1 - Direct Flash
2 - Snoot without Honey Comb Grid
3 - Snoot with Honey Comb Grid
4 - Honey Comb (big grid)
5 - Beauty Dish
6 - Softbox with front baffle
7 - Softbox without front baffle
The above chart illustrates the lighting effects of the different light modifiers used.
All the shots are taken with the same shutter speed, aperture, ISO and white balance. the camera is mounted on a tripod, with a flash mounted on its hot-shoe. The flash is set at a manual power of 1/4.
As the flash power is fixed, the difference is the exposure of the individual pictures shows the amount of light being stopped down by the different modifiers.
Direct Flash - as one can see, direct flash gives the brightest image, but the shadow is hard and distinct.
Snoot without Honey Comb Grid - A snoot concentrates and narrows the light beam, rapid light fall-out at the outer rim of the light. The shadow is sharp and distinct.
Snoot with Honey Comb Grid - A snoot with honey comb grid further concentrates the light beam. The shadow is sharp and distinct.
Honey Comb (big grid) - A honey comb concentrates the beam of light and projects it forward. The shadow is sharp and distinct, but not as much as if a snoot or snoot with honey comb is used.
Beauty Dish - The beauty dish provides a wide, uniform light with gradual fall-off and soft shadow definition.
Softbox with front baffle - The softbox provides a more controlled and directional light. Very soft shadow and even lighting with gradual fall-off at the edge of the light. The front baffle also gives a slightly warm colour to the image.
Softbox without front baffle - The lighting effect of a softbox without the front baffle is almost the same as direct flash. And because of the design of a softbox, all the light from the flash is being collected and projected forward, there is much lesser escaped/wasted light.
