If you want to learn more about grids before digging in this tutorial, please have a close look at the article "What is a grid?"
1x Flash unit1x Grid1 meter Circular Reflector Silver/White
We placed the unit behind our model, up high, just like a hair light.
Use either the 12°, 20°, or 30° grid depending on your taste.
• I used the 30° to have a focused beam of light while still maintaining a bit of flare (use a tighter grid if you don’t want any).
• Then we place the reflector in front of our model, up high as well and angled so that it reflects the light beam on the model’s face.
• The aim is to emulate a fill without the need for a second flash.
In studio, it’s easy and quick to setup, and you can play with flare. On location, it is amazing!
Place a 1/2 or full CTO gel in front of your grid, and you end up with a portrait that looks like it was taken at the golden hour! I use it a lot when I shoot engagement sessions and weddings because the setup is incredibly easy and doesn’t require much equipment or an assistant.
1x Flash unit1x 70cm beauty dish
Our main light source is a simple 70 cm beauty dish, in front of our model. I used the silver one, with the diffusion sock, and the white deflector.
The result is nice, but nothing extraordinary.
The model’s eyes look flat, and the shadows could use a bit of fill light.
I could just place a simple reflector below her face, at waist level, but then I couldn’t move my beauty dish without affecting the fill light as well.
I could place a rectangular softbox, pointing upwards, at waist level instead, but the light would spill all over the place. Instead, let’s set a strobe with a 12° grid in front of the model, pointing down to a circular reflector that reflects the flash light into my model’s face.
The picture above will probably explain this better than my words.
What you need
2x Flash units1x 20° Grid1x 70cm beauty dish1 meter circular reflector Silver/White
The light is much more flattering now and having a fill light also attenuates some of the skin texture issues I otherwise would have to clean up in Photoshop.
While better, it’s still not perfect yet. The overall image lacks dimensions.
So, like in our portrait setup, let’s place a hair light. The grid you chose here will depend on a few different elements. First is flaring and second is if the model has to move into different poses or not. I opted for a 20° grid, to give my model room to move a tiny bit while still avoiding flare.
3x Flash units2x Grids1x 70cm beauty dish1 meter circular reflector Silver/White
Still, the hair light is making things better, but the background is just flat and doesn’t have any interest here. So I decided to add a unit right behind my model with a 20° grid, lighting the background. It gives a beautiful glow to the seamless paper and gives more depth to the picture.
4x Flash units3x Grids1x 70cm beauty dish1 meter circular reflector Silver/White
The face is lit correctly and the image has a bit of dimension. Yet, we could go further.
If you wish to add even more depth, you could add another back light, but this one lighting the model’s arm and shoulder.
4x Flash units3x 21cm Grids1x 70cm beauty dish1x beauty dish grid1 meter circular reflector Silver/White
You could add a grid on your beauty dish to give more drama to the image.
With a grid on the beauty dish, less light will spill over the background, and a strong vignetting will appear.
Both configurations will help you get started with grids and give you a sense of what can be achieved with them, both in studio or on location.
They are an excellent way to learn and to control your light better, as well as to create unique setups otherwise impossible.