What is a snoot? What is a foil? How can you use them in your photography? Are they useful? Here these questions will be answered. Snoots and foils can be extremely useful in your studio setups. Once you have used these tools you won't look back.
Snoots are attachments that are connected to a lighting unit head to direct the light and concentrate it into a small area. Snoots come in various diameters and can narrow light to quite a small area. By using snoots photographers can aim light with great precision to hit a certain area of the subject. There is little or no spill over to other areas of the subject. The diameter of the end of the snoot and the distance the light is from the subject determine the size of the light spot.
Commercial snoots are usually black, come in various sizes and generally quite expensive. They are part of a range of light modifiers that are made for flash units (although they can also be used for stationary light) also including barn doors, grids, gel holders and other accessories.
The expense of snoots is where foils come in to play. Some photographers prefer to make their own snoots with a product called Cinefoil. This is something that is usually found in every professional photographer's studio along with Gaffer tape. This material looks like thick, matte black tin foil. Its thickness allows you to mold just about any shape with it for light modifying. So you now have a material to mold your own snoots to whatever size you want. The foil is heat and fire resistant so can be used with hot tungsten lights. The best way to adhere to a hot light source is to use metal clips as tape will melt.
Whatever method you choose, snoot or foil, you will find that this simple device will provide extreme directional and narrow light spots that can create dramatic and unusual lighting.
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