There are many modifiers out there, but there are almost always more than you realize. Here is a term you may have heard of, just not with optical in front of it, and it opens up a lot of room for creativity.
It doesn't matter how many lights you have or how good you are with them, light modifiers can improve your arsenal. When I had first started out using strobe lights, I wasn't aware of much outside of the basic softbox and beauty dish. Over the years I have learned of many others and I have then tried them. Some have been so niche I've never used them again, and others I have either integrated into my workflow, or kept it locked away in the back of my mind as an option in future shoots. There is one modifier that I hadn't tried until relatively recently, though: the optical snoot.
This ridiculously named light modifier allows you to put a lens over the front of the light. This can both focus and magnify the light, though, as David Bergman shows in this video, there are lots else you can do if you buy the right adapter. The Spiffy Gear Light Blaster Strobe Based Projector allows you to connect Canon EF or EF-S lenses (with an optional Nikon adaptor) and then use slides to turn it into a sort of projector. While I'm not sure how much use I'd have for the projector function, I have found optical snoots excellent for rim lights.
Have you ever tried an optical snoot? What do you use it for?
