Ring Flash in Fashion Photography

i have been searching for a fairly "simple" way of achieving nice light. nice shadows...

even lighting. nothing so stylized i would need 4 lights. something very portable. i

know ring flash is used primarily for macro purposes, but are there brighter ring

flashes available for shooting full body lengths you can still mount on your camera?

Yes, but they typically plug into power packs. Also, you would be

severely limiting your capabilities by only using a ringlight. You

can vary the look of the lighting somewhat by moving closer or

further from your subject, but major changes in lighting will

require additional lights anyway. Red eye and specular

reflections are also a concern.

any suggestions on a nice bright portable rig for on location stuff?

 

 

what would this be?

 

 

http://perso.club-internet.fr/yangabin/modeles/leticiabirkheuer/pleticiaB3HbUsaJuillet03MertEtMarcusJPG.JPG

Hensel Ring Flash

http://www.cameraclinic.co.nz/New%20Gear.html

 

Brad, that photo you linked to doesn't look like a ring flash, it looks hard and from above camera left. maybe a grid, maybe a snoot.

 

Go to Dirke's site for great ring flash examples, (fashion 1)

 

www.photobusiness.com/

dirk franke's fashion one is primarily ring flash? from a big expensive unit you think?

ok ok

 

i'm with it now.

 

i'm seeing price ideas.

 

thanks!

The cheapest rig I know of that will travel light, has a ring light and not need an outlet is the Norman 400B. Go to photocontrol.com... t<p> I want one of those ringlight for my Lumedyne! Ring lights are quite painful for the subjects.

Looking at you example, I agree with Eric, that's not a ring light. I use a Lumedyne system that is <a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/1908425">very portable</a>. To this kit I sometimes add another stand and a flexfill. You can visit the Events page at <a href="http://www.twmeyer.com">my website</a> and see lots of images taken with this rig, both at the Weddings and the Personal Party pages (click on the "Events" link). Here's one... t<div></div>

This is a ring light.

 

You can typically detect use of a ring light by looking at the spectral highlight in the

eye (it'll be a donut); any reflective surface will also be a give away.

 

In studio, the ring light as main light typically throws a halo shadow around the

subject, the closer to the background the more pronounced that halo is. Outdoors,

that halo is far less detectable, sometimes not at all if the flash is balanced with the

ambient light.

 

The main feature is how the straight on light wraps around the subject creating a sort

of 3D effect. It creates a sort of glow to the skin...while looking somewhat

graphically dramatic.<div></div>

Here's another which shows the ring reflections in the eyes and the lens of the

camera. When I use a ring light I place a piece of copper mesh in the reflector to

warm the shin tones a tiny bit more.<div></div>

Thanks Marc, that was most helpfull.

Look at the work of David Lachappelle. He uses a Bron (?) ringflash.

You know, you can also build a ring-flash quite easilly. Recently I was interested in shooting with a ring flash, but considering the cost of one and the limited variety of 'looks' that a ring flash offers. (generally that halo look) I couldn't justify dropping hundreds and hundreds of dollars for the flash. Instead though I built my own using styrofoam and a spare flash that I had lying around. I know it sounds silly, but it works fine even though it could use a little more 'tuning'. I'm putting up a webpage for it at: http://diy_photo.blogspot.com/ so you could check it out if you want. Seriously, the design is easy enough for anyone to make. It's cost me a little over $5.