Ring Flash...

Wilt wrote in post #12375691
Thanks, Dave.

The ring flash (version used for fashion or magazine avant garde shots, not the version used for macro illumination) is.....the subject when the diameter of the ring flash is relatively large (>20"), and also creates the very distintive catchlights in the eyes.

Was all this directed at me, or for general knowledge?

dave63 wrote in post #12376451
Was all this directed at me, or for general knowledge?

Just general knowledge and understanding. Since some folks like a particular appearance/styling in a ringlight photo, understanding of what contributes to that appearance helps folks understand why a little 8-10" device will not necessarily replicate what they like to see.

ABR800 with 30" moon unit and star-shaped cut-out...

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Ok. Honestly, I kept reading that and thinking to myself "Now, why would he think I didn't see these things?" LOL
Sorry.

It did give me the thought to try and maybe find a larger Bundt pan, for my next ring project, though.

Are you[people or general] using ringlight with a reflector or without?

Without. Ringlight is generally its own effect, chosen for that effect.

dave63 wrote in post #12377386
Without. Ringlight is generally its own effect, chosen for that effect.

Why i see some photographers using that ringlight with kind of reflector? I have Profoto ringlight and i saw some clips where the shooters using it with reflector [white or silver], why they use reflector if the ringflash produces its own effect and not necessary to use reflector?

Their artistic vision. No fixed rules, here, but a ringlight has its own look, and it's a very recognizable look - something in between a candid and a studio environment - and generally when someone chooses to use a ringlight its mostly for that particular effect.
That doesn't mean it's wrong to use a reflector, or even right to use one. It just means that whatever shooter you saw using one, was choosing to use a reflector to modify the way the light falls on the subject, for whatever vision he/she had.

dave63 wrote in post #12378855
Their artistic vision. No fixed rules, here, but a ringlight has its own look, and it's a very recognizable look - something in between a candid and a studio environment - and generally when someone chooses to use a ringlight its mostly for that particular effect.
That doesn't mean it's wrong to use a reflector, or even right to use one. It just means that whatever shooter you saw using one, was choosing to use a reflector to modify the way the light falls on the subject, for whatever vision he/she had.

Great, now i saw that this Profoto ringlight has 3 different reflectors, which one to use for portraits and studio???

Oh, wait... my mistake. I thought you were referring to an accessory, like a 5-in-1 reflector, or somethin'. No, I see what you meant, now. I get it.
Yeah, the reflector - the one you're talking about that goes behind the actual tube, and stuff - that changes the quality of light. White is generally softer, silver produces a 'crisper' light with a little more contrast, a little more 'pop'.
On my DIY, I painted the inside of the Bundt pan the purest, whitest, damned white I could find. The outside was the flattest, deepest black I could find. Both in spray can. Then I baked the pan in a production oven for a few hours at a low temp. I went with white because I knew I wasn't going to get it shiny silver on the inside and even if I did, it might be uneven, which would have left hot spots.

dave63 wrote in post #12380505
Oh, wait... my mistake. I thought you were referring to an accessory, like a 5-in-1 reflector, or somethin'. No, I see what you meant, now. I get it.
Yeah, the reflector - the one you're talking about that goes behind the actual tube, and stuff - that changes the quality of light. White is generally softer, silver produces a 'crisper' light with a little more contrast, a little more 'pop'.
On my DIY, I painted the inside of the Bundt pan the purest, whitest, damned white I could find. The outside was the flattest, deepest black I could find. Both in spray can. Then I baked the pan in a production oven for a few hours at a low temp. I went with white because I knew I wasn't going to get it shiny silver on the inside and even if I did, it might be uneven, which would have left hot spots.

I see, yes, i was referring to the ringlight reflector, not that we use to bounce light as 5-in-1.
I have the white one, i used it 1 time [few shots] on my daughter, i didn't like the result as it gave me a weird kind of isolation or halos around my daughter, not sure if the silver will give same effect, but i will give it more test and see if i can get better look/result out of it.

I found this one a short while ago, while going through some files. Shot during a recording session I was working on, November '09.

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

Does anyone have a sample shot of the DIY ringlight?

This was shot with the Ray Flash adapter. In the short time I owned it I came to the conclusion that it was good for fill and questionable as a main light source.

I like it on this type of shot but it is a small source and while you can get the uniform shadow around the subject at close range and working close to the background, it's VERY difficult to get the classic ring catch light and to me, that's a big part of the effect and attraction of a ring flash.

For certain types of run and gun shooting I could see it being nice but it's so limiting because of the power and light consumption.