Did you ever wonder how those fashion guys get super clean images with all shadows around the edges? Well, they do it using a ring flash. You see, with a regular 'hot shoe' flash, all the light is coming from above the lens (or to the left of it if you are shooting portrait style). This is what accounts for the shadows under things...like a nose or chin. The same is basically true when using softboxes and umbrellas. The light source comes from a fixed source that is usually above and/or off to one side of the lens.
However, the ring flash produces a light source from 'all around' the lens thusly canceling out the shadow from it's 360 degree counterpart. Sounds cool, right?! Well, it is. The only bad thing about these guys is that their coast can be well up into the thousands!...until now.
The (above pictured) Ray Flash gives you the great studio look quality of an expensive ring flash, but in a smaller, much cheaper version that actually attaches directly to your hot shoe flash and 'carries' the light to ring flash portion via reflecting light. Oh, and they only cost about $200!
They make 'em to fit specific camera and flash models...so know what you're looking for.
Check them out at: www.ray-flash.com
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