Four Light Studio: What is the ideal modifier for each?

For portraits in your studios, what modifier(s) do you find to be best suited for the common roles of key, fill, background and accent lights?

I would think that the fill modifier should have an even intensity of light, so something with a grid?

For key, is a large modifier best? Is diffused or collimated light desired here?

For two background lights? I'm guessing that something to avoid spill and thus flare would be ideal here.

For accent, would one look for a narrow beam? A small grid or a snoot?

Granted, there are many different types of setups so there is no perfect modifier. But perhaps when answering you can specify what type of shot you have in mind.

I'm sorry to say that all of your questions can have multiple answers and no one answer is the right one.

Far too many variables to just give a simple answer.

ALL the answers will depend on what you shoot, were you shoot, the size of the space, the size of the subject area, ceiling height, your own lighting preferences, likes and dislikes, and your budget.

If you could be more specific and give us some more detail it would help us to help you.

TMR Design wrote in post #12271650
I'm sorry to say that all of your questions can have multiple answers and no one answer is the right one.

Far too many variables to just give a simple answer.

ALL the answers will depend on what you shoot, were you shoot, the size of the space, the size of the subject area, ceiling height, your own lighting preferences, likes and dislikes, and your budget.

If you could be more specific and give us some more detail it would help us to help you.

Ok, let's start with this scenario. A head/shoulders portrait of an individual. White background. 20 x 30 foot room with 12' ceilings. Oblique pose. Disregard budget.

Also, how about a full body shot of a couple sitting on a chair/couch. Same room dimensions. This time with a black background.

Your answers still only cover a tiny fraction of what's needed to accurately answer you question.

Things like mood and feel are critical. Do you want soft light, specular, hard emotional lighting....the questions, and answers are endless.

I would suggest, for a four light set, which is really over doing it for a first studio, make sure you can soften two of them a good bit (main and fill) with a softbox, octabox, PLM socked, however you feel. Then make sure you can direct two of them with grids on the reflectors for rim and hair. Be able to block light with gobos, etc... A good reflector or two is nice to have around. Studry stands to keep them all solid. Small backlight stand. Boom arm for rim, hair, and many other uses. Beauty dish if you want that look.

Four lights for a first studio is a LOT.
I just set one up with three and it's a lot. I can go with two and a reflector and do nicely.

Make sure you have the power to light that space if you are going to do larger shots also.

You can always start with a couple lights and add on as you need.

Light and modifier resources for photographers are like gas and altitude for pilots. More is better.
Some sessions you will be able to do a great job with one light and a reflector. Another job you may find you want 5 or more lights and modifiers ranging from a snoot to an 8 foot translucent panel.

If money is no object still start with one or two lights and let your vision dictate what you want to add to your kit.

Yup, there is no ideal modifier for every situation, every situation is different... But in general this is what I LIKE as a 4 light..

Key - 22" BD or Large Octa
Fill/Rim - Stripboxes
Background - bare with grids

In "GENERAL", I typically use the following.....

MAIN LIGHT: 7' Octadome - 4'x6' SoftBox - 4' Octadome - 24" Beauty Dish (These are my main lighting modifiers)
FILL LIGHT: 99% of the time I use a 6'x6' or 4'x4' Scrim Jim Refelctor and never an actual "Fill Light"
HAIR LIGHT: 1'x3' Strip with Grid
RIM LIGHT #1 3'x4' SoftBox with Grid (I'll use a rim 99% of the time)
RIM LIGHT #2 3'x4' SoftBox with Grid (I'll use a second rim 50% of the time)
BACKGROUND LIGHT: Sometimes gridded - sometimes with color gels - sometimes in front of the background material - sometimes behind the background material

Of course, it all depends on who I'm shooting and what it's for.....
But in "general", this is what I use.

@David - Great analogy! That made me think of my wife who paints. She's got a wide assortment of brushes, knives, sponges, etc. to create her paintings. So yes, more is better because there will come a time when she wants to acheive a certain loook that may require a specific tool. If she does not have it, she cannot achieve that look.

However, when she is starting on the first layer she will almost always use a larger brush. Why? Perhaps because it applies the paint more evenly over the large areas. My point is that there's some logic behind that choice of tool. For someone who is learning to create a basic portrait with a key, fill, rim and background in a common pose, I would think that there's a specific reason to choose a snoot over a softbox for a rim light, for example.

@Kevin & @ Mark - Thanks for your general examples. Just what I'm looking for. If you don't mind, can you give some reasoning that led you to select each of those?

@Keith - Thanks for your suggestions:

Kechar wrote in post #12272430
I would suggest, for a four light set, which is really over doing it for a first studio, make sure you can soften two of them a good bit (main and fill) with a softbox, octabox, PLM socked, however you feel. Then make sure you can direct two of them with grids on the reflectors for rim and hair.

You mention both 'soft' and 'directed' light in your post. I understand in portraits, having a large diffused light source is a great choice for the main because its job is to create a smooth gradient from shadow to highlight to simulate 3D in a 2D photo. This is what you mean by soft light, correct?

However, if the job of the fill is to simply raise the shadows to the point where the sensor can capture them - preferrable without noise - then would a large non-diffused source work in this role, since the light pattern that it gives should be even and not 'interfere' with the pattern of the main?

dmward wrote in post #12274322
Light and modifier resources for photographers are like gas and altitude for pilots. More is better.
Some sessions you will be able to do a great job with one light and a reflector. Another job you may find you want 5 or more lights and modifiers ranging from a snoot to an 8 foot translucent panel.

If money is no object still start with one or two lights and let your vision dictate what you want to add to your kit.

David, my vision has me fixated on four light sources, but rest assured I will be learning incrementally, adding more after I've mastered less. But part of the reason that I started this thread is to buy one 'ideal' modifier for each light source to eliminate mutliple modifiers as I learn. That way, when the lighting in the picture turns out to be too flat and unrealistic, I'm not wondering if it's because my fill was too powerful or if I used an ungridded softbox vs a gridded one.

Sure, more modifiers are better but I think I'll start with some basics.

frugivore wrote in post #12271719
Ok, let's start with this scenario. A head/shoulders portrait of an individual. White background. 20 x 30 foot room with 12' ceilings. Oblique pose. Disregard budget.

Also, how about a full body shot of a couple sitting on a chair/couch. Same room dimensions. This time with a black background.

Do you like circular or octagonal catchlights? Do you prefer soft diffused light to hard contrasty light?

There's probably a reason you're going with four lights too? Typically, I think people see or read four lights in tandem with a sort of image they like or style they want to recreate; is this the case? If you have an image, you could throw the link up...

Otherwise it seems very arbitrary to me, which is okay too, but you'll also receive some very arbitrary answers...

TMR Design wrote in post #12277366
Do you like circular or octagonal catchlights? Do you prefer soft diffused light to hard contrasty light?

I prefer circular catchlights to others, but I don't find that factor in portraits to be anywhere near as important as the light patern on the subject itself. Perhaps for headshots this would be a higher priority.

When it comes to the range of light intensity on a subject, that would depend on the emotional impact that I"m trying to create. But whether the midtone to highlight has small range or a large one, I would want the gradient itself to be gradual. I believe that would bring more reality to the picture. And I think that can be achieve with both diffused and collimated light sources.

gradual gradients generally mean larger light sources for a softer light overall, or a faraway light source for less fall off from the inverse square law. I'm much more a fan of the former. I love softboxes for the quality of light they emit and for the ability to shape and control light. My 4 lights usually include a larger softbox for a key light (2' x 3' or so), with 1-2 kickers in the way of gridded strip softboxes (1' x 3') and a snooted/gridded/barndo​ored hair light/background light.

Personally, I think you're overthinking this a bit and jumping way ahead of yourself. Not that the minute details aren't important, but if you're not seeing the light then it's hard to talk about in this type of abstract way and have it mean much.

I think it's in your best interest to get one light modifier to start. It could be the one you 'think' is well suited for your main light. Begin lighting people. Get test subjects. Get a mannequin. Take lots of photos and look at light. Create soft diffused light. Pull the light back and watch as the apparent size relative to the subject, gets smaller and how the quality of light changes. Take that same modifier and place it 24 inches from your subject and just out of frame and make the same observations. Remove a layer of diffusion and study that light. Learn to feather light and watch how it affects your subject lighting and your background lighting. Get a feel for how powerful a single light source is before adding three more and throwing light around the room. Add a grid and gain more control. Turn a rectangular softbox from vertical orientation to horizontal. The list is endless but to really understand which modifiers are for you and what they'll do for you it makes sense to first learn about light and light control in the most basic way.

We could each rattle off the list of modifiers we love or feel are a must for our work and it could mean nothing to you. Build a lighting and light modifier kit slowly and carefully. There's nothing that says that just because I love gridded strip boxes, that you're going to love them. There's nothing that says that you're going to like the blend of soft diffused light and specular contrasty light as I do.

Ok, there.. I said it.

Food for thought.

TMR Design wrote in post #12277801
Ok, there.. I said it.

Food for thought.

Eloquently and clearly stated. It's definitely best to purchase one modifier at a time and truly learn what types of light it produces and its range. It's just like learning a language; you build in blocks.