Honeycombs: use them how? When?

I read something on (I think it was) Strobist about using a honeycomb light modifier and how you could build your own.

So I did, I built one for my flash unit and it seems to work well. Not having ever seen one in action before, I can only assume it's working right.

Unmodifed flash

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Hi David,

Honeycomb grids are used to create directional light which gives you more control and greater isolation. I shot the images below using a 10°spot grid as the main light source.

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TMR Design wrote in post #6016087
Hi David,

You've probably also seen many portraits and head shots with a very nice rounded spot of light behind the subject. Quite often this is done using a 30° or 40° spot grid to control the spread.

Thanks for the reply. When you mention the degree in conjunction with the honeycomb, do you mean the degree of spread or is it a reference to a specific angle on the honeycomb chambers? If it is the degree of light spread, is that vertical or horizontal (or both)?

I was thinking it would be useful for dramatic lighting but I didn't think about using it for background lighting. I can see where that would be handy.

I am guessing that it would be useful for, say, a hair light as well? Something to bring out some highlights without causing dramatic shadows?

The number of degrees specified on any grid is the spread or the angle of coverage once leaving the grid. For instance, a standard reflector for a strobe might be 90 degrees. A wide angle reflector may have a 135 degree spread. I have a set of 4 spot grids. 10, 20, 30 and 40 degrees. This gives me the ability to do near or far lighting and have the degree of control I need.

Anything you can think of where you would want to narrow the spread and have control is perfect for grids. So yes, a spot grid works very nicely for specifc types of hair lights.

Fabric grids are also available for softboxes, octaboxes and strip lights. They do the exact same thing and spot grids.

Ah, I think that makes sense. So it is a degree of dispersion, in a cone, from the light source.

Have you ever used a grid on a portable flash like a 430 or are they typically used on studio-style flash units?

The one I made (hey, I was bored!) is for my standard flash and it provides a significant reduction in both intensity and degree of dispersion (as can be seen by the samples above.)

I haven't made or used grids on portable flash units but the concept is the same and there's no reason not to do it if you need grids. A snoot is another alternative. I know Lumiquest makes a snoot for portable flash and you can of course DIY a snoot for practically nothing. It's a very common DIY.

TMR Design wrote in post #6016508
I haven't made or used grids on portable flash units but the concept is the same and there's no reason not to do it if you need grids. A snoot is another alternative. I know Lumiquest makes a snoot for portable flash and you can of course DIY a snoot for practically nothing. It's a very common DIY.

I made the snoot, and stuck the grid in the end of it (removeable) just because I had never messed with either of those items before. That is why my light was so attenuated.

This is just my first foray into more advanced light modifiers. Up to now, it has been flash, bounce, diffuser and white cards. Now I want to experiment with other, less common and more creative modifiers.

Excuse the mess! These were taken in my second studio shoot ever, so I'm by no means and expert but these were achieved with the honeycomb grid mounted to a short light stand placed behind the subject, pointed towards the background:

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TMR Design wrote in post #6016087
Hi David,

Honeycomb grids are used to create directional light which gives you more control and greater isolation. I shot the images below using a 10°spot grid as the main light source.

^ Cool shot TMR Design! I need to experiment. You were the one who helped me make the great decision to get a set of grids that I've been using.

SteveNC wrote in post #6016565
Excuse the mess! These were taken in my second studio shoot ever, so I'm by no means and expert but these were achieved with the honeycomb grid mounted to a short light stand placed behind the subject, pointed towards the background:

Elinchrom D-Lite 4's with 8.25" Reflector and Honeycomb grid on the backlight (not sure which grid I used in these photos but it was either 8, 10, 20 or 30).

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Thanks for the example... that is a neat backlighting effect. Like I said above, I hadn't considered using it that way, but it makes perfect sense (especially after seeing yours!)

SteveNC wrote in post #6016565
Excuse the mess! These were taken in my second studio shoot ever, so I'm by no means and expert but these were achieved with the honeycomb grid mounted to a short light stand placed behind the subject, pointed towards the background:

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Love the bag of oranges as a counter weight!

Haha, yeah I had 34 people coming that day and I totally forgot I needed some kind of counterweight and when I opened the fridge and saw that nice heavy bag of fruit I knew I was golden. The hairlight didn't really work out anyway since I didn't quite know what I was doing. I'll figure it out though!

SteveNC wrote in post #6016572
^ Cool shot TMR Design! I need to experiment. You were the one who helped me make the great decision to get a set of grids that I've been using.

Glad to have helped. I absolutely love spot grids and keep finding more uses for them.

Steve- Nice use of the Magic Arm there. Did you buy it for this purpose or was it just thrown into a creative use that day?

I actually got it the day before and I REALLY wanted to use it. I admit that it was overkill for simple headshots, but it actually worked well for making quick adjustments for short/tall folks. There was one person coming in every 10-15 minutes and I was by myself so it really was clutch! I haven't had a chance to play much with it, but I'm pretty sure that arm is my new favorite piece of gear.