We will first start by knowing them (2cm and 5cm).
On the above picture you can see the effect that each one produce when banged against a white wall, this is purely straighten right from the SB-26's flashes with the Black Straws Snoot Grid attached, both with the same power and the same distance to the wall.
You can see the difference between the 5cm straws on the left side that produces a small beam and the 2cm straws on the right with a larger. Take a closer look at the fall off of the light on both of them since it's the same and it produces a round circle even with a home made square Grid.
You can make them the size you want, these two I think work great and are very small sized and portable, you can fit them nicely on your bag.
What shot's can you produce with this kind of gear?
Here are some examples I took with a friend model ;) Remember that you can produce similar photos, in some cases, with just one umbrella but these one's were created with the purpose to show you what you can accomplish with this kind of light.
This shot has the 2cm snoot on the right to create some background and detail on the wall and the 5cm towards my face.
This produces a nice fall off on the face without contaminating the background and the shoulders could obtain some separation produced by the 2cm snoot on the right. Kinda dark feeling!!
This one shows only the 2cm snoot on the right that creates the background as you can see the shadowed detail on myself. This is a simple example, since you can move the light back or forward to create the effect you want... just try it by yourself.
This one is almost like the first shot except that I changed the position of the 2cm snoot (closer to the wall) on the right side giving the background a small halo behind my back. The 5cm snoot now covers a bigger part of the models face since I also moved it closer to me.
On this one the lights did not move only I changed the position of my face to create a different kind of look. This is difficult when you are trying to get a picture of yourself and in focus and manage the lights at the same time... sorry no assistant here.
I cached only the light on the face. You can use this technique to illuminate part of a person or an object that you want to show detail. 5cm snoot from the left.
This shot has the 2cm snoot on the right to create some background and detail on the wall and the 5cm towards my face with proximity changed. You can see on this close up that the 5cm snoot produces a quick fall off of the light to the right side, the nose produces a shadow on the right and can be avoided (if you like) by turning, a little, the face of the model towards the light.
This shot has the 2cm snoot on the right for the background and detail on the wall and the 5cm upwards to my face. Kinda dark sinister creature ;)
Another example.
Now playing with coloring the flashes I took this shot with the 2cm snoot with an orange gel on the right and the 5cm towards my face with no gels.
You can play with this colored gels on the flashes and with the White Balance of your camera to create different kind of feelings and moods.
For a more technical composition and lightning visit the Strobist website link on the right side of my blog.
I think that with this short examples you get the feeling how this things work...
Keep in mind that you have to try them and get to know them.
This ends the part two of this two series of DIY: Black Straws Snoot Grid, hope you like them and until next time... keep up the good work.
Rui
DIY: Black Straws Snoot Grid (Part 1)
And also check the colored version.
