Lighting Techniques 2: How to get that flashlight look with your flash

You may have seen a photo like the one above where the light fades away as if it were a flashlight.  How do photographers do that?  It’s pretty easy, they snoot their flashes.  A snoot is basically a light tunnel and professional snoots have a honeycomb grid at the end.  The snoot directs the light and keeps it from spilling out to the sides so it all goes forward.  The grid pattern at the end affects how wide the beam appears.

I happen to be using a professional kit snoot, but it’s pretty easy to make your own.  You can use black construction paper rolled around your flash unit or a cereal box or a bunch of straws taped together.  A quick search on google will help you on your way.

[caption id=“attachment_3114” align=“aligncenter” width=“369” caption=“Snooted Flash on Camera”] [/caption]