Tutorial: Portrait With a Snoot
Hey everyone! So today I'm going to go through how I take portraits with a side-lighting snoot. I really enjoy taking dark and moody portraits of individuals, and this one is of my son Caiden. So here is the final product, after editing.
So first off, you are probably wondering what a snoot is. I had no idea until I read about it somewhere online a few years ago. Simply put, it's a cone-shaped device that transforms your flash into a spotlight. It gives you a really direct yet soft light on your subject, and can create a unique lighting setup on the fly. I have the link to Amazon at the bottom if you'd like to know more about it.
So, as you may have guessed, here is my lighting setup below. I'm running a Canon flash connected to a Yongnuo wireless flash trigger (link at bottom), with the snoot connected to it. 
As you can see, this was taken in Caiden's room. You might see the other big softbox by the door. I tried taking a portrait in his room with that, but I was unhappy with the results. I then opted to go just with the snoot lighting up the right side of his face. I had him sit on the little purple chair with the snoot shooting down on the side of his face (I couldn't keep him in the room very long since he was tired of taking pictures, so I just took this shot without him). Even though his room is a mess and his closet is a few feet behind him, the snoot effectively just lights up his face and you can't see anything else. **I did turn off his room light, use the flashlight on my phone on his face to get focus, and then turned that off and took the picture so the only light is coming from the flash.
So here is the original image. As you can see, he was actually about to point at something and this was a test shot, but since most kids don't pose well this ended up being my favorite and most sincere photo. I simply used a brush in Lightroom to sever his arm out. If anyone is interested in the actual editing in Lightroom, let me know and I can show you exactly what I did for this photo.
Original:
Edited:
LINKS:
Snoot: https://www.amazon.com/StudioPRO-Speedlight-Modifier-Portrait-Photography/dp/B00HYMAWMS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1513882056&sr=8-4&keywords=snoot
Wireless Flash Trigger: https://www.amazon.com/YONGNUO-RF-603C-II-C3-Wireless-Remote-Trigger/dp/B00JVEXRE2/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1513882106&sr=8-5&keywords=yongnuo+wireless+flash
Manual flash that automatically connects to aforementioned triggers: https://www.amazon.com/IV-Wireless-Speedlite-Fujifilm-Panasonic/dp/B00PGTOX26/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1513884271&sr=8-3&keywords=yongnuo+wireless+flash
Thanks for reading!
Nice!
I don't have my studio anymore but I used to use the snoot so much... mostly for that little backlit hair light, but occasionally I'd use it for dark and contrast-y shoots... it was such a simple bit of kit that more than paid for itself over and over.
Do you still shoot studio style stuff? Yeah, usually I use it for that back/hairlight but also love just using it as well.
No... I sold absolutely everything in the big move from Australia to the US. Everything!
A whole house and studio of stuff into 2 bags... it was super sad but totally cathartic.
I miss it terribly now, but at the time I was really struggling. My main customers had always been establishing models/actors/dancers... but by the end it was almost entirely Instagram models who just never seemed to want to work to get the shot... who were far more interested in live screening the process than the end results.
Which is completely fine... it just wasn't where my head and interests were at. If I started over in the US I think I'd make it more about the photoshoot experience.
Also... I can't believe you've only been here for 4 days... you've added so much value already!
Interesting. I've never shot any actual models, but I can definitely see how if "models" were in it for the short run and not willing to take the time to make a good shot into a great shot, how that would wear down your passion. There truly is an art form to being a good model, and the good Lord did not give me those skills haha.
If you did start shooting again, would you still be doing photos in the same vein as before while stressing the experience more, or a different style?
And yeah, haha these past 4/5 days have gone much better than I thought it would. I am really enjoying how I'm incentivized to make new content, as well as see people who I am "getting to know" content.
It's like what my great-great-grandfather used to say.. "the internet is a cool thing"
Super educational, now I just need a snoot. Good content dawg!
Nice post! I really like it.
Thanks for reading!
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@aWeber
This is a great post, I'm very impressed with you.
I want to read first, if there are more recent posts from you.
I already upvote you, and do not forget my followb back ok👍👍
That's really fascinating, the game of light and shadow gives an ordinary room a spooky, mysterious scene.
Yeah, it's really useful when you have rooms that are usually too small for stuff like this with regular lighting.
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STOPbeautiful photo @aweber...
Wow the little amount of light does make the pictures interesting.
Less is more, at least sometimes :)