Softbox, honeycomb, or snoot for hairlight?

Looking for advice..
Do I need all three?
Wich modifier would I use more for hair?

Thanks!!!

For the best result either softbox or barn-door with honey comb.
--
Razzs

All of them.

Light from a small source will have the very crisp quality you usually see on TV shows: they use several fresnel spots. Grids are a photo equivalent, to some extent. Grids may prevent most lens flare problems, although adding barndoors is a good idea. And hairlight will be restricted to a smaller area, say enough for a twosome, with gradual fall-off.

Ordinary reflectors with the necessary barndoors will work fine too. A half-spun diffusing material may spread the light in a more uniform pattern.

Always check for spill light that may come from hairlights on the background: spill is easily blocked with blackwrap and clothespins added to the barndoors when necessary.

Softboxes make very nice, subtler hairlights. They definately have more "class" than the regular hairlights (in my view). Problem one is suspending over the subject. High ceiling required, maybe heavy duty boom required, if you can't suspend from a plaster or acoustic tile, etc ceiling. Second is lens flare: not practical in most cases to gobo-ize the softbox: much better to gobo-ize the camera, maybe using what's called a "french flag", or any other old flag, piece of foamcore. Third is adjusting this heavy apparatus.

In all cases, security first: any equipment that is suspended over people must be secured with steel cables, or even a good rope will do, but in a private studio, there are no excuses for not taking these precautions: a hot barndoor that falls onto someone's face could be catastrophic. On location, extra care is taken to prevent such accidents, not letting people bumping into stands, etc..
--
Jean Bernier

All photographs are only more or less credible illusions

If need be, move the light closer. Barndoors do a pretty good job of directing the light.

--
Ramen is how I afford my glass
http://www.blindmike.com

Few people use a snoot for a hairlight anymore as it's too concentrated and casts too small of a circle of light. Most pros use a softbox for a hairlight because you can use a large softbox that will light up the heads of a group of people. But you generally need a higher ceiling if you are going to use a softbox. You can put a grid or barndoors on the softbox if you want to, but most people don't. In my studio the ceiling is too low to use a softbox effectively, so I use a grid on a 10-inch diameter reflector.
--
http://www.fantasy-photo.com

I ran across a post recently where someone was using a 22" X 22" softbox on a boom with an 8' ceiling, so I guess it's possible to use a softbox with a lower ceiling.

I've used both a softbox and now a grid. I am happier with the grid as it limits spill down the back and shoulders and works well in tight spaces and low ceilings. But will still use a SB if needed and the room/ceiling will allow.

Regards and good luck,

Scott

I haven't used grids but isn't the lighting harder to control when using a grid for a hairlight? I think that a SB can provide a softer, muted light that is more evenly spread.

John

TrueGritScott said:

I've used both a softbox and now a grid. I am happier with the grid
as it limits spill down the back and shoulders and works well in
tight spaces and low ceilings. But will still use a SB if needed
and the room/ceiling will allow.

Regards and good luck,

Scott

Click to expand...

Soft boxes are much more forgiving. Often, hairlighting with point sources will introduce some problems such as patches of light through hair and on cheeks, shadow of ears on cheeks, skin covered with fine-hair suddenly glowing, etc...in real-life shooting situations, one can't always control these little details under weak modeling lights, and still keep the session lively and enjoyable for the sitter.
--
Jean Bernier

All photographs are only more or less credible illusions

Strip lights with a grid can be good. If you don't have a strip light, you can get a mask for like $10. I also ran across this the other day, LiteShapers ( http://www.liteshaper.com/ ). Turns your sobo into whatever you want strip, snoot, barn door etc.. Kinda pricey though.

For the record, hairlights are almost always used horribly, and almost always unnecessarily. In the majority of cases posted here, there is no reason whatsoever to employ one -- other than the old 'got four lights, must USE four lights' syndrome.

The only time a hair light is necessary is when a person's hair and their background are too close in tone. Then, a light coming from behind helps provide important separation of subject and background.

Unless your equipment list is complete in every other aspect, forget about spending money on hair light modifiers. Because if you really need one, a big sheet of matte black paper curved into a cone shape and taped to your light source will do as good a job as any big-bucks aftermarket modifier. Need to soften the light? Add a couple of layers of greaseproof sandwich paper. Need to soften it some more? Add more sandwich paper. I never go on a job without sheets of opaque sandwich paper. Almost free, and infinitely useful.

Glenealy

951er said:

Looking for advice..
Do I need all three?
Wich modifier would I use more for hair?

Thanks!!!

Click to expand...

Dear John,
Do u hv some some sample?
--
Rz

Take a look at this thread. It gives some nice examples of what a hairlight can do.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1025&message=17203019

rzman_07 said:

Dear John,
Do u hv some some sample?
--
Rz

Click to expand...

....that there is a difference between a "hairlight" and a "background separation light" or "accent light?"

From the responses, it does not seem as though that distinction is understood.

--
RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'