Many years ago I felt the need to have a type of light similar to that produced by fluorescent tubes. There were already “light swords” in the style of Darth Vader’s from Star Wars, but they were not flash light. I wanted a flash light sword and designed it. I did a few portrait sessions with her in 2013 as you can see in the following post:
Excèntrics plàstics
There are the fantastic lights, both continuous and flash, from Briese and other brands, at quite high prices. Now a simple but very effective version from Godox, the AD S200 light sword, has just been released.
The first thing I wanted to do was to test it inside a parabolic reflector, what is usually called a deep light box. As the lamp is arranged perpendicular to the front diffuser, the light beams do not pass directly through the diffuser. All the light bounces off the inner surface of the parabola, resulting in a very homogeneous diffusion. I put the photometer in front of the diffuser and the light measurement was equal over the entire surface.
This minimizes the reflection of light on the model’s forehead compared to the reflection using other accessories. In this way the light gradient is not so drastic and the light distribution is very homogeneous.
If we compare what the light distribution would be like using a Godox AD200 flash with the accessory that allows the flash tube to be free, we would see that there would be a point of higher brightness in the center of the diffuser. With the AD S200 sword this does not happen and therefore the illumination is more homogeneous.
I used a Godox parabolic light box, the P90L, which, while producing a very soft light, is very directional.
The second set is the same except that a second spotlight has been added to illuminate the maroon background.
Changing the background to white overexposed the power of the spotlight behind the model by a couple of +EV to achieve a burnt background. The main light in this case is much harder as I used the ADS200 directly, but using the black side flaps so as not to scatter the light in the environment.
Finally, I removed the black fins and with the flash tube without modifiers the light was still very harsh and direct but bounced off the two white reflectors on either side of the model, filling in the shadows and diminishing the overall contrast somewhat.
The Godox AD S200 stick flash proved to be a very interesting and versatile accessory. It connects to an AD200 unit which makes it very practical for use outside the studio.
Lighting scheme 1
Lighting scheme 2
Lighting scheme 3
Lighting scheme 4
