A Honl Photo system grid spot was used to capture this harmonica player.
It’s extremely common to see photographers mount a dome diffuser of some kind on their hotshoe flash. This is great when you want the light to go everywhere, such as when you’re shooting in a room and can utilize bounced light off the walls and ceiling, or when you’ve got the speedlight attached to a softbox or umbrella and need a wide spread. Sometimes though we want the opposite effect. It’s not just what you are lighting that’s important, it’s what you are not lighting.
Before we go any further, let me remind you that my eBook Tips, Tricks and Pics is available to purchase for $5.
Restricting the spread of light is an essential and oftentimes overlooked skill and that’s where grid spots come in handy. Grid spots have a honeycomb pattern that help create tight beams of focused light that has a hard edge to it. The key point is that is stops the light from spilling over into areas that we don’t want it to. This is particularly useful when there’s no physical way to separate the subject from the background, or when shooting outdoors in bright sunlight using small apertures and unable to make use of high-speed sync.
The left photo shows bare flash coverage. The right photo shows coverage with a 1/4\
Honl Photo produces an excellent set of accessories that attach by means of a velcro speed strap to your flash. Attaching the grid spot takes a second or so and you’re good to go. I highly recommend checking them out.
That was the 43rd Daily PhotoTip. If this post was useful to you, why don’t you subscribe to my feed, leave a comment and share it with your friends. You can also get access to exclusive content and special offers by subscribing to my newsletter. Sign up today. Thank you.
Send Me An Email
GoogleWave at Me
Meet On Facebook
Follow On Twitter
Connect On Flickr
Subscribe To Feed
Craig Ferguson Images | Cultural Photography. One of the key aspects of life that we humans identify with is culture. We label people, places and events according to our ideas of what they are, ranging from the broader scale defined by tradition and place down to the small scale subcultures and tribes. Craig Ferguson Images is consistantly creating new visions in the field of cultural photography. From traditional festives and customs to modern, urban subcultures, Craig Ferguson Images is in touch with the changing world. From our base in Taipei, Taiwan we are perfectly positioned at the crossroads of the ancient and the modern.
Design by Graph Paper Press
Subscribe to entries
Subscribe to comments
All content © 2010 by Cultural photography from Asia | Craig Ferguson Images
