![]() But there are things that we can do to lean into these shadows and use them to our advantage. These very dark areas of an image can be very distracting and as I explained above, I often simply try to hide these heavy areas of shadow behind the model. Just one step EVEN further?!Īs much as I love using the optical snoot as a modifier, one of its biggest drawbacks for me is its extremely dark shadows. Using this technique can be a powerful way to draw attention and focus where you want it and in this instance, that’s towards the subjects face. With her looking that way, the white light is allowed to spill onto the front of her face and that, in turn, overpowers the colour that is already there. In one of the shots above, you’ll notice that I’ve gotten the model to look over towards the side where I have the white light. If this happens, it will ruin the colour gradient as it will overpower the colours. It’s also positioned in such a way that it is not shining onto the wall behind the model. This again is positioned up high and angled down. In the diagram below, you’ll see that I’ve added one white light with a grid to camera left. The simplest next steps to try will be adding some hair lights and even trying to introduce those as lights on the subject too. ![]() So if you’re after taking things further with some more advanced setups, here are some extra elements to try. ![]() Of course, no lighting setup article from JHP would be complete without a few more advanced setups to test your patience and sanity. If you’re after a little more refinement and depth to this though, read on. As I said, all you have to do is place that light up nice and high directly behind you to manage those shadows on the wall and you’re good to go. If you’re after a super-simple one light setup to play with, that is both creative and adds some colour to your shots, then this one is a great place to start. Place your optical snoot up high and directly behind you, that way you’ll hide most of the shadows behind the subject. The resulting effect is so blurred that it actually appears to be a colour gradient when it’s shone onto a white wall. To create our gelled gradients, all we need do is simply place two coloured gels together in front of our optical snoot. It’s this feature that we’ll be using to our advantage in this setup. However, if we place something in front of the optical snoot and not inside it, the resulting shape will be very blurred and out of focus. Gelled Colour GradientsĪs I mentioned above, if we place gobos into the modifier itself, we can focus the shadowy shapes with razor sharp edges thanks to the lens on the end of the modifier. You don’t have to use the gobos though and I often just use the optical snoot as a very hard light source and that’s what I’ll be doing again here in the following lighting setup. The shapes that it shines are often referred to as gobos and they are metal disks with patterns cut into them that sit in the modifier itself. Its other core feature is that it can shine very defined highlight and shadow shapes thanks to its focusing lens at the front. The optical snoot has a very specific quality to it thanks to its ability to create incredibly hard light resulting in the modifier producing very strong shadows and highlights. The optical snoot is among my absolute must-have modifiers and although I didn’t think I needed it, as soon as I started to see what it could do, I loved it!įor regular folks who’ve followed my work for a while, you’ll already know that I’ve spoken about the optical snoot a lot already, but if you’re unaware of what this magic modifier does, you can see my full review on it here: Optical Snoot Review. I guarantee you won’t regret it and once you have one, you’ll end up using it way more than you thought you would. Sure, get your softbox and your beauty dish first, but then get yourself an optical snoot. I personally don’t see the Optical Snoot a specialist lighting modifier any more and I really do believe this is a must-have modifier for any strobist at this point. ![]() So if we’re only using one light, you’re probably assuming that we need a specialist lighting modifier, right? Well kind of, as we’ll be using the good ol’ Optical Snoot for this one. If you’re interested in learning more about it, I do go over it in a LOT more detail in this article: How to Avoid Colour Banding when using Coloured Gels – This is a monster article that really gets into the weeds of colour theory, but remember, you don’t need to meet the cow to enjoy the burger! You have been warned. Note: I’ve merely brushed up against the extensive issues of mixing coloured lights, but it’s actually a fairly complex topic.
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