The first thing I had to do was find out what one was, and why was it used. Basically a snoot is a tunnel for light to travel down that restricts it's direction. It can be made from paper, foam sheets, corrugated plastic or even from a cereal packet. I found this handy video on youtube and decided to give it a go. A snoot can be fitted to a flash or a spotlight.
The longer the tube the tighter the beam of light. The colour inside of a snoot determines how quickly the edges of the light fall off. If the interior is black, you get fast fall off and sharp light edges; if it is white, you get softer edges while silver produces even softer edges again.
Gather your equipment
- Cardboard
- Black/silver gaffer tape
- Velcro - optional
- Glue
- Flash
- Ruler
- Scissors
Carefully measure the size of the flash gun, do not make it too small. Mark out and score cardboard.
Cover inside of the tube with black or silver tape, silver tape can give you fall off. Cover outside to make the snoot more sturdy.
The same principle can be applied to spot lights, though care must be taken to avoid overheating and a fire risk.
http://photo.tutsplus.com/articles/hardware/the-oh-so-famous-cereal-box-snoot/
also has information about using a snoot and shows examples of using snoots with different lengths. The following three images were taken with 6.7″, 4.2″ and 2.75″ snoots to demonstrate the effect of making a snoot long or short.
I shall upload my test shots as soon as it becomes dark enough to allow me to try out my creation!
*Update
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| Normal flash |
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| With snoot |
A very dramatic difference. Not sure where and when I may use it but a handy tool and technique to have.
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