Lighting Modifiers and Their Effects

So many modifiers, so many effects. Learn all about lighting from a seasoned pro.

Have you ever wondered about the difference between a softbox and a snoot? Or whether to use an octabox or an umbrella? If so, this class is for you.

You’ll discover the crucial differences between a variety of lighting modifiers as Karl explains how they work, what effects they create, and when to use each one.

You’ll also cover the principles of hard and soft light and optimise your ability to control light.

In this class:

  • Lighting modifiers
  • Hard light and soft light
  • Direction of light and the impact it has
  • Size of a light source and its effect
  • How to further modify certain modifiers
  • Lens flare and how to reduce it

If you enjoy this class, to check out Precision Lighting: Modifiers and Techniques and Beauty Lighting Comparison.

Don’t forget to try our amazing Lighting Comparison Visualiser tool.

Questions? Please post them in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. Hi Karl, again big compliments on your videos and style. I absolutely love it. Question: I am currently especially focused on portrait photography, and am practicing any time I can. As I have no models around, apart from my 10 year old daughter who is by now planning a revolution against me, I’d be very interested in Stiffany ( I love your English dry humour ;)). Is that a standard clothing doll? Or is it some specific brand of doll ( for example to replicate the reflection in eyes etc? ) Thanks and greetings, André

  2. Hi Karl,

    As I am just beginning and focusing on e-commerce product photography mostly Amazon resellers . What would you recommend as a cost effective light? And how many would recommend. Possible to do so with just one light?

    Thanks

    1. Hi Gobie, if you can watch a few more classes in the Lighting Theory section and then choose some from our product section that are appropriate to what you’d like to photograph that will give you a better indication in understanding lighting and the necessary equipment and techniques. After that feel free to come back to me with any questions that you may have. All the best Karl.

  3. Hi Karl,

    Which softbox would you suggest for a full body ecommerce fashion photography to light up the cloth on the mannequin in my case? Also, please mention the dimensions as well.

    Will a rectangular softbox like 36/160 or 80/120 be good? Please mention a modifier apart from a parabolic reflector as it’s too costly.

    1. Hi, I would go as big as you can because you can always easily mask a big softbox to make it thinner or smaller. The 120×180 is the biggest I know of and this would be a good size.

  4. Hi Karl,

    I find myself keep coming back to this tutorial as there is so much learning in different light shapers. I noticed that you didn’t use a Broncolor beauty dish in this tutorial and am interested in your opinion on the beauty dish softbox vs traditional beauty dish.

    Many thanks
    Shan

    1. Hi Shan, thank you. I like my 70cm silver dish because it’s bigger which makes it a little softer but it’s also silver which keeps the sculpting and contrast. The bron one is good but smaller. I’m not a fan of the beauty dish softbox as it doesn’t function exactly like a proper beauty dish.

  5. Thank you Karl for effectively laying out all the “nuances” of the most common light modifiers. I am trying to create a few pieces for my product photography portfolio. I watched all of the lessons inherent to this section of “Lighting Theory” and found as expected amazingly clear and effective. However, I find it somewhat overwhelming to establish a clear and possibly linear learning path to address my product photography education due to the amount of information made available in order to reach those set goals. Would you please have any suggestions on where to go next? I see that there is a specific section to address product photography. Is there any precise path I should follow to start creating”? For example, the setup for product photography can greatly change depending on what we want to achieve in terms of lighting but also depending on the product we want to recreate photographically. Is there a setup that would be more organically suitable to a range of products in terms of surface and lighting? Thank you very much for your support.

    1. Hi, if product photography is your main interest then please start with our new ‘Getting Started In Product Photography’ section, I’d recommend watching all of that section especially the part about ‘Gradient Lighting’ and ‘Deeper understanding of the inverse square law’ – after that we have our product sections broken down into various sub genres and of course lots of live show replays and future live shows on product photography. In your personal home page you will also find our Lighting Comparison visualiser and Sara is on hand to guide you further if you need more recommendations and I’m on hand to answer any technical questions in these comments sections on any relevant class. Cheers Karl.

  6. Hi Karl! Two lighting modifier questions for you:1: I shoot a lot of reflective objects in my studio and love working with gradient light. As per your suggestion, I picked up some Lee gel diffusion a few years back and that’s really smoothed things out compared to scrim cloths I had been using. Now I’m in the market for a good strip box to really control fall off. Do you think I should go with a 1×6 or 1×4 strip? Again, mostly for creating gradient light on products like bottles or cosmetics but of coarse, I’d also incorporate it into fashion or larger product shoots as a rim light.

    2: what’s a good alternative to a pico light for labels? I’ve typically have to bring a small reflector into the shot and composite images when my set up isn’t hitting the label just right but would love to get it all in one frame. I shoot with profoto’s (b1s,b10s,a1s…) so a pico seems like a big jump for me. Alternatively, should I make that leap? How would it play with my other lights and what should I know? It’s such a specialty light that there’s really not a lot of people (other then you) talking about it.

    1. Hi Homeslice,
      1. The 1ft x 4ft (I think that’s the same as 120cm x 30cm) would be the one I go for but I’d also look at getting the masks that velcro on and make it thinner at the front. These strip boxes used through LEE scrims can create great gradients for more linear shaped products such as cosmetics and bottles and you will see me using this technique in many classes.
      2. The Pico Lite in conjunction with its projection attachment is the bit that is great for labels. Godox or someone does a similar projection attachment – you can see me using it in this previous live show and also check the comments below it – https://visualeducation.com/class/live-photography-workshop-creative-portrait-lighting-2-0/ other alternatives are home made snoots with grids but really the Picolite Projection is the best I’ve used, but keep in mind you would also need a broncolor pack to power the lamp head.
      Cheers Karl.

  8. Hi Karl, thanks for all of the great information on lighting modifiers. I have numerous artist friends (mostly painters) whose work I photograph using 2 2’x3′ softboxes positioned at 45 degrees to the subject. I clip linear polarizer sheets to the outside of the softboxes and use a linear polarizer filter on my lens to eliminate glare from the artwork surfaces. Overall I’ve been pleased with the results, but I’m always looking to improve my craft, and I’m curious if you have any suggestions for modifiers to use when photographing artwork. Thanks in advance! Matt

  9. Karl,

    Really enjoying your program and the way you share your knowledge. I’m trying hard to absorb the massive mount of information in each lesson. What would you recommend (lights/modifiers) for someone at an intermediate level wishing to establish a home studio. I recognize its a bit of a how long is a piece of string type of question but I will scale and priorities to available budget.

    Ian

    1. Hi Ian, the go to workhorse is always the Octabox 150, very versatile. Then for beauty a Focus 110 or 70cm silver beauty dish, for products and other stuff make your own scrims as described in our product section. Then a couple of standard reflectors with grids.

  10. thanks to you for the detailed video about the modifiers.

    Since I work with 2 systems (elinchrom brx + Speedlite from Canon) depending on the situation, an important question now arises for me.

    There are situations where I am more efficient and faster with the gliders and the Speedlites on site. I use a large deep umbrella. Now to the question: How do I position the Speedlight correctly, is there any experience of how the light changes. (I swing between straight into the umbrella with the furthest focal length setting in the system flash or alternatively upwards with the built-in white card).

    greatings from vienna

    1. Hi Adrian, your most efficient use of the speedlite should be straight into the umbrella with the speedlite set to it’s wide angle setting. The best way to confirm the spread of the light is to actually photograph the umbrella with it facing camera when the speedlite fires to examine the resulting spread of light across the surface of the umbrella.

  11. Have you ever had a chance to compare Broncolor Paras with the Parabolix from California? Or do you think they might offer one for comparison? They only make parabolic reflectors, so it seems like a promising parabolic for someone on a more restricted budget.

    1. I’ve heard they are pretty good and I hinted to them to send me one for review but nothing so far.

  12. Thanks Karl. Will do!
    As I do, however, please note that I am asking about calculating specs, in advance, that accompany modifiers like Paras (i.e. f/90 @ 2 m, fully focused)

    1. Hi Balance, most brands give their lights output specs based on a standard reflector like a P70 but I find these specs a bit hit and miss. The benchmark I suppose is simply the watts/sec or Joules stated, so for example an 800J lamp is one stop more powerful than a 400J lamp but again how accurate the brands are with their Joules is unknown. In terms of a calculation to convert a benchmark from a standard reflector to something like a Para then I’ve never seen that before and I would imagine there are too many variables for it to be reliable. If it’s any help 800J lamps are pretty good for most scenarios occasionally I need to use 1600J but these days with such good performance in ISO you can just increase the ISO one stop to get the extra light.

  13. Good Day Karl.
    (I’m not Aussie, but I realize part of why they may say that since I’m rarely in same time zone as people I write to).

    I hope this question finds you well and in good spirits (whether that’s a mood or a cocktail). I am writing here a bit prematurely because I don’t know if you already cover this here and I’m unable to access the “help” icon and don’t want to lose time while I figure out the issue in my side. I’m hoping that you can help me with my light science question:

    • I’m knowledgeable about waves and how they behave from my professional background in acoustics. Light has many similarities, so I’m not afraid of the math or anything like that.

    Q: I’d like some guidance on the proper way to calculate light power and light intensity values with & without modifiers, but this likely applies for head, modifier combinations. Like with sound, the info needed to really understand the performance of a modifier/light combination is often omitted (partially in order to not confuse laymen).

    • I understand inverse square and that the answer will vary. Knowing this will help me prepare for productions in advance, make informed equipment decisions and comparisons, be more creative and the like.

    If context helps, I work in architectural photography and environmental portraiture.

    1. Hello Balance, thanks for joining us. Yes there are many similarities with sound waves and light but there are also many differences. Many of the answers you are looking for are covered in this section and I would encourage you to watch chapters 1. 3. 4 and 6. – https://visualeducation.com/section/lighting-theory-and-equipment/ measuring light does require either a light meter or a tethered screen setup to measure RGB values. The inverse square law and the effective power of light are (as with sound) affected greatly by the ‘transmitter’ shape and I’m sure you’ll be familiar with the use of Parabola’s in sound, Inverse square law does apply to light but it varies slightly based on the type of modifier used, the more effective the modifier (parabolic) the less the law applies. You should also find these two posts interesting – https://visualeducation.com/parabolic-softbox-vs-octabox-lighting-comparison/ and this one useful – https://visualeducation.com/parabolic-lighting-photography/

  15. Hello Karl, If I have situation that choosing Octa or soft box, what is key standard of choice? what is the most important requisite of making a decision ? it’s just a result what I want to make?

    1. Hi, Personally the most useful softbox to anyone (assuming they have the space) is the biggest one. This is because a bigger one is most versatile in providing you the softest light and you can also mask it down to make it smaller if needed. The Octa 150 is a good allrounder because it’s big, relatively shallow in depth and almost round shape which is good for catchlights in the eyes. It can be used for people, products, food and fashion.

  17. Hi Karl, just a tip if you can, i have to take some e-commerce shots, which diffuser would you suggest for leather goods as table mats, place mats and some sort of small blankets, some of them have reflective surface.
    Thanks

    1. Hi Davide, I’m afraid that’s almost impossible to answer because I light based on knowing the product, it’s texture, the mood you wish to convey etc. But as you said e-commerce I’m guessing a small Octa 75cm will suffice or through and overhead scrim but I’d probably add a small harder light from the middle of the same direction of the soft light just to pick up a bit of the texture, test each light separately to work out the balance of the two lights.

  18. Absolutely loving the attention to detail in all of these courses. Im coming from a film background and am now pursuing photography as a secondary income.

    Can i ask what Giraffe Boom set up that is? Moving in to a new studio space this week and need to order one in 😀

    Thanks!

    1. Hi, thank you and glad you are enjoying them. I’ll check on the giraffe boom but usually you will find an equipment list on the lower right that details all items used in each module.

  20. Hi Karl, love your work as always! I’m using the siros and wondering generally speaking when using with a softbox (or para which I have on order) if I am fine to simply set my white balance at 5500 or would the softbox/para alter it in studio situation? Also would mixing bron and chimera softboxes cause mixes of WB and cause me problems too? Of course for very high end would use a color checker to make 100% sure but am more thinking generally speaking.

    1. Hi Cameron, Yes all softboxes will give a slightly different colour balance to silver reflectors such as Paras. Even some silver umbrellas can look a bit bluer than others. I find softboxes usually look a bit warmer. There’s not much you can do other than colour balance to which ever is the most dominant light. The flash out put from bron (bare bulb) is actually around 5800-6000K.

  21. It would appear that you tend to favor a darker exposure that does not fill the histogram. Is this simply your creative tendency for this type of subject or across most subjects? Are there situations or with certain subjects where you prefer a lighter-biased image?

  22. I guess this is one of the paramount lessons that we amateurs have always wanted to know about: studio lights and all its contraptions.

    Thank you Mr. Taylor for that comprehensive insight into studio lighting setups!

    Cheers!

  23. Hello Karl,

    A few weeks ago I had an opportunity to try out one of your lighting suggestions. Namely, to use a horizontally-aligned 1×3 strip box for a close-up portrait. I did this outside in brilliant sunlight, with the strip box about a foot or two away from the subject’s face, at full intensity (an 800 W/S Siros L). Speaking of which, that was another of your suggestions, to put softboxes close to the subject. The result was a great-looking portrait that I am happy with. It had another result as well, and that is why I am writing now.

    After taking that photo and seeing the result, all of my photos look different to me. Now, I think I am more sensitive to what “three-dimensional lighting” means. Until I took this shot, I don’t think I quite understood what it looked like. It’s one thing to see it in professionally made images by experienced photographers, because almost all of those photos will have this quality, making it hard to see what it looks like when it isn’t present.

    Armed with this new shot as a comparative, it has become increasingly easy to see lighting problems in my shots. For instance, I did a series of portraits of fire men and EMT workers last week. Most came out well, but a group taken inside an ambulance have been bothering me for days as I try to figure out how to edit them to salvage the images. My “3D” strip box illuminated portrait came to mind and I suddenly saw that the ambulance lighting was washed out and flat. Short of painting in the detail by hand, the images did not have the raw information needed to deliver the shots I wanted.

    My question is this: would you consider making a video where you discuss a gradient of lighting effects, from flat to 3D (or whatever) to help subscribers understand what to look for in their own work when trying to determine whether the photos contain enough information to be worth retouching?

    1. Hi Apaq, very glad to hear that it’s working out for you and you are discovering these things with the help of our platform. I will certainly keep in mind your suggestion on discussing lighting in this way.

  24. Hello Karl! Thank your for these helpful videos!

    I wanted to ask, since I am a beginner and currently into food photography: can I use a speedlight with a softbox or an umbrella? What would you recommend best for food photography lighting?

    Thank you!

    Marlein

    1. Hi, Yes as a first choice I’d use your speedlite with a softbox, preferably something quite large like a 150 octabox to replicate natural window light well.

  25. Well Karl, I think it is safe to say that this course will end up saving a lot of people a l out of money. As a beginner you have the tendency to go out and buy them all, only to realise one year later that you didn’t use half of them. Good for me that I have my external conscience (wife)putting a brake on my purchasing.. haha thanks Karl, great course!

  26. Thank you Karl for these great lessons. You should really call it Karl’s University of Photography.

  27. Hi, congratulations on the lessons can only be upgraded. I like shooting with flash and I want to shoot mostly with sharp lighting what is your opinion on OCF Magnum Reflictor? And whether 400 or 600 should I choose?

    1. Hi, I’d choose 600 if you can. I don’t know the reflector you are talking about I’m afraid.

  28. Hi Karl, Really enjoying your classes – so much valuable information with such a friendly, accessible presentation. You are a great teacher! I shoot mostly dance and defining the three dimensional, sculptural shaping of the body is key. From the look of these demonstrations, the silver umbrella and the deeper (Focus 110) umbrella would seem to be best – I like the heightened clarity they give. What do you think? Thanks, Jim

    1. Thank you. Yes my favourite sculpting modifier is the Para 133 but the focus 110 is a very good economical alternative.

  29. Hi Karl,

    I’m primary shoot lifestyle work. Mostly my shoots are outside but occasionally shoot inside. My question is, if you have to pick one or two of these modifiers what would you choose?

    Thanks
    Nick

    1. Hi Nick, If you had the budget I’d go with the Para133 as it’s very versatile. Otherwise I’d definitely have an Octa 150, a beauty dish, a deep focus 110 and several honey comb grids and standard reflectors.

  30. First of all, thank you so much for an incredible wealth of information presented very logically. One quick question; assuming a sturdy and solid light stand, do you think using a Siros 800L flash head with the Para 133 would be a problem, given the weight of the Siros? Is the focussing tube strong enough to carry the weight of the light and the required adapter? Many thanks and have a great evening!

    Best wishes,
    Joe

    1. Hi Joe, broncolor have designed the Para’s to take any Siros no problem but yes you have to be careful with the stand that it doesn’t tip over so I highly recommend very sturdy stands and sandbags on the stands.

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