#ring flash #portrait

Godox R1200 ring flash head provides even illumination with few shadows visible because of the nature of the ring. Photographer Luke Edmonson shares with us some tips of using R1200 ring flash head for AD1200Pro, mainly covering the following aspects: What is the R1200? How to use a ring flash? Why buy one?

What is the R1200?

I'm Luke Edmonson, I'd like to share how to use Godox's latest ring light, the R1200.

Godox makes great and affordable products for photographers, and recently came out with the AD1200 Pro single head battery pack.

For those who aren't familiar, 1200 watt seconds is about 15 times more powerful than your average speed light. Depending on your style and what you're shooting, that extra power can come in handy.

 The standard head comes with a Bowens Mount so you can use your existing modifiers like soft boxes and more. The Ring Flash comes with an adjustable bracket allowing to use it on and off your camera. You can also add the umbrella mount, honeycomb grids, or a beauty dish. Now you might be wondering, does it still support high-speed sync and TTL? Yes, absolutely. Most of the specs and functionality are exactly the same built into the battery pack. That includes being able to use the 40 watt led light, when you're shooting.

The X series triggers make it compatible with many brands of cameras like Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, Olympus and Panasonic.

The main difference between the two heads is the guide number, which is naturally lower because of its larger size and shape. These attributes also contribute to the softer quality of light that it produces. If you already own the AD1200 Pro, adding this light is a no brainer. At worst it's an extra head. Used as your main light, gives you that specialty look.Overall, it's an excellent solution for controlling fill light, whether you're outdoors in the studio or on location. 

How to use the Ring falsh head?

So how can we use a ring light? Well, there are two main ways. One is with your camera mounted through that center hole or on axis. Using it this way gives us those circular catch lights in the eyes and reduces shadows. Adding the beauty dish reflector, softens your lighting even more. The other approaches off-camera. You can use the grids maybe as a hair separation light, the beauty dish, or attach the included umbrella holder to the bracket. Godox offers reflectors and parabolic umbrellas available in either silver or white.

Shiny parts or the speculars of our picture, show brighter highlights when we use silver. White appears softer because it produces less contrast. Adding diffusion can make those shadows even softer. You can also control your contrast by how far you insert the umbrella shaft in relationship to your light source. When working with multiple lights, try using it as a fill flash to minimize strong shadows. Mounting a ring light to your camera helps in situations where you can't or don't want to bounce off a ceiling or a wall.Just dial the power to suit your taste. 

Our personal preference was to use two R1200s. One is our main light in an umbrella off camera. The other one we used on. our camera as a ring flash, we use that one as the fill light to bring more detail and lighten up the shadows. Even added a third one back behind our set, pointed it at our backdrop, using it to brighten it up and create more dimension and depth.

Useful tips of using R1200

Here are five things that we thought will help the first time you pick up an R1200 ring flash. Push the side button both down and in when attaching or removing the protective glass or beauty disc reflector. When shooting with the ring light attached to your camera, remember to adjust all three of the bracket screws to help center the ring flash around your camera lens. By bringing it closer to camera body, you can help avoid unwanted vignetting when using wider angle lenses.

Turning on your modeling light while shooting may help you minimize possible red eye. Using the threaded screw adapter makes it easy to attach the bracket to a C-stand knuckle. We liked that the R1200 easily fit in the AD1200 Pro rolling case.

Even the bracket is collapsible. We are very impressed with the overall build quality

and love the sizable four inch diameter of the inner circle, which accommodates most lenses. We found the beauty disc reflector to be extremely sturdy and the quality of light it creates highly desirable. Because the ring flash is lightweight, it's possible to be more spontaneous and handhold while shooting. Photographers looking to enhance details in soft shadows will love their new edition of this marvelous light.