A Comprehensive Guide to Hot Shoe Flash Light Shapers
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A ROGUE LARGE FLASHBENDER - JUST ONE OF THE MANY LIGHT SHAPERS FOR ON CAMERA FLASH
Hello folks. In this article I will take a deep dive into options for light shapers that work with your hot shoe style flash. These shapers will of course work with your flash off camera, which is what we all try for whenever we can. In no particular order, and using MagMod tools as examples only when they exist. A MagMod Starter Kit can be found at this link.
The kit includes the mounting rubber base that fits rectangular and round flash heads, a grid and the MagSphere Dome v2, and we will talk about the grid and the dome in this article.
Diffusion Lenses or Domes
The purpose of a diffuser of any type is to increase the surface area coverage of a flash. Contrary to common misunderstanding, diffusers DO NOT soften light. They spread it out. This can be very handy, when you wish to reduce directionality, or provide coverage for a lens with a larger angle of view than your flash head can be adjusted to. For example, my Canon 600 EX RT II flash can be set to a maximum coverage of 20mm equivalence. However, if I am shooting with my 11-24 or a fisheye, I can use a diffusion tool to increase the angle of coverage. Some flashes have these as slide out options, and others use a clip on dome that has the same surface area as the flash head. They can be super handy, and the cost in terms of power on target is typically a loss of one stop.
The MagMod MagSphere 2 is included in the MagMod Starter Kit 2 but if you want cheap and cheerful, the Vella clip on dome diffuser is easy at about $10.
Bounce Reflectors
The entire point of a bounce reflector is to increase the size of the source relative to the subject. If we were to measure the surface area of the example flash, we would find it to be about 4.5 square inches. Depending the size of the subject and the flash to subject distance that is very small and will generate a harsh looking light, the quality we would call hard light. If we were to then attach a Rogue Large Flashbender to our flash using the provided velcro straps, we end up with a surface area of over 115 square inches or over 25 times the light source size. These reflectors fold flat, are inexpensive and are moldable. If you will only have one flash light shaper, this is the one to get.
If you use the Magmod system, their bounce reflector has a smaller surface area, and is also collapsible. Once you are invested in the MagMod system, you will find great convenience in how quickly you can attach and remove light shapers.
Bounce reflectors mounted on the flash itself commonly consume 1 - 1.5 stops of power
Beam Concentrators
While many hot shoe flashes will have a zoom function in the unit, that when in TTL mode will adjust with the focal length of the lens used, these handy tools let us down for wildlife, particularly birds when we are using longer focal length lenses.
Possibly the best known of this kind of tool is known as The Better Beamer. It is an assembly that mounts to your flash that uses a fresnel lens to concentrate the light beam for longer reach in a narrow angle of view. This device attaches to the flash head using supplied velcro strapping.
If you invest in the MagMod system, they have an excellent magnetic mount solution. You can order it as the wildlife kit or as a more complete MagBeam kit. The maker currently shows them out of stock.
Beam concentrators do not consume power, they only concentrate it, however they can never deliver more light than the flash is capable of emitting.
Gels
Gels are used to alter the colour of the light coming from your flash. Gels come in two fundamental pathways. The most common are the rich coloured gels that one would use to change the colour of a neutral background to be more interesting or even to add a mood or style to a particular subject. These tend to be deeply coloured and depending on the colour depth will consume between 2 and 4 stops of light energy on target. Some tips for gel use include setting your white balance in camera and locking it before adding a gel so the camera does not try to compensate for it. A second tip is to put the gelled flash in manual mode and use the flash output control to set the brightness to taste.
The second type of gels are used when you need to alter the colour temperature of the flash to match another light source. These gels are not so deeply coloured and are marked to a specific Kodak filter number or colour temperature. The most common is an orange gel used to match the colour of flash to tungsten lighting. Even LED lights are commonly not daylight balanced and a mix of LED and flash will benefit from a correction gel on the flash.
You can purchase large gel kits and cut your own from companies like Rosco or Lee or buy pre-cut kits with mounting systems such as the Rogue kit listed below. The Rogue kit contains both colour and correction gels and is easy to use with a bit of practice, because these gels can be fumbly. MagMod also has gel kits, but I find them expensive for what they are and they separate correction and creative gels into two separate kits. The MagMod gels are incredibly convenient to work with but the cost of entry is in my opinion very high and not worth it unless you use gels a lot of the time.
Rogue Photographic Design Flash Gels Color Correction Filter Kit v3
MagMod Colour Correction Gel Kit
Snoots
If you are using a hot shoe flash as a focused light source, such as in the very common example of a hair light, a snoot is hugely valuable. Studio strobe users depend on snoots all the time and for us hot show flash users, a snoot is just as simple to use. A Snoot is simple a cone that controls flash spill in a very aggressive manner. Be sure that the snoot you select will mount to your flash as they are available for rectangular and round head flash units. Some snoot kits include snoot mounted grids to further control spill. The MagMod Snoot 2 is collapsible and offers 4 different coverage angles. It will also clip to MagMod Grids such as the one that comes in the Starter Kit. A method suggested by professional photographer Stephen Gotz is a tool I use in the studio called Cinefoil. It is a roll of black foil that can be readily molded into a snoot and attached with gaffer tape.
Impact Snoot for Rectangular Head
Grids
Grids are like snoots in that they control spill to the sides of the heads. They do not concentrate the light like a beam concentrator, instead they force the light through the grid which limits spill side to side. They are extremely useful for creative lighting and to control spill when you want the light to illuminate a subject and not spill onto the background or other distractions. The MagMod Starter Kit includes a grid. Grids come measured in terms of angle of coverage or in terms of opening size. The higher the angle or smaller the opening, the tighter the grid.
Cucoloris, Cookie and Gobo
All of these are devices that limit where the light will go. They can take the form of regular or irregular cutouts in a plate that mounts to the flash. Some vendors such as MagMod call them masks. They were first used in theatre lighting to create an image of something for creative effect, such as a window frame, or the illusion of light passing through a jalousie or Venetian blind. Now we find them with all kinds of cutouts and there is no particular “correct” option. They can be very useful in creating mood, setting tone or ascribing a theme. Most these devices go on light stands and are quite large. You can make your own out of cardboard or foam core, but if you want a simple way to use one on your hot show flash the MagMod option is superlative. You get the four basic ones in the MagBeam Starter Kit, or you can purchase individual kits. To see the options, head over to MagMod
Flags
Flags are a mechanism that you use to prevent light from going somewhere. They are used aggressively in still life work and in cinema. You can make simple flags from black foam core or Cinefoil and attach them to the flash head with gaffer tape. A big part of lighting is where you do not light and flags can be used to resolve that issue.
Summary
Having a hot shoe flash with you is like having a portable sun in your pocket. There is no better way to take command of light. Using light shapers gives you even more control and will expand the usability of your flash to areas you may not have considered. No gear makes you a better photographer, but the right gear can help you better execute your vision and style. In full disclosure, all the B&H links provided use my affiliate code which costs you nothing but pays me a small commission. The MagMod direct links are simply links.
I would also point out something raised by my friend Fernando Santos, a professional photographer based in Lisbon, Portugal. Many of these light shapers are available from the Asian market and those products are readily available on Amazon. The brands may be different, but the cost of entry will be lower and may be all you need to satisfy your requirements.
Thank you as always for reading and until next time, peace.
