What do the different light shaping tools actually do?

Garry Edwards

Garry Edwards

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Garry Edwards
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I've produced a simple guide on the Lencarta website that explains what the various strengths and weaknesses of the most popular tools are, with example photos that you can click on to see more detailed info.

Of course, a complete book with hundreds of different examples in different situations could be produced for each tool if I had the time - but I hope that what I have managed to do will be useful.
 
Thats great Garry. For someone like myself who is only just dipping his toe into this. Thanks for taking the time to do it. :thumbs:

Kev.
 
Some of the pictures not loading for me Garry.
 
The page is loading fine on mine.

Just realised you can actually click into the pictures for detailed explanation on each modifier. I think Lencarta could make the links more apparent. I almost overlooked....

Thanks Garry for the great work. Really helpful!
 
HarryL said:
The page is loading fine on mine.

Just realised you can actually click into the pictures for detailed explanation on each modifier. I think Lencarta could make the links more apparent. I almost overlooked....

Thanks Garry for the great work. Really helpful!
Click to expand...
Good point.
It now says Please click on the small pictures to see this info. in bold type
 
most of the pics not loading for me on IE8, and can't click those that do load. might be time to succumb to firefox

does look like an excellent reference though - many thanks for doing the work Garry.
 
karfeef said:
most of the pics not loading for me on IE8, and can't click those that do load. might be time to succumb to firefox

does look like an excellent reference though - many thanks for doing the work Garry.
Click to expand...

I'll ask the webmaster to look at it - too complicated for me:)
 
Its definitely IE8 causing the issue... It opens fine in Firefox....
 
Yes, it seems to be an Internet Exploder issue. The webmaster says that IE can't render photos correctly when they have been resized on the page, he will sort it out ASAP.
Of course, those of us who use firefox don't have these problems:)
 
It was sorted out before you even asked me Garry!

Should be fine now folks. Will determine a long term soloution for future articles later
 
HarryL said:
The page is loading fine on mine.

Just realised you can actually click into the pictures for detailed explanation on each modifier. I think Lencarta could make the links more apparent. I almost overlooked....

Thanks Garry for the great work. Really helpful!
Click to expand...

We are working on this as a global change when the site gets a facelift. Thanks for pointing it out
 
All now working Garry. Very useful guide :thumbs:

However, I am bound to say that there looks like very little difference between the different reflectors, apart from the obvious bigger equals softer. Perhaps that's largely because there isn't much difference apart from size and a lot of the time different reflectors are less about the type of light they project, and more about controlling where the light goes, and where is doesn't.

This is maybe a personal comment, but having used every conceivable light shaper at one time or another, all I would ever want for portrait lighting is a BIG softbox (or brolly), a reflector, and a snoot or similar as a hair light (and whatever is needed for the background). I just don't want or need a beauty dish, or a fill light, or anything else cluttering up the place. With lighting, I'm definitely in the less-is-more camp, and let the subject do the talking.
 
However, I am bound to say that there looks like very little difference between the different reflectors, apart from the obvious bigger equals softer. Perhaps that's largely because there isn't much difference apart from size and a lot of the time different reflectors are less about the type of light they project, and more about controlling where the light goes, and where is doesn't.
Click to expand...
That's correct. I had to make a decision about where to place the light in relation to the model, and to use the same position for every shot, otherwise it would have been pretty meaningless. The physically largest modifier therefore determined the distance at whcih they all had to be set. The different reflectors needed to be very close indeed for the differences to be obvious as far as lighting the actual subject was concerned. The differences can be seen more on the background.

This is maybe a personal comment, but having used every conceivable light shaper at one time or another, all I would ever want for portrait lighting is a BIG softbox (or brolly), a reflector, and a snoot or similar as a hair light (and whatever is needed for the background). I just don't want or need a beauty dish, or a fill light, or anything else cluttering up the place. With lighting, I'm definitely in the less-is-more camp, and let the subject do the talking.
Click to expand...
I understand what you're saying here, although I don't necessarily find that myself.
As photographers, we need to use the tools that we actually have which isn't always what we would like to have. To a large extent, skilled photographers can manage and improvise because of their knowledge of physics and experience - I have a very capable friend who works as a freelance studio photographer in New York who tells me that he often has to use nothing but softboxes because that's all they have, or has to make up silks because they don't have softboxes, or has to make snoots and flags out of blackwrap because there are none there and so on - but even for someone as skilled as him, life does become distinctly easier when the right tools are at hand - after all, if the only tool you have is a hammer then every problem looks like a nail:)

I decided to use a 'portrait' model for these examples and I hope that it helps to explain the function and role of the various tools - but I was limited by the size of my mannequin head, for example although I don't agree that a large softbox is always needed for portraits, I couldn't really demonstrate the value of a large softbox on such a small subject. It would have been nice to use my live model for the example shots, partly because she has real eyes that demonstrate catchlights and partly because it would have allowed me to take both headshots and longer shots but mannequin heads don't get paid by the day...
 
Great guide Garry - might it be available as a PDF for download at some point? Always handy to have hard copy if you get in a studio that has a greater range of kit than you're used to working with.
 
haggis said:
Great guide Garry - might it be available as a PDF for download at some point? Always handy to have hard copy if you get in a studio that has a greater range of kit than you're used to working with.
Click to expand...
No plans for a pdf version but I'll ask the webmaster if it can be done easily
 
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