Barn doors or snoot?

Could someone kindly explain to me the pros and cons of barn doors versus a snoot when used, for instance, as a hair light in portraiture - or any other situation where you want a tightly controlled light? It seems that a snoot gives a tighter light, while barn doors are more versatile. Any advice please?

I don't know much about them but here's some reading for you from folks who seem to know.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=273380

Thanks for the link, Dave.

They both have their purposes... but with a barn door, I found that a 4 panel version works much better than a 2 panel version for controlling light. With a 4 panel barn door you can squeeze down the light pretty much all the way down maintaining a squarish shape to the light. With a 2 panel version, you can close it down but the light is still going to be in a slit shape.

Mike

Mike - do you think that barn doors control the light better than a snoot?

I use barn doors extensively. They provide greater control and more flexibility than snoots. A snoot has one size and quality of light. That's it. With barn doors you can have 100% of the light of 1% of the light. With a 4 leaf barn door you can adjust both vertical and horizontal aperture which means you can also create a nice column of light. I have 2 sets of barn doors and plan on getting a third. Like any modifier you have to get used to using them but once you do they are wonderful devices.

Roy, for flexibility in controlling the light, yes, I think barn doors work better. But it depends on what you are trying to do. I've used my snoot (with and without the honeycomb grid attached) to provide light to a very percise area. Snoots are good for this. For instance, putting a given amount of light on a specific part of a flower. The barn doors would do this but they are bigger and clunkier and take a bit more playing with to get the light right. A snoot on the other hand, focuses down the light and all I had to do was point it to where I wanted and move it in and out to get the beam of light I wanted. I have also used my snoot with aluminum foil over the front and then put a pencil hole in the foil to get an even tighter mroe controlled beam of light.

One thing to watch out for with a barn door and even more so with a snoot, is heat build up. I don't leave my modeling light on the whole time when I'm using a snoot. Just long enough to place the light. And I don't flash rapidly either. The snoot is very confineing and all that heat produced by the modeling light and flash tube can build up really quickly if you don't let it cool.

They both have their places, though I've probably used the barn doors a bit more than the snoot.

Here is a shot where I used the snoot behind the subject ...

Hi Mike,

Very nice examples. Good to see other people using barn doors and knowing how to use them.

Robert and Mike - thanks so much for the information and advice. I think that, between you, you have given me the answer I wanted. i just love this forum!

Thanks Robert and you are welcome Roy. Have fun with them.

Mike