Light Modifiers (systems and processes)

Part of our 'Systems and Processes' brief is to demonstrate what different light modifiers will do to an object being photographed. Each modifier has its own qualities and has a different effect on the item being photographed. I chose a red glass tea-light holder as i like the colour and the shape of it.

Honeycomb Grid


So-called due to the honeycomb-shaped structure, this fits over the front of the light to create directional light which fades into the dark, creating a dramatic, soft spotlight effect.


the basic set up, which shows the soft spotlight effect perfectly.


This is the final image. The glass is lit evenly with nice highlights but the image is slightly on the underexposed side. The light fades off to black gently and its very pleasing to the eye

Masked Softbox


Softboxes are light modifiers that create diffuse lighting. Good lighting definition and a soft shadow effect are the major advantages of softboxes. Inside the softbox there is a silver reflective coating, which distributes the light via reflection. The outer diffuser distributes the diffused light evenly.


The lighting set-up, showing the large amount of diffused light given by the softbox.


The final image. The light is pleasantly diffused all over the frame, with no noticable drop-off in light. The shadow thrown by the glass is soft and the image is pleasant to look at.


Beauty Dish
The Beauty Dish is a light modifier from the 1950s, which has recently been making a comeback. It distributes light towards a focal point and the result is a diffused but rather directional and unforgiving (in terms of photographing people) illumination.


The lighting set up, showing how the beauty dish disperses the light.


The final image. The light given off by the beauty dish is quite soft but not as soft as the softbox but the highlights on the glass from the dish are very distracting.

Umbrella


Umbrellas scatter the light from the flash over a wider area, making for very soft shadows and well diffused light. They can be translucent white, to shoot through, or silver-inset to bounce off. My set up was a silver-inset and you can see how that looks here:

the light is filling the entire of the picture, up to the diameter of the umbrella.


The final image, the shot is much darker than the others as the further diffusion of the umbrella means the light is spread over a greater area and therefore is not as concentrated on the glass item. But there is little shadow and the light is pleasing, illuminating all the glass evenly.

Out of the 4 final shots I personally prefer the honeycomb shot, as I like the spotlight effect, and the more dramatic feel the shot has overall. As for pure light quality, the softbox enhances the glass the best, but I find it to be a little boring!