Using Grids/7ft. OctoDome3

Introduction:

In the following lesson, we feature the light control you can gain with the application of grids to your light modifiers.

To give you the best comparison of control, we set our model close to the background. This will allow us to easily illustrate how the spread of light is controlled by the grids as well as emulating many situations you may find yourself shooting assignments in. We will first set up a one light portrait without the grids installed, then go through the same sequence with the grids.



The Key Light:

We set up our 7 foot OctoDome³ and attached it to a studio strobe head. Then we attached the soft box and light assembly onto a Photoflex 2218 LiteStand. We then connected the strobe head to the power pack and set the power to 200-watt seconds.

Next, we placed the light to camera left at about 75 degrees from the camera. We set the height of the light assembly so that the subject was covered with light (figures 1 and 2).

Before shooting, we set up the camera's programs and exposure settings.

Since we are using strobes in this lesson, our white balance was set to Daylight or 5500 degrees Kelvin. The resolution set to TIFF for maximum image quality, and the ISO was set to 100.

We then set the exposure controls to the manual setting. Since we are using strobes, the shutter speed will be determined by the sync setting on the camera you use, ours was 1/60 of a second. We set our aperture to f/8.0 to give the depth of field control we wanted for this image, keeping our subject in focus and letting the background fall out.

With our camera programmed and the key light set up, we attached the camera to the power pack with our sync cord and fired off our first result image (figure 3).

In the result image, we see the soft buttery light of the OctoDome wrapping around the subject, and clean soft light on the background, giving the subject separation and added depth to the shot.

Our next action is to add some fill to the shot. For this, we used a Photoflex medium LiteDome with a strobe head.

We wanted to add some additional softening of our fill light output. A LitePanel Kit with the white translucent fabric attached was set between the fill light and the model to give us a very soft fill light that will cover the full length of our model.

We set the diffuser and light set up to the right of the camera and about 45 degrees from the camera (figures 4, 5, and 6).

With the fill light in place, we moved the assembly into the final position, controlling the contrast on the model to a 2:1 ratio (the key side twice as bright as the fill side). Then set the model back into her pose and shot our second result image (figure 8).

In figures above, we show you the comparison of the first result (figure 7) and the second with the fill light assembly added (figure 8). In figure 7, we see the strong ratio with very little detail in the shadows of the model's face. In figure 8 with the added fill, we have a brighter image while maintaining control over the contrast. Our shot still shows shape and form around the face.

The Hair Light:

To help gain more separation of the subject from the background, we added a hair light to our set.

Our hair light, sometimes called a separation light, was a Photoflex medium HalfDome attached to a strobe head and installed onto a Photoflex Boom and Boom Stand (figures 9 and 10). Once we had the HalfDome set up and on the boom, we placed it over the subject and centered on the set, then swung it back so that the light fell on to the model's head and shoulders.

Be careful not to position the hair light too far forward. You should not have any light fall onto the subject's face. To ensure we have the proper placement, we shot an image with just the hair light to check our placement (figure 11).

With the hair light in place we set the model into the pose and shot the next set of images (figure 13).

The hair is a bit brighter with the addition of the hair light (figure 13). This will become even more apparent with a darker background.

Adding Grids for Controlling Light Direction

As we mentioned in our introduction, by adding the grids to the OctoDome we gain a lot more control over where the light from the box falls. The Octo Grids narrow the light to about a 40 degree spread from about a 130 degree spread without the grids. What this means is that you can control the light and place it just where you want it.

For this example, we want to keep some of the light from falling on the background, so we installed the grids onto the light and set it back into position (figures 14 and 15).

With the grids in place, we checked our light levels with our flash meter and found we lost about a 1/3 of a stop. We adjusted the camera by opening the aperture 1/3 of a stop and shot the next set of shots (figure 17).

In these results figures we compare the first shot we made with the OctoDome only (figure 16) and the OctoDome with grids only (figure 17). We can clearly see how the addition of the grids have added the control we were looking for. We have all but eliminated the light falling on the background in figure 17.

To get our contrast control back in shape we set the fill light and LitePanel assembly back into place, and then added a set of grids to the medium LiteDome (figure 18). Then we made the fine-tuning adjustments to the position to properly fill the subject (figure 19).

A set of grids was also added to the hair light and this light was set it back into position (figure 20).

With all of our lights set back in position, we shot the final images for our lesson (figure 22).

Notice how the dark shadows produced by the one light set up (figure 21) are lit better in the tree-light wet up (figure 22). The three-light set up has a better balanced light ratio.

Figures 23 and 24 compare the results achieved with our three-light set up.

The shot with the brighter background (figure 23) was lit without any grids on the lights. The shot with the darker background (figure 24) was lit with grids on all three lights to prevent light spill on the background.

Notice how much better separation between the model and the background is gained when light is prevented from reaching the backdrop (figure 24). This shot has better depth and balance than the shot lit without any grids on the lights.

Grids can offer great control over light output direction. As this lesson shows, this can be very important when photographing in confined spaces where the subject is close to the background.

Consider using grids when you need to light only what you want to light.