For some time now, accessories like the ones normally used for professional high-end flashes are manufactured and available for Storbist. Profoto, Bowens, Elinchrom and Broncolor – to mention a few brands – have in their catalogs a variety of accessories for modifying the light. Everything from diffusers, cones, ring flashes to reflectors for honeycombs, as well as light boxes, Fresnel lenses etc.
Some of these accessories are available for the use of portable flash and the efficiency is very good. Those that work best are the ones that concentrate the light, since the type of lighting they generate is hard. As we know, hard light is achieved with a small light source. To achieve a diffuse and soft lighting , the size of the light source should be big. If you have the possibility to use large size diffusers with the flashes, it will be necessary to have more than one flash to achieve a good diffusion, as we will se in my next post.
Strobist Snoot
Three flash adapter
Some brands have modifiers similar to those of professional range and other brands make more simple accessories that are easier to transport because of its ingenious design based on Velcro™.
Gadget Brando
The accessories from Gadget Brando or Interft Strobies work very well for medium shot portraits, as well as the range from Holn Photo or Lumiquest.
Holn Photo
Lumi Quest
One of my favorite accessories is the light box from Photofex, the OctoDome mini. I made almost all the portraits of the series “Friends” with this accessory. Its interior diffuser distributes the light very evenly and gives a good diffusion of the light in close-up portraits. It is also very easy to set up and transport.
Photoflex Octodome mini
I also like working with the Lightsphere Collapsible from Gary Fong. I normally use it very close to the camera. Directly directed towards the model, the size of the light source increases somewhat and it softens the glow. What I like about this accessory is to bounce the light in the ceiling without the hemisphere, as the contour of the fixture fills the shadows very well, as did the flashes that had two xenon lamps in the same flash, flashes like Nikon Speedlight SB16 or the Metz from the series 45 or 60 CL.
Nikon Speedlight SB16
Metz 45 CL4
This flash, like some Metz and others, allowed bouncing the main light in the ceiling or a sidewall and with a second fill flash decrease the contrast in the face. Today’s flashes do not have this second flash, and the accessory by Gary Fong solves this problem very well.
Lightsphere Collapsible by Gary Fong
Many times we might want to use correction filters like the ones by Rosco, Arri, Lee, etc. These filters will give a color cast to the light of the flash and they are very useful in certain situations which I will talk about in other posts.
Rosco Color Correction filter CTO
There are different brands that solve the problem of how to support the gelatin in front of the light source. Almost all of them rely on a Velcro™ strip fastening the gelatin holder.
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Hi.
I am a self study studio lighting and I am living in Vietnam. I saw your Friends series in strobist, pinterest and also on your website , and you said all of photos from this series, you shot by only the Photoflex octodome mini. Ireally love this series, very impressive, at least, that your lights and headshot style is my favorite. But when I see in the catchlight reflected in the eyes of your Friends photos, almost I saw the light source were rectangle softbox, I think, instead of the octodome as you said, Could you please explain for me more about the lighting setup and post process of this series.
I did do some test shot same as your lighting setup diagram, with my Canon 1Ds Mark II and also in Canon EOS 5D Mark II, but I could not have the same 3D effects of the headshot, as in your Friend photos. I am very appreciate to receive your reply by email : nhatlq@yahoo.com
Hi ! Most shooting in Barcelona, where I live, were done with a rectangular Bowens softbox but most my friends lives out of Spain and those portraits I took with the small Photoflex Octodome very easy to travel with.