3. MODIFYING LIGHTLight modifiers fall into two basic groups: those that broaden light and those that concentrate light so that you can affect just one part of aphotograph. I use more light-broadening tools than light-concentrating tools, and I think most others do too. LIGHT-BROADENING TOOLS As mentioned in chapter 1, light that comes from the sun on an overcast day is soft and diffuse. The light rays come from many areas and angles, not just a POWERING UPMany modifiers, especially the lightbroadening type, reduce the output of the light, so it is good to have powerful strobes.small part of the sky. When we are working with artificial light sources, we use bulbs. By default, they produce a hard, more direct light. Fortunately, there are a number of tools available that we can use to modify that bulb light. Remember that simply using a light-broadening tool will not ensure that you achieve the effects you are after. If the tool is tiny and/or the modified light source is placed far from the subject, the source can still appear hard. For instance, a tiny softbox or umbrella, like the ones made for camera-mounted flash, placed 6 or 7 feet from the subject won do much for your shot if youe trying to produce soft light. Bare Bulbs. In certain situations, the strobe tube or quartz bulb, by itself, will be your best lighting tool. The advantage is that it spreads light everywhere. Because the light source is very small, it produces very hard light. It can be useful to aim a bare bulb into a corner of a room to bounce light backLeftpreading light with a diffuser doesn change the quality of light on the subject very much, as the light comes from the same direction. Right擮nly direct light was used to create this shot. A snoot was placed on the strobe to control the light.MODIFYING LIGHT 21
