Modifier for hair light

What type of modifier do you experts normally use for the hair light?
Barn door? A grid? A snoot? A softbox or brolly box?

On FM "Show me your studio" topic I saw some people use grids with a flash on a boom.
Others use softboxes.
But I don't know which way is the right way.

>>some people use grids with a flash on a boom.Others use softboxes.
But I don't know which way is the right way. <<

Grids over reflectors make the light very directional...a bit like sunbeam coming thru a small window. Softboxes make light which is more non-directional...somethin​g like overcast day light coming thru a large window. The two simply create different looks.

I do a lot of location business portraits and I use two monolights for Main and Fill. But my hairlight is a Vivitar 283.

I just use a simple light slave to trigger it, and the flash is powered by a Quantum One battery so I can go all day. I usually use a "twist-up" muslin backdrop with a single light stand for support. On top to that stand is the 283 mounted in what B&H calls an Umbrella Bracket. This bracket allows me to pivot the flash so the head (in the 90 degree position) is pointed at the subject. I have self adhesive Velcro on the top and both sides of the 283 and I place cardboards - also with Vecro - on the flash to flag it and protect me from flare.

The hairlight flash is always above and directly behind the subject & I've never had a problem with the light hitting the subject's cheek, or other problems a hairlight off to one side can cause. That position also provides a very nice background separation light for the subject's shoulders.

The three cardboards are therefore a snoot of sorts, and for me they work very well. They're small, they fold up flat, and when I lose them (and I will, sigh ...) they're easily and cheaply replaced.

I use a barndoor on my strobe. My modeling light lets me see exactly where I've placed it.

Dear RT
Each light modifier has it’s own pluses and minuses. For me, it’s all about being in full control over the quality and quantity of the light. A barn door provides control unlike other hair lights for some specific reasons. The main one is that it is a mechanical device. The advantage to this is that whatever you do to change the light for the modeling bulb, changes the strobe output inprecisely the same way. The modeling bulb and the strobe tube are right there together so change effect both equially. The main advantage for this is that you get what you see. This is a fundamental choice that enables one to become a great image maker faster because the image making is all visual without relying on meters to decide what is too much or what is not enough light. Getting what you see allows you to be the artist without guessing or hoping that it “turns out good”. Being able to get what you see with all of your lights at the same time, makes photography a total joy. I couldn’t imagine guessing. Also, I should point out that using barn doors allows you to place light on your subjects with great precision. When you close the doors down to a small slit, it's quite easy to direct the light precisely where you want it.

A barn door is totally controllable in the quantity of light that reaches the subject. Open the doors up all the way and 100% of the light’s output is available. Close the doors completely and zero light will be available. You can imagine that there are an unlimited number of incremental changes between these two extremes. No other hair light modifier offers this much control. For those who would say to simply turn up or down the “volume” control on their monolights, the problem is that the change in strobe output is not linear with the output of the modeling bulb which means that you will not get what you see once you begin changing the output with the control knob. Modeling bulbs are reduced in output by lowering the AC voltage. When you do this, the light becomes less bright but it also changes color. First to yellow, then to orange followed by red, brown and then no light at all. Doing this linearly with the strobe output has never been a practical thing to do because as you reduce the strobe output, less and less modeling light is available to see by. When using a set of barn doors, the modeling light and the strobe remain at full intensity. Changes are made siimply by opening and close the doors. It’s very simple and totally relyable because it’s a mechanical, physical change you are making.

I enjoy grid spots very much but rarely for hair light because unlike barn doors they have no mechanical control mechanism other than pointing them away from the subject. They are great for spotlighting the face or a specific part of an image but they do not afford much control when used as a hair light.

Snoots are my least favorite device because they are not like a grid spot that directs a beam of light to a limited area and they have no control over the amount of light that they provide. They are just tube that sort of directly the light to a general area. There is very little control so this is my very least favorite device to use as a hair light. I always tell my students to take their snoots and nail them down to a piece of wood and use them to plant ivy in.

While soft boxes of any kind provide a very pleasing quality of the light and can be useful for lighting several subjects at the same time, it still has the same limitation of control over both the strobe output and modeling bulb output at the same time so you get what you see.

If I have to provide hair light for a group of people such as a family of 7, I will point my barndoors upward toward the ceiling over the subjects and slightly behind them. The ceiling is painted white and because the hair light is lighting a very large area over the group, each person receives a very similar amount of soft, beautiful hair light. Once again the amount of light is easily controlled by the use of barn doors. Open for more light - close for less light. If the ceiling is too high to bounce off of effectively, then it’s relatively simple to suspend a piece of white foam core over the group to function as the reflector for the hair light.
I hope this is helpful to you,
Best regards,

I use a 16x22 inch softbox with a grid. The box gives a more even highlight on the hair, and the grid keeps light from spilling onto the rest of the figure or causing flare in the camera lens.