Ab's videos are absolutely my favorite on Adorama TV. Always extremely concise, very well-thought-out, and packed with exactly the information that we were looking for when we clicked on the video.
I love the slow pace of this video which gives you the time to observe. My favorites are bounced via foamcore (the famous Brooklyn reflector, white side), white baking paper and silk bedsheets
I just clicked thumbs up even before opening the video because i know every upload from you is a masterpiece We cant get enough knowledge from, just keep them coming
Chapeau! (hats off!) - we would say with a French word, in my country. This is the kind of video that makes life easy. As an experienced photographer, you know what effect you want from diffusion, but still wonder which material will give that to you. Having gone through photography school, however, at the start of the video, you wonder if e.g. the effect of back-reflected-from-the-diffuser light is included in the methodology. Ab did perfect on all levels. Sincere compliments.
Thank you very much for this intensive testing. You need some motivation to get through nearly 30 Minutes of diffusion testing, but it is worth it. I really liked this part "What to watch out for when choosing a diffusion". It really helped to have an idea what to look out for. I´ve to spend some more time to choose my favourite....
Thank you, Benedikt. It was a lot to testing. I loved doing it. I appreciate the feedback. I try and go into a lot of detail when I do my videos on the Adorama Channel.
Such a great video and discussion and yet still just scratches the surface. I would need to look more closely still but a few that just caught my eye; Silent grid cloth, tough silk (vertical), tough spun, and plexi.
I like the half tough spun for contrasty scenes. The magic cloth for bright, soft scenes. I enjoy the look of that tough frost too. I liked the look of that light Opal frost on the glass. I really dig the spread of that Light Tough Rolux. The Light Grid Gloth had a very pleasing look here. That Tough Silk was super contrasty. Interesting that it has just slivers of light on the glass. I like it! Look at that colour shift on the soft frost! And the colour shift from Bleach to Unbleach Muslin. That's crazy! I actually really like how the clear shower curtain reflected off the glass. Great content Ab. One of the most in-depth videos on diffusion I've ever seen. Absolutely fantastic.
Thank you so much Brad. My top 2 are the Full Grid and the Half Soft frost and I love the plexi as well for some still-life applications when I need something just a bit more rigid. But depending on the application this could all change. Love your input and feedback.
This man is a wealth of knowledge! I'm very lucky to have stumbled on this video; I'm kind of feeling that a half grid is very close to magic close? If not identical... but also cheaper?
Great detailed review as always Ab! My go-to diffusion material is Lee 216W. Probably very similar to the Rosso Tough White Diffusion 216 you demonstrated. I often use it in the Profoto zoom II gel holder aimed at the background to add a soft glow around my subject. Thanks again!
Great Idea. Yes I love 216 as well. They are very similar, I believe they are manufactured to be as close to a match as possible especially given 216 popularity.
I use old strobes (Acute and Speedotron) and shoot still life for fun. I am a really big fan of diffusion and use plastic rolls (Heavy Savage Translum) on a 4x4 flat gel frame and grid cloth on 5 foot rolls (1/4 1/2 and full). It provides large soft light without special gear for the older heads. Thanks for sharing this video.
Definitely learned. I have never used additional difusion other than what is in my modifiers soft box, strip box or octobox. I had seen it used in product photography but did not the depth and variety. What interested me was the beauty dish. I now have a space to play in and i will have to further my lighting knowledge with some test.
Wow, what an effort, what a reference... Stunning !!! thanks a lot! Plus - amazing work of the model, she must have been holding that pose for hours... My favorites at first glance would be: - Rosco 3004 - Half Density Soft Frost - Rosco 3032 - Light Grid Gloth - Rosco 3011 - Tough Silk (Vertical) - Rosco 216 - Tough White Diffusion still blown away...
Thank you Ronny, Yes it took an entire day to shoot and she was very patient. I did use the grid lines in the camera, and we had tape marks on the table to help maintain hand placement, and I was using a studio stand to make sure if the camera got bumped that it position didn't move. It was harder than it looks for sure.
👏. Thanks for all the work you've put into this. I'm saving this and will review it several times as preparation to do testing on what I currently use. My hunch it will enhance my ability to see other options. Thanks for sharing such a care process.
Well thought out and designed testing method. I really like the training in the beginning to show us what to look for, and the video segments of each product to apply that knowledge. I personally shoot tabletop products and still life when not wandering in the woods for landscapes. I have put this on my favorites and will be returning often when I have a specific "Look" in mind. Thanks
Hi Ab. Finally got time to watch yr video and it is great. I need to rewatch it now as my brain is spinning. I like a lot of them but the powder frost and the brushed silk are my picks.
In the end, an interesting advanced lighting video. I am sure it's just not me fed up with seeing the same things over and over for years... Thank you !
Interesting results. Thanks for taking the time to do such a comparison. I am not a pro, but it does give me a lot of information to start with when I start going out to get some of these. 🙂
WOW 😳 I was so ignorant!!!! Thank you very much. In the past I had mainly used "Savage Translum Medium Weight". Morning forward I will be more specific and try other materials.
This is an awesome video. Personally, I prefer the Rosco Heavy Frost, then Magic Cloth, then Bed Sheet. When diffusing, I generally prefer to flatten out the speculars as much as I reasonably can, then put that back in with a small specular light source between the diffusion and subject. It just provides easier control over the speculars and simplifies how many different diffusion materials I need to keep on hand. The Heavy Frost gives a nice middle ground if not going the additional specular source. Magic cloth is preferable over bedsheet as it just is more consistent in terms of color cast. You know what you're going to get, but a bedsheet works in a pinch.
Probably one of the best comments I have ever gotten. Adrian thank you so much. I love seeing the personal insights. We can all learn from each other. Plus adding in some tips of your own. I LOVE IT! Thank You, Thank Your, Thank You.
@@AbSesayPhoto You're welcome. People always wonder why I pack a couple of small speed lights with my big lights. It's so I can dial in a little bit of specular if I end up too flat on the main light. Whether I actually go there is another story, but a couple small speed lights is no big deal to have in a bag as long as they have optical triggers.
Hi Ab thanks for all the work you put into this very useful video. My favourite diffusions are a super small soft box, a large shoot through umbrella, I still own and use a Larson Reflectasol. Opaque plexiglass,. mirrors in a pinch new white bed sheets.I use an older Speedotron pack and heads. At one time I did a lot of motor oil product shooting. 😎👍🇨🇦
I'm gonna need a Rosco sampler pack! Let me narrow down my top 5 from my top 10 list and I will see you on the Twitch stream tonight! Great video as always, Ab!
Compliments in my other comment - as you say, "test, test, test", I suggest for photographers to test their light modifiers (soft boxes, deep parabolas, etc.) in two ways. (1) With the front diffuser plane at, say, 7 ft or 2m from a white wall, shoot at that wall and take photos from a distance in order to see what size the light circle is, from that diffuser. With 1 diffuser, with 2 diffusers, no diffuser. It helps for measurement of both flash pattern and size of flash-lit area to have some tape measure stuck to the wall, readable in the photograph. In an otherwise dark studio, the lit area will also reveal how vignetting evolves near the edges of the light output. If you use a strobe or speedlight with a hidden (built into a reflector) flash tube - e.g. Profoto - then I would also fire a couple test shots with different distances of the flash head sticking into the modifier. A flash meter in the center of the lit area can reveal the differences in efficiency between modifiers or their setup. (2) While (1) looks at the lit wall from behind the modifier, also shoot the other way around into the modifier for all cases without the font diffuser. You will see that without diffusers (baffles) in the modifier, some strobes/speedlights, depending on how far they are stuck into the modifier, do not bounce their light off the sides of the modifier at all - meaning that you might as well have done without that modifier. Or to turn this negativity around, it teaches you how to benefit from the modifier. If you use umbrellas, make sure to do both these tests too, especially with shoot-through ones as these test shots reveal what part of the umbrella you actually are using (because flash angle and distance to umbrella). You may feel this helps so much that you would repeat the test before or during each shoot. If you shoot with speedlights designed for on-camera use, these tests are also very important and must include flash angle settings, as well as the use of the flip-on/off diffuser for very wide angles and the use of a diffuser dome - as the latter two may help you mimic the effect of a naked flash tube found on real professional strobes - e.g. broncolor. Test #1 may make you aware that the light blob on the wall is pretty much the same between all modifiers. The difference will be in the hardness of the light - in the sense of gradual versus delineated transition from directly lit, to shade over the subject. There's a third aspect that we can test in the (1) and (2) ways. While these (1) and (2) tests are valid in preparation of distance and size of modifier to the subject, they stay away from one other quality of light that is not generally understood well. This has to do with light being organised versus messed up, metaphorically speaking. The most messed up light - extremely diffused - is on a very cloudy and totally overcast day when there are no visible shades/shadows. We can use diffusion material on modifiers or by themselves as a way to try to copy that - partially or completely. Of course, when we are inside a building, there is a shade, but this very soft light retains its softness, as we can see in a portrait near a window. The light is totally different from, say, Northern light on a bright sunny day. The most organised light is from a laser. This may be followed by a "point source" without modifier and without bounce light. As we generally do not use either of these in photography, there's still the category of "focused light". As a child you may have walked around in the woods with a "flash light" and rotated its head. Well, that reflector is parabolic and by rotating the head, you move the reflector to where the light is focus or defocused. The lamp in the flash light is extremely close to a point source and when focused, the light traveling backward from the lamp is bounced forward. If we use a (deep) parabolic reflector as modifier, in order to benefit from the parabola, we need to focus the light source into the parabola's focal point (and remove all diffusion). As most strobes/speedlights do not really shine light backwards, we need to turn the light source around so it fires into the parabola from the focal point. Mathematically, a parabola has a focal point and all lines, from that focal point into the parabola, reflect as parallel lines forward where these lines are parallel to each other and parallel to the parabola's center symmetry line - so if your (deep) parabola has a perfect mirror finish and is a perfect parabola, and your light source is a point source in the focal point then the light coming out of the parabola should NOT follow the inverse square law because you have a perfectly parallel beam (like a lase, except the photons are not as organised as in laser light). As light sources, even the tiny lamp in your flash light, are not "point sources", as parabolas have no perfect mirror surface, as you may have problems finding the exact focal point, as your so-called parabola may not actually be a parabola mathematically, and as the air molecules disperse light, you end up with much less parallel, but still a significant effect. And note here that a deep parabola with a front diffuser is just a vulgar softbox that is too deep and takes too much space. Only use a (deep) parabolic reflector when you need it for a clear purpose that only this thing can fulfill. As in testing (1) and (2), it is recommended to test the (deep) parabola in focused mode at different distances to see what the effect will be (or, if your parabola defeats the inverse square law).
WOW! I absolutely love this JP. Great advice. Please check my playlist for a video I did on Parabolic Reflectors I would love to know what you think. All my video can be found on the Adorama Playlist sections under LEVEL UP LIGHTING SHOW. I LOVE LOVE LOVE When people get into the comments and ad so much value as you have done. AMAZING!
Man…the bed sheet & frosted shower curtain gave me bleached & unbleached muslin vibes. I screen shot all 4 & it gave very close color shifts and quality of light. Good test!
Ab, I love this video. The fact that you show multiple options where you can compare using 2 or more windows. You mention scatter to soften the light, while using a fresnel light source (small->hard). Is it because the diffuser emulates a large light source?
@@cuttinbb scatter is how directional the rays of light are. If you have focused spotlights that are 6ft in diameter vs a 6ft softbox and they are placed the same distance from the subject the spotlight is going to be very direct and not scatter. Relative size is a factor, but the direction or beam of the light rays plays a major role as well.
Hi Ab, I'm learning a lot about diffusion after watching your video. My mind is blown. I have a 8x8 Glow Frame I purchased from Adorama. The diffusion material is unknown, just a 1-stop diffusion. Since I'm looking for diffusion for a 8x8 frame, my choices are limited, but I decided on a grid cloth. My questions is, if I were to get one, should I get the full grid cloth or 1/2 grid cloth (Lite)? And does a silent vs a noisy one make a difference if I'm only using it indoor mainly for photography? I plan on using it more for beauty and fashion. Thanks.
Hi John sorry for the delay. I dont check the comments in older videos as often but I do try to get to every comment no matter how old the video. I would not go with siilent grid cloth for your purpouse because it is leg rigid and going go be slighly hard to run across, but.... do to it being more of a fabric/silk type material it will be easier to sew together if you wanted to create a single piece. I personally find myself using full grid cloth more. But it really depends on the level of diffusion your going for. Id recommend opening up two video windows and looking at them side by side.
I do a great robot at well. LOL I love to dance. Appreciate the feedback. In an effort to condense the material and make things easier on my editor, I do use a teleprompter at times. But I'm working it. I'll give my best Denzel Washington next time.
Ab's videos are absolutely my favorite on Adorama TV. Always extremely concise, very well-thought-out, and packed with exactly the information that we were looking for when we clicked on the video.
With so many great creators on the channel Stewart that really means a lot. Really appreciate it. Thank you.
Ab's videos are the best. This one is throwing levels like buck shot.
Who would have thought it could be so different. You are truly a master of your craft and a scientist of light.
Thank you so much for the kind works Willie.
I love the slow pace of this video which gives you the time to observe. My favorites are bounced via foamcore (the famous Brooklyn reflector, white side), white baking paper and silk bedsheets
Thank you Joris. Yes I love a good bounce as well.
I just clicked thumbs up even before opening the video because i know every upload from you is a masterpiece
We cant get enough knowledge from, just keep them coming
Thank you Atogwe, really appreciate your support. I promise not to let you down.
Chapeau! (hats off!) - we would say with a French word, in my country. This is the kind of video that makes life easy. As an experienced photographer, you know what effect you want from diffusion, but still wonder which material will give that to you. Having gone through photography school, however, at the start of the video, you wonder if e.g. the effect of back-reflected-from-the-diffuser light is included in the methodology.
Ab did perfect on all levels. Sincere compliments.
Thank you so much JP I really appreciate the feedback.
Thank you very much for this intensive testing. You need some motivation to get through nearly 30 Minutes of diffusion testing, but it is worth it. I really liked this part "What to watch out for when choosing a diffusion". It really helped to have an idea what to look out for. I´ve to spend some more time to choose my favourite....
Thank you, Benedikt. It was a lot to testing. I loved doing it. I appreciate the feedback. I try and go into a lot of detail when I do my videos on the Adorama Channel.
@@AbSesayPhoto and your level of detail is what makes your videos so great. :)
@@benediktseifert3699 Thank you Benedikt.
Such a great video and discussion and yet still just scratches the surface. I would need to look more closely still but a few that just caught my eye; Silent grid cloth, tough silk (vertical), tough spun, and plexi.
Thank you Ryan. Yes there is so much to discuss here, thank you for calling out some of your favourites.
I like the half tough spun for contrasty scenes. The magic cloth for bright, soft scenes. I enjoy the look of that tough frost too. I liked the look of that light Opal frost on the glass. I really dig the spread of that Light Tough Rolux. The Light Grid Gloth had a very pleasing look here. That Tough Silk was super contrasty. Interesting that it has just slivers of light on the glass. I like it! Look at that colour shift on the soft frost! And the colour shift from Bleach to Unbleach Muslin. That's crazy! I actually really like how the clear shower curtain reflected off the glass.
Great content Ab. One of the most in-depth videos on diffusion I've ever seen. Absolutely fantastic.
Thank you so much Brad. My top 2 are the Full Grid and the Half Soft frost and I love the plexi as well for some still-life applications when I need something just a bit more rigid. But depending on the application this could all change. Love your input and feedback.
This man is a wealth of knowledge! I'm very lucky to have stumbled on this video; I'm kind of feeling that a half grid is very close to magic close? If not identical... but also cheaper?
Thank you. Ill have to take another look. Magic cloth can differ a bit from manufacturer to manufacturer.
Great detailed review as always Ab! My go-to diffusion material is Lee 216W. Probably very similar to the Rosso Tough White Diffusion 216 you demonstrated. I often use it in the Profoto zoom II gel holder aimed at the background to add a soft glow around my subject. Thanks again!
Great Idea. Yes I love 216 as well. They are very similar, I believe they are manufactured to be as close to a match as possible especially given 216 popularity.
I use old strobes (Acute and Speedotron) and shoot still life for fun. I am a really big fan of diffusion and use plastic rolls (Heavy Savage Translum) on a 4x4 flat gel frame and grid cloth on 5 foot rolls (1/4 1/2 and full). It provides large soft light without special gear for the older heads. Thanks for sharing this video.
Thank for sharing what you use Steve.
In the modern world of "Place the light here" teaching, this is really excellent! Thank You....
Thank you. Appreciate the feedback.
This was exactly the video I was looking for. Amazing work, and thank you for taking the time to do this right!
Thank you Christian. I really appreciate the feedback.
Love watching Ab's videos so much. They're so informative and I learn so much everytime. Thank you Ab!
Thank you Gabrielle
Definitely learned. I have never used additional difusion other than what is in my modifiers soft box, strip box or octobox. I had seen it used in product photography but did not the depth and variety. What interested me was the beauty dish. I now have a space to play in and i will have to further my lighting knowledge with some test.
So glad to hear J Lopez Please share your results.
Wow, what an effort, what a reference... Stunning !!! thanks a lot! Plus - amazing work of the model, she must have been holding that pose for hours...
My favorites at first glance would be:
- Rosco 3004 - Half Density Soft Frost
- Rosco 3032 - Light Grid Gloth
- Rosco 3011 - Tough Silk (Vertical)
- Rosco 216 - Tough White Diffusion
still blown away...
Thank you Ronny, Yes it took an entire day to shoot and she was very patient. I did use the grid lines in the camera, and we had tape marks on the table to help maintain hand placement, and I was using a studio stand to make sure if the camera got bumped that it position didn't move. It was harder than it looks for sure.
👏. Thanks for all the work you've put into this. I'm saving this and will review it several times as preparation to do testing on what I currently use. My hunch it will enhance my ability to see other options. Thanks for sharing such a care process.
Your are very welcome Bob. I appreciate the feedback.
Great work. ! Saving this one as a invaluable reference 👌
Thank you Phlip
Well thought out and designed testing method. I really like the training in the beginning to show us what to look for, and the video segments of each product to apply that knowledge. I personally shoot tabletop products and still life when not wandering in the woods for landscapes. I have put this on my favorites and will be returning often when I have a specific "Look" in mind. Thanks
Thank you for the great feedback JIM. I really appreciate it.
Hi Ab. Finally got time to watch yr video and it is great. I need to rewatch it now as my brain is spinning. I like a lot of them but the powder frost and the brushed silk are my picks.
YASSSSSS I love the brushed silk, I'm glad someone finally chose that one. I'm between the powder frost and half-soft frost.
Awesome and insightful analysis and demonstration. Your videos are great Ab!
Thank you Tex. Love your name BTW. Tex Texin!
In the end, an interesting advanced lighting video. I am sure it's just not me fed up with seeing the same things over and over for years...
Thank you !
Thank you Opqrst7 I m really happy you like it.
This is the content I really want. Solid work, Ab.
Thank you. It was really a pleasure to create.
Interesting results. Thanks for taking the time to do such a comparison. I am not a pro, but it does give me a lot of information to start with when I start going out to get some of these. 🙂
Thank you for the feedback John. Definitely hope this come in handy for you.
WOW 😳 I was so ignorant!!!!
Thank you very much.
In the past I had mainly used "Savage Translum Medium Weight".
Morning forward I will be more specific and try other materials.
So glad this was helpful Stefan.
This is an awesome video. Personally, I prefer the Rosco Heavy Frost, then Magic Cloth, then Bed Sheet. When diffusing, I generally prefer to flatten out the speculars as much as I reasonably can, then put that back in with a small specular light source between the diffusion and subject. It just provides easier control over the speculars and simplifies how many different diffusion materials I need to keep on hand. The Heavy Frost gives a nice middle ground if not going the additional specular source. Magic cloth is preferable over bedsheet as it just is more consistent in terms of color cast. You know what you're going to get, but a bedsheet works in a pinch.
Probably one of the best comments I have ever gotten. Adrian thank you so much. I love seeing the personal insights. We can all learn from each other. Plus adding in some tips of your own. I LOVE IT! Thank You, Thank Your, Thank You.
@@AbSesayPhoto You're welcome. People always wonder why I pack a couple of small speed lights with my big lights. It's so I can dial in a little bit of specular if I end up too flat on the main light. Whether I actually go there is another story, but a couple small speed lights is no big deal to have in a bag as long as they have optical triggers.
@@AdrianBacon True, always have a speedlight (profoto A1) in my bag.
Brilliant video.
Thank you Owen
Hi Ab thanks for all the work you put into this very useful video. My favourite diffusions are a super small soft box, a large shoot through umbrella, I still own and use a Larson Reflectasol. Opaque plexiglass,. mirrors in a pinch new white bed sheets.I use an older Speedotron pack and heads. At one time I did a lot of motor oil product shooting. 😎👍🇨🇦
Nice! Thank you Alan. I can definitely understand the benefit of controling your highlights when using motor oil.
I'm gonna need a Rosco sampler pack! Let me narrow down my top 5 from my top 10 list and I will see you on the Twitch stream tonight! Great video as always, Ab!
1. Tough half white diffusion (Rosco 250)
2. Tough frost (Rosco 3008)
3. Hilite (Rosco 3014)
4. China Silk
5. Quarter grid cloth (Rosco 3034)
See you Tonight! Im excited to be back. Just get samples for all 10. LOL! That's what I started with.
Awesome!!! Really good classes here to take you too next level.
Thank you Joseph
Compliments in my other comment - as you say, "test, test, test", I suggest for photographers to test their light modifiers (soft boxes, deep parabolas, etc.) in two ways. (1) With the front diffuser plane at, say, 7 ft or 2m from a white wall, shoot at that wall and take photos from a distance in order to see what size the light circle is, from that diffuser. With 1 diffuser, with 2 diffusers, no diffuser. It helps for measurement of both flash pattern and size of flash-lit area to have some tape measure stuck to the wall, readable in the photograph. In an otherwise dark studio, the lit area will also reveal how vignetting evolves near the edges of the light output.
If you use a strobe or speedlight with a hidden (built into a reflector) flash tube - e.g. Profoto - then I would also fire a couple test shots with different distances of the flash head sticking into the modifier.
A flash meter in the center of the lit area can reveal the differences in efficiency between modifiers or their setup.
(2) While (1) looks at the lit wall from behind the modifier, also shoot the other way around into the modifier for all cases without the font diffuser. You will see that without diffusers (baffles) in the modifier, some strobes/speedlights, depending on how far they are stuck into the modifier, do not bounce their light off the sides of the modifier at all - meaning that you might as well have done without that modifier. Or to turn this negativity around, it teaches you how to benefit from the modifier.
If you use umbrellas, make sure to do both these tests too, especially with shoot-through ones as these test shots reveal what part of the umbrella you actually are using (because flash angle and distance to umbrella). You may feel this helps so much that you would repeat the test before or during each shoot.
If you shoot with speedlights designed for on-camera use, these tests are also very important and must include flash angle settings, as well as the use of the flip-on/off diffuser for very wide angles and the use of a diffuser dome - as the latter two may help you mimic the effect of a naked flash tube found on real professional strobes - e.g. broncolor.
Test #1 may make you aware that the light blob on the wall is pretty much the same between all modifiers. The difference will be in the hardness of the light - in the sense of gradual versus delineated transition from directly lit, to shade over the subject.
There's a third aspect that we can test in the (1) and (2) ways. While these (1) and (2) tests are valid in preparation of distance and size of modifier to the subject, they stay away from one other quality of light that is not generally understood well.
This has to do with light being organised versus messed up, metaphorically speaking.
The most messed up light - extremely diffused - is on a very cloudy and totally overcast day when there are no visible shades/shadows. We can use diffusion material on modifiers or by themselves as a way to try to copy that - partially or completely.
Of course, when we are inside a building, there is a shade, but this very soft light retains its softness, as we can see in a portrait near a window. The light is totally different from, say, Northern light on a bright sunny day.
The most organised light is from a laser. This may be followed by a "point source" without modifier and without bounce light. As we generally do not use either of these in photography, there's still the category of "focused light". As a child you may have walked around in the woods with a "flash light" and rotated its head. Well, that reflector is parabolic and by rotating the head, you move the reflector to where the light is focus or defocused. The lamp in the flash light is extremely close to a point source and when focused, the light traveling backward from the lamp is bounced forward.
If we use a (deep) parabolic reflector as modifier, in order to benefit from the parabola, we need to focus the light source into the parabola's focal point (and remove all diffusion). As most strobes/speedlights do not really shine light backwards, we need to turn the light source around so it fires into the parabola from the focal point.
Mathematically, a parabola has a focal point and all lines, from that focal point into the parabola, reflect as parallel lines forward where these lines are parallel to each other and parallel to the parabola's center symmetry line - so if your (deep) parabola has a perfect mirror finish and is a perfect parabola, and your light source is a point source in the focal point then the light coming out of the parabola should NOT follow the inverse square law because you have a perfectly parallel beam (like a lase, except the photons are not as organised as in laser light). As light sources, even the tiny lamp in your flash light, are not "point sources", as parabolas have no perfect mirror surface, as you may have problems finding the exact focal point, as your so-called parabola may not actually be a parabola mathematically, and as the air molecules disperse light, you end up with much less parallel, but still a significant effect.
And note here that a deep parabola with a front diffuser is just a vulgar softbox that is too deep and takes too much space. Only use a (deep) parabolic reflector when you need it for a clear purpose that only this thing can fulfill.
As in testing (1) and (2), it is recommended to test the (deep) parabola in focused mode at different distances to see what the effect will be (or, if your parabola defeats the inverse square law).
WOW! I absolutely love this JP. Great advice. Please check my playlist for a video I did on Parabolic Reflectors I would love to know what you think. All my video can be found on the Adorama Playlist sections under LEVEL UP LIGHTING SHOW. I LOVE LOVE LOVE When people get into the comments and ad so much value as you have done. AMAZING!
For me,
- magic cloth
-unbleached mus
-half soft frost
artificial silk
-a classic ultrabounce
NICE! Thank you for the list.
Man…the bed sheet & frosted shower curtain gave me bleached & unbleached muslin vibes. I screen shot all 4 & it gave very close color shifts and quality of light. Good test!
Thank you Marcus. Love that you found it helpful.
Heavy frost is the one I like!
Nice! I love heavy frost as well.
Ab, I love this video. The fact that you show multiple options where you can compare using 2 or more windows.
You mention scatter to soften the light, while using a fresnel light source (small->hard). Is it because the diffuser emulates a large light source?
Hi @cuttinbb not 100% sure I understand the question. What part of the video are you referencing?
@@AbSesayPhoto The softness as far as I know is due to the size of the light source how does the scattering makes it softer?
@@cuttinbb scatter is how directional the rays of light are. If you have focused spotlights that are 6ft in diameter vs a 6ft softbox and they are placed the same distance from the subject the spotlight is going to be very direct and not scatter. Relative size is a factor, but the direction or beam of the light rays plays a major role as well.
awesome content, un grand bravo from Paris France
Merci Adrien, I really appreciate the feedback.
Hi Ab, I'm learning a lot about diffusion after watching your video. My mind is blown. I have a 8x8 Glow Frame I purchased from Adorama. The diffusion material is unknown, just a 1-stop diffusion. Since I'm looking for diffusion for a 8x8 frame, my choices are limited, but I decided on a grid cloth. My questions is, if I were to get one, should I get the full grid cloth or 1/2 grid cloth (Lite)? And does a silent vs a noisy one make a difference if I'm only using it indoor mainly for photography? I plan on using it more for beauty and fashion. Thanks.
Hi John sorry for the delay. I dont check the comments in older videos as often but I do try to get to every comment no matter how old the video. I would not go with siilent grid cloth for your purpouse because it is leg rigid and going go be slighly hard to run across, but.... do to it being more of a fabric/silk type material it will be easier to sew together if you wanted to create a single piece. I personally find myself using full grid cloth more. But it really depends on the level of diffusion your going for. Id recommend opening up two video windows and looking at them side by side.
@@AbSesayPhoto Thank you Ab.
Great video 👏
Thank you Flash Forum
Which beauty dish was used in this video? Is the plexiglass frosted or normal white?
A profoto Beauty dish with a white metal deflection plate.
Looking sharp with that denim shirt
LOL Thank you.
Heavy Frost
Silent Grid Gloth
Plexiglass 1/8"
Magic Cloth (can definitely see why it is used for softboxes)
Thank you Sojians. Grit cloth seems to be rising to the top as a crowed favorite.
Wow first to comment
LOVE IT! Thank you AD
@@AbSesayPhoto my pleasure
☺️
Thank you.
Excellent material! However, you're like a robot, super stiff.
I do a great robot at well. LOL I love to dance. Appreciate the feedback. In an effort to condense the material and make things easier on my editor, I do use a teleprompter at times. But I'm working it. I'll give my best Denzel Washington next time.
@@AbSesayPhoto ROFL good one! Hahaha!
I'm looking forward to the excellent info in your future videos, Denzel!!!