Lighting Modifiers: Honeycomb style "snoot"

I'd been reading about honeycomb filters being made out of cardboard and correx plastic sheets. I got a hold of a sheet of black correx (I had loads of the stuff, but unfortunately no black) to try it out. I simply cut two strips 4 cm wide across the grain (holes through the correx travelling perpendicular to the cut). I then cut these into sections slightly wider than the flashgun head. I glued them all together in a stack, then using some foamcore board, I made a 6cm top and bottom which I then glued to the correx boards. I then put on some red tape to hold the whole lot together (I don't trust glue fully when things get bumped about) and a line of velcro strip like the flashguns have to let filter gels be attached if necessary. It also serves the dual purpose of backing up the tape in holding the whole lot together. To finish it off, I put one line of the hook velcro strip on the inside where the flashgun sits, so the honeycomb is held firmly onto the flash. With a little twist, the honeycomb easily goes on and off the flash.

Here you can see the honeycomb on the flash viewed from just off axis.



In the following two, you can see in comparison how the light falls off as you come off axis, showing how the honeycomb focusses the light beam.





Here you can see the honeycomb attachment to the flashgun, and also how slim a beam it provides on the background. This is as tight as the beam provided by the longest snoot I have made before, which is about 8 inches long. I find the falloff much more pleasant than a snoot provides. No double shadows which is a definite plus!



While they're not quite as light efficient (all the bits blocking light), they are very space efficient. A long snoot takes a lot of space in comparison to a 6cm by 10cm by 4cm honeycomb. In actual fact, this honeycomb is actually a little too long. Its beam is very very direct. I might well make a shorter version which isn't so direct.