Is it possible to get a similar affect using a barn door attachment, with the light at a low setting and a honeycomb attached ? (with reference to Keiths image) i only ask, as you can direct the light more with barn doors, so wondered about the possibilities.
Everything is possible. The more knowledgeable the photographer, the easier it becomes. And skill and experience helps too. But generally, we try to use the right tools if we can, to save time and get consistency of results.
There's no reason why you couldn't have a sheet of cinefoil, with a perfect circle cut out of it, stick it onto a piece of clear acrylic and then fill the hole with a circle of partial light-blocking material (say a neutral density gel). And then cut out the centre, so that there is no obstruction of light in the centre, producing a brighter centre, with a darker outer, just like a fresnel spot.
Then you would have to find a way of suspending it in exactly the right place, and then just shine a light through it - I'm sure it would work, but the model might just grow old and lose her looks while you're doing it
Or you could do it as a vignette in PS.
But barn doors wouldn't work, we're trying to produce a circle of light here...
And a honeycomb doesn't produce the same effect either, for the reasons already given.
A beauty dish, fitted with a honeycomb and again, with a circle of neutral density filter around the outside only, might work too. At least a beauty dish would have size on its side, and size is important. The old fresnel spots used in the film industry were massive. Most modern fresnels are too small to work. I used to use a Bron one, which was about 14" diameter, that was excellent. The Lencarta one is 9" and that's as small as I personally would want to go. There are some on the market that are only about 3", they may have applications for still life photography, but they aren't for photographing people.
Hope this helps
