New to strobes

[chauncey]

Newbie question regarding using a snoot...does it increase the intensity of the light?

If my subject is ten feet away from a strobe and making no other changes in lighting, except
by adding a snoot into the equation...will exposure settings need to be changed?

[Manfred M]

Yes, sort of. A snoot throws a very narrow beam of light of light so you won't get the same kind of spread as with your umbrella.

Will your exposure need changes? Possibly and possibly not, as everything depends on the specific setup (including the efficiency of your snoot), power level used, how you want the area hit by the snoot to look in the final image, etc. In the absence of a flash meter, you are going to have to use a trial and error approach to get the the light effect you want to.

I use a snoot to accent a particular part of an image (accent light), but the intensity will always be lower than my key light. The inverse square law is going to impact the snoot has (I generally don't have mine nearly that far away).

[chauncey]

Thanks, have got to play with this some more.

[Venser]

If my subject is ten feet away from a strobe and making no other changes in lighting, except
by adding a snoot into the equation...will exposure settings need to be changed?

Depends on what is being lit by the snoot. If the main subject is exposed to your liking prior to the snoot, and you now aim a snooted light at the main subject, it'll be overexposed.

I find with snoots, even with a light meter, it's more trial and error because the light is so directional. Moving the light source a slight amount greatly affects cast shadows on the subject (assuming your shooting people and not something like a bottle of wine).

[chauncey]

Thanks...kinda like frying the earth if ya focus all the sun's light on us.

[Manfred M]

Chauncy - a quick "Lighting 101".

Your main light or "key light" is always the brightest light in use, unless you are trying for some strange looking effect. All other lights are either used to act as fill lights (i.e. lighten shadows) or accent lights, lights that are specifically aimed at some part of the scene to brighten up a specific part of it.

A snoot very definitely falls into the accent light category and its narrow beam is used to highlight something in the scene. As an example, if you are shooting an author of a book, and your shot has him or her holding the book, you might aim the snoot at the book to make is stand out a bit more.

Also, I would rarely, if ever, shoot with a snoot from 10ft. My modifiers tend to be up close and personal; the light quality is better that way. In some of my shots, I have to take the end of the snoot out in post because it actually gets in the frame.