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Lighting Modifiers

MagMod goes big with its new XL studio light modifiers

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It looks like MagMod’s finally accepting the goodness of big strobes and not just focusing on speedlights and other small portable lights. They’ve announced the new MagMod XL range, designed specifically for use with Bowens mount studio strobes – and presumably LEDs.

The core of the system is the MagMod Reflector XL (buy here), with attachments that fit onto the end of it. It sounds like reflectors and grids we’ve seen before, but MagMod’s system, as one would expect, comes with a bit of a twist.

Here’s how to figure out what size and shape of softbox you should buy

Very early on in the journey of a photographer’s transition to flash, particularly studio strobes, the first question we find ourselves asking is “what modifiers should I use?” Actually, the first question is probably “what’s a modifier?” which is then followed by the other one. You start to do a little Googling and searching around retailers, and you discover softboxes. There are so many different shapes and sizes out there, though. Which is the right one?

Well, the fact is that there is no objectively right or wrong softbox. They all exist because they’re all useful. They’re just all useful in different ways and each present a different appearance of light only our subject, depending on how you use them. In this video, David Bergman (and Dean Edwards) take an almost 20-minute tour around every size and shape of softbox you can imagine illustrating what they do.

Lighting Setup: Pastel Colored Light and Gobos

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Ever since I started to use colored lighting, I’ve always battled with the issues that many of us face when combining multiple colors and if you’ve shot with colored gels in the past, I’m sure you’re familiar with what I mean. Images involving multiple colored lights can sometimes look messy or display muddy colors that look almost blocky with clipped color data. But why does this happen? Why do our colored lights often look a mess?

The reason for this is actually fairly simple and in this lighting setup I’ll show you how to mix even delicate pastel colors in the same shot, whilst still maintaining a crisp look.

Watch: Comparing small vs large softboxes to help you decide which you should buy

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There’s a moment that comes to everybody who eventually starts breaking away from using solely natural light and moving towards artificial lights to give you a bit more control and consistency. Whether you’re a photographer, filmmaker or YouTuber, you’re going to one day have to decide on what to buy to be your first, or perhaps only softbox.

In this video, Sam Holland walks us through the differences between a hard bare light, a small softbox and a large softbox to let us see the kind of light it produces as well as the benefits of each type of hard, slightly soft and very soft light. In the context of Sam’s video, it’s largely based on the YouTube or presenter style lighting with just a single modifier, but which deserves your money?

Lighting setup: Modifying the sun for natural light portraits

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I live in the U.K., so offering natural light portraits to my clients is far from a smart choice. We have almost no clue when or even if the sun is going to come out and help us on a shoot here in Britain, but for those rare moments where the sun does bother to show up on set, it’s definitely worth having a few techniques up your sleeve to enable you to work with it, rather than against it.

For those of you living in parts of the world where the indigenous population don’t have the pallor of wet tissue paper, the sun is probably a staple light source in your workflow. But whether you live in Norway or L.A., we all need to modify that sun in some way to either avoid washed out and flat images, or the dreaded squinting model. This article looks at a popular light controlling technique often used in the studio and brings it outdoors to give your daylight portraits a more refined look.

How to make a simple 3D-printed grid snoot for your strobe

A grid snoot is a great light shaper for photographers who want to throw a little light into a tight spot or highlight a select part of a scene, or cast a beam across a surface.

It is a favourite of DIYers and can be hacked together using card, tape and a bundle of drinking straws. In the past I have made snoots using off-cuts of Nomex.

What the heck is an optical snoot and how do you use one?

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There are two different types of snoot out there when it comes to flashes. You’ve got your regular snoots, which essentially act like a cylindrical flag around your light that blocks off any light not travelling directly ahead. Then you’ve got optical snoots, which incorporate some kind of lens, letting you project the light.

In this video, photographer David Bergman shows off how both types of snoot work but with the main focus being on optical snoots, using the Light Blaster – a popular optical snoot designed primarily for speedlights but that can also be adapted to studio strobes.

This is my favourite $1 lighting modifier

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I’ve always been drawn to interesting looking light. The simple, soft and flat light of softboxes and other standard modifiers rarely hold my attention and I’ve often felt like that softbox lighting doesn’t exist outside of the studio. It’s always looked a little too clinical for me.

We’re shown interesting light all of the time when we’re observing daylight. Dappled light as it falls through leaves, dancing sparkles of light on water, rays of light through buildings and other structures, but we rarely try and bring that interesting looking light into the studio. In fact, many of us chase and covet this idea of ‘perfect’ light from a generic modifier and although there is certainly a time and a place for that, today I’d like to share a lighting technique that is a little more visually engaging.

Can you get away with shooting without light modifiers?

When we talk about studio lighting, we always talk about light modifiers as well. They’re an integral part of using artificial lighting, but does it mean you should use them absolutely all the time? In this video from Adorama, Mark Wallace addresses this topic through a set of examples. He takes photos in his studio with different modifiers to show you what each of them does, so you can see for yourself whether or not you can get away with omitting them.

Food photographers, upgrade your modifiers before you upgrade anything else

You’ve been into photography for a while, you’ve upgraded your skills, and it’s time to upgrade your gear. If you ask me, that’s always exciting, but it can also be stressful: what should you upgrade first? In this video, Scott Choucino discusses this topic and helps you choose between your lens, camera, light, or modifier. And to some of you, the answer may be surprising.

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