Essential Lighting Modifiers for Product Photography

Maximise your modifier knowledge.

From grids and snoots to softboxes and reflectors, there’s a wide range of modifiers you could use for product photography lighting.

Knowing which modifier to use and when depends entirely on the product you’re shooting and the lighting effect you’re trying to create, so it’s important to understand what different modifiers do.

In this class, Karl provides an overview of some of the most commonly used modifiers and accessories for shooting products to help you understand how they work and what effect they create. These include softboxes, reflectors, honeycomb grids, snoots, scrims, and even light cones.

Comments

  1. Hey Karl,

    could you help me with picking basic lightning for my home studio please? I understand what kind of modifiers are useful however I do not have any studio work experiance, I was documentary videographer and photographer for past 5 years. If you started today, what lights would you buy on a budget to start with?
    I was thinking about 1. Quadralite/Godox DP600 2. Quadralite/Godox SK400 3. Quadralite/Godox V1
    I’m interested in Product Photography. I’m watching all tutorials one by one so maybe it will be easier to pick something afterwords.

    1. Hi, I’d always go with the most power you can afford so the 600s based on what you’re saying. For product work you’ll need 3 lights but it then comes down to the modifiers to control the light which will make all the difference and to understand that you will need to watch more of the classes.

  2. Hi Karl,

    So many lights. How many do you need when starting off and on a budget?

    Which model you recommend?

    1. Hi, I’d say 3 lights is the minimum for serious work. There are many different brands at different prices (usually based on the power of the lights). 400J is the lowest power I would use, 600 or 800 better.

  3. Hi Karl,
    If you compare Broncolor Snoot to P70 with grids , can we get same result ? Should I buy both of them ? Thanks

    1. Hi, the snoot can be used for many other things and a more precise ball of light if you hold a grid infront of the snoot so I would recommend both.

  4. Hello, Karl Taylor.
    Great videos. Sorry, I have one question, what word did you use on this video at 05:24 minutes? How did you call this kind of light? Thank you.

  5. jacktranterphotography

    hi karl,
    I notice your honey comb grids have damage/bent and missing bits would this impact the final picture much?

    1. Hi Jack, yes a little and it reminds me I should replace some of them. I also have ones that are still in full working order!

        1. Hi, Lee 400 Lux is tougher and lasts longer, it’s probably slightly better diffusion but not that anyone would notice, the material feels more plastic rather than paper and is thicker.

          1. Thank you Karl, as you know there are two sizes of Lee 400 Lux (7.62m x 1.52m / 25′ x 60″) and (7.62m x 1.22m / 25′ x 48″) I watched other videos too, you mentioned that you advised 1.52m, but is there a big difference (effect) if I use 1.22m ?

          2. Hi Zee, the material is the same the obvious difference is the size of the scrim you can make and the bigger the better but if you are limited for space then you will have to consider what you can work with.

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