Ringflash

Here is a question about ringflash.

I am doing a series of portraits and thinking about using ringflash.

I don't own a ringflash otherwise I would test all this stuff by myself but I just hope to hear some feed

back from you guys.

Now, I love the look of the ringflash but intend to use it with a lot of ambient lights and not to use it to

its fullest potential. Altough I love the look of the flash, the ringflash look could be too specific

sometimes, it could be too 'ringflashy', too fashion, too specific, like a holga, as if a trick...

So, what I am asking is if there is someone who has the knowledge of using ringflash in other ways

than the prefered or correct way.

Again, I know the ringflash has that specific look but I am really looking for some answers as of how

the image would look with the flash on half power, lots of ambients, what to think about as far as the

quality of the light, if that glowing look would still be there...

What is a good rating of the flash and the ambient?

Could you use the ringflash as fill light?

If the ambient light is over powering, is the ringflash really necessary?

And if the ambient light is powerful would the ringflash glow still be visible?

 

I would appreciate any feedback!

Thanks!

Go off to AlienBees.com and check out their ring flash. You can use it for that high-fashion-ringflashy-look, but you can also use one of their large diffusers for it, and essentially treat it like you would a big softbox/octabox. Just pop it on a stand and use it much like you would another strobe. Use it to illuminate a backdrop, for example. But when you DO want that very specific look, there it is, ready to shoot through, complete with all the mounting hardware you'll need.

I used an Alien Bee Ringlight with a 56 inch softbox, with to Norman ML600r with 36 inch

octogon soft boxes for these shots.

 

I used a Butterfly lighting aka Paramount lighting set up.

 

This lighting was really made famous by Paramount Studios with their promo shots of

starlets.

 

The main light is placed directly in front of the face and casts a shadow directly

underneath, and in line with, the nose. Butterfly lighting is used most successfully with a

normal oval face and is considered a type of glamour lighting especially suitable for

women.

 

You do not have to shoot a ring flash without a modifier. With the Alien Bee you can use it

as standard studio light. You can use them as a fill, or main light. They are very flexible in

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I'll second (third?) the AB800 ringlight suggestions. You can use one alone and get that ringlight "halo" effect: http://www.photo.net/photo/5606847 Or with other lights and modifiers - this shot was taken with a ringlight and a large softbox to camera-right: http://www.photo.net/photo/6394370 Except for the catchlight in her eyes, the second shot looks a bit less like a ringflash was used. The Alien Bees ringlight and modifiers are quite flexible.

The answers above are good ones.

 

1 point worth mentioning though, don't confuse 'pro' ringflashes with the macro ringflashes, which are designed for photographing teeth/insects/flowers etc. The macro ones, some of which don't even have a circular flashtube, are tiny and very low powered and even if the power is usable for people photography they are physically so small that the 'ringflash effect' is extremely limited.

 

The 'ringflash' catchlights are only visible when the flash is extremely close to the subject and the outwardly-radiating shadows from any ringflash rely on it being close to the subject too.

 

All of the answers seem to be about the Alien Bees ringflash. The Alien Bees seems to offer very good value for money and, very importantly, an excellent range of accessories that really help to make the product multi-purpose. A.B aren't sold here in the UK but we can get other 'pro' type ringflashes at sensible prices - they have good build quality and more power than the AB but don't have the power, fast recycling etc of the 'real' pro units, which plug into generator (pack & head) units.

I've also seen fashion photographers who use a ring flash OFF-camera. Mounted on a stand,

or on a movable boom arm, and just treated as another unique light source.

Here is a ringflash photo I took with the Profoto ringflash.