Photography News Issue 40

Photography News | Issue 40 | absolutephoto.com

Technique

Spill-kill with 12º grid

Above If you want to shoot wider, you may need to move the hair light to stop it appearing in shot; here it was set back-left adding an accent to Emma’s face and hair. Right For a proper spotlighting effect, the key light was fitted with a spill-kill reflector and 12° grid.

the RX 4’s modelling light, but this shouldn’t be left on continuously with a snoot, as the modifier will get very hot. Working out the power To Emma’s front, we fitted a Rotolux Deep Octagonal 70cm softbox, aiming it squarely at Emma to start with. The power of both lights was then metered, with the camera in manual (M) exposure mode and with settings of 1/125sec at f/5.6, ISO 100. The rear light metered spot on at a power of 2.0, while the more diffused light from the flash to Emma’s front needed a higher 4.3 setting. Taking a test shot first to double check the power of the hair light, it seemed a little dim to me, so I increased the power by a stop to 3.0. When using a light directed towards the camera, it’s a good idea to use a lens hood, which will lessen the risk of flare. If it’s possible in your location, placing the hair light at a higher (as with the landing at our location) or lower level than the subject is a good way to cut the risk of flare even further. Using the light at the top of a stand is one way to do this, but if you need to move it further off to one side, you can always increase the power to compensate – the further away it is, the more power will be need. And make sure you zoom in so that it’s cropped out of the picture. Feathering the light The front light threw up a different challenge, as despite the fairly directed look of the 70cm

Octa softbox, the light was still spreading too widely. One way of dealing with this is angling the softbox away from the subject a little (a process called feathering) rather than fitting a grid to tighten the throw of light. As the RX 4 has a large handle on its rear, it’s easy to swing the light up and down. Raising it about 45° reduced the spill of light at the bottom of the frame and gave a more centred look to the lighting. Re-metering the light after feathering, the Octa box now gave me a reading of f/5, so needed it needed to be increased to about 4.7 to compensate (with the metered strength of the light reduced by 1/3 of a stop (f/5.6 to f/5), the power of the flash is increased by the same). Using grids to narrow the light But feathering with a softbox can only go so far and we wanted to push the look a little further, creating a more obvious spotlight look. So, after fitting a 21cm reflector to the RX 4 head at Emma’s front, a 20° honeycomb was added. Once again, the power of the light needs to be metered as the amount of light hitting the subject will be affected by changing the modifier. The undiffused light needs less power to create the same brightness, so metered at f/5.6 with a power setting of 2.0, much less than with the feathered softbox. Again, the light was feathered upwards a little to produce an obvious vignette at the foot of the frame and re-metered before shooting. With the Elinchrom RX 4 (and other heads in the range), it’s also easy to fit one of the

range’s unique deflectors (which come in a set of four), for a softened but still directed light. The deflector dish attaches to a rod that connects to the head using the umbrella port, and using the 21cm Standard Reflector, a grid can thenbeplacedon top. Theattachingsystem means they can be used with any reflector and most other modifiers in the Elinchrom range, providing an almost limitless variety of lighting styles.

When using a light directed towards the camera, it’s a good idea to use a lens hood, which will lessen the risk of flare

Diffusingmodifiers

For creative looks like low-key effects or hair and spotlight styles, modifiers other than softboxes and umbrellas are important. Principal among these are the modifiers that restrict light; chiefly grids and snoots. Grids (aka honeycombs), fit into basic spill-kill reflectors in most lighting kits to reduce the spread of light. The spread of light is measured in degrees, so fitting a 12° grid would give a smaller circle of light than a 20° grid. The differing sizes allow you to get the spread of light right without moving the flash head towards or away from the subject. You’ll see the differing spreads of light created using Elinchrom’s 21cm Honeycomb Grid set, which comes with a 21cm reflector, and 8°, 12°, 20° and 30° grids. You can also fit a snoot, like the Elinchrom Snoot and Grid set (£49), which gives a 15° spread of light, and can be further narrowed with its included grid.

Thanks to: This month’s model was the wonderful Emma Davis, and we shot on location at the beautiful William Cecil Hotel, Stamford, Lincolnshire.