. Since this product is designed for movie use, it may smoke but it will not burn! Nothing ruins a shoot faster than an uncontrolled fire.
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