Photography News issue 22

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Photography News Issue 22 absolutephoto.com

Bowens Fresnel 200 Like other modifiers, Fresnel spotlight attachments fit onto your flash head to shape the light, but they’re unusual in using a lens and often an iris in their construction. The Bowens Fresnel 200 uses the company’s popular S-fit mounting so it can be mounted on a wide variety of other heads as well as Bowens’ own, like the popular Gemini 500s, and its metal casing is well ventilated to prevent any overheating through extended use. The great thing about Fresnel lights is that their illumination is highly adaptable and controllable, making them useful for lots of different studio subjects, from portrait shoots to product photography. On the Fresnel 200, the diameter of the pool of light produced can be widened or thinned using the internal aperture setting and the 200mm lens at the front, with its concentric grooves, focuses the beam for a distinctive look. The style of lighting is often associated with the classic portraiture of Hollywood’s ‘golden age’, wherein you get a look that’s similar to sunlight (or perhaps more accurately a beam from a lighthouse, as that’s where Fresnel lenses were popularised). This look, similar But the innovation doesn’t end there: unlike regular softboxes the Ezybox Switch can convert from a regular square shape, to a rectangular format, useful in side-lighting or lighting reflective subjects like glass. The box assembles fast, thanks to its flexible frame (much like a pop-up tent) and to adjust the shape the sides are unzipped. The Large version can be thinned from 89x89cm to 89x44cm in a matter of seconds and comes with inner and outer diffusers and a carry bag. There’s an XL model, too. If you’ve got a flash kit you probably already have a softbox and this will likely connect directly to the head. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it does cut down on the range of flashes you can use your ’box with. Designed to work with a wider range of equipment, Lastolite Ezybox IIs can be used with regular heads, portable flash like Elinchrom’s Ranger Quadra RX range and even speedlights. The one- size-fits-all approach comes via the ’box’s wider than normal rear ring: to fit on regular heads, you use a speedring adapter (£35); and for speedlights, there’s an L-shaped bracket (also £35) which points the flashes into the throat of the assembled softbox. Pixapro 60cm Collapsible Beauty Dish Beauty dishes are an excellent upgrade to your set of diffusers, often giving a more refined look to that of a softbox or umbrella. The construction, with its central deflector and shallow outer dish, still provides soft light, but from a beauty dish it’s more focused and can be used closer to the subject than a softbox, creating deeper shadows. This makes dishes great for sophisticated low-key portraits and fashion work. The only trouble with most dishes is that they’re awkward to transport, being much wider than a regular spill kill reflector and made of metal, so they can’t be folded down like a box or brolly. Pixapro solves this problemwith a collapsible dish. Available from 60cm to 120cm in diameter (£70, £85 and £100 respectively) andwith a silver or white inner, the dishes feature a locking ring that, when released, allows them to fold up and pack away into an included bag. With the main dish made of fabric they’re much lighter thanmetal versions, too. These dishes come in the widely accepted Bowens S-fitting, allowing them to be used on a range of lights and be adaptable, too, so you can quickly remove the deflector for a more direct effect, or attach the included diffuser or honeycomb for a softer or more direct light. Lastolite Ezybox II SwitchLarge

Interfit 107cm5-in-1 Reflector Kit

Westcott Ice Light 2 It’s not only flash modifiers that can add a creative twist to your lighting; different types of light source provide exciting looks, too. The original Westcott Ice Light LED was a big hit with photographers, allowing a bright, consistent and continuous light source, but crucially one that could be easily positioned around the subject, or moved throughout the exposure to give wraparound lighting. Now it’s been updated to offer even more. While the Westcott Ice Light 2 retains the familiar lightsaber design, it’s 50% brighter and offers longer life (up to 60 minutes at full power on a full charge). Unlike many LEDs and lightbars, it’s flicker free and balanced to a daylight 5500K for consistent and stable illumination. It’s highly controllable, too, with output adjustable over 18 increments, down to just 5%, all via a clear and simple digital display. It’s compatible with existing Ice Light accessories like tungsten-balanced gels and barndoors, too. Weighing just over half a kilo, it’s also easily held or attached to a stand (via the built-in threads at either end) and its aluminium housing gives a hard-wearing feel. Charging from empty takes around 2.5hrs, but to make sure you don’t run out of juice mid-shoot, the battery is removable (an additional cell is £60). The spread of light, pleasing thanks to the precisely engineered inner surface, can be set as wide as 105° and as narrow as 35°. It may seem a significant outlay for something you already have, but you’re getting multiple, high-quality reflectors in one unit. The Zoom Reflector 2’s solid metal construction is welcome, meaning it can withstand professional use, and there’s an optional protective Zoom Cap, so it can be left on the head and protect the bulb. You can mount Profoto snoots, barndoors or grids on the front to further control the illumination. Profoto ZoomReflector 2 Flash heads tend to come with reflector dishes as standard, so why buy another? This one from Profoto has a simple and useful function – it zooms to alter the light spread. Reflector dishes, also known as spill kills, they come in different diameters to widen or shrink their pool of light, depending on what’s required; a small diameter gives more focused light while wider reflectors spread the light further. Obviously, you don’t want to spend long changing modifiers, so Profoto’s Zoom Reflector 2, which is compatiblewithProfotoB1/ D1 series strobes, gives you a regular reflector effect, a wide-angle spread and everything in between with a simple sliding action. The reflector itself is a 5-in-1 design, and, at just over a metre in diameter, has plenty of surface to work with. With a reversible jacket that zips over an inner disk it’s able to offer white, silver, gold (‘soft sun’) and black surfaces, producing a variety of lighting effects. Typically, gold warms the subject, while silver produces higher contrast; white gives the softest look interfitphotographic.com In an ideal world, no studio set-up should be without a reflector or an assistant, but sadly only one of those is realistic for most of us. That’s where a reflector and stand combo comes, like this 107cm reflector kit; the stand means you don’t need a spare pair of hands to position the light-bouncing surface, or run into dangerous contortions trying to operate both your camera and angle the reflector at the same time. Starting with the stand, it’s an air-cushionedmodel for easier extension and reaches a respectable 2.6m, giving you plenty of working height. Clamping onto the top of the stand is the included multi-directional arm, and on the end of that is the rim attachment clip, into which sits the reflector. With the disk held firm it’s then swivelled to catch the light perfectly.

£ 77

£ 70

to the light, and black absorbs the light to strengthen shadows. The inner disk is a diffuser which is useful as an additional diffuser in the studio, but also helps soften direct sunlight for exterior portraits or macro work. The reflector collapses to a size of 36cm and to make storage and transportation even easier there’s an included carry case.

essentialphoto.co.uk

£ 140

£ 145

profoto.com

lastolite.com

£ 520

£ 550

to a beauty dish but more adaptable and directable, features defined, but still soft shadow edges, which adds a dramatic element towhatever you’re shooting. Further modifiers like barndoors can be added on the front of the Fresnel 200.

johnsons-photopia.co.uk fjwestcott.com

bowensdirect.com

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