When I was in photography school using very expensive lights my favorite and least favorite things were the barn doors...metal plates on hinges that are put on light to block and direct the lights to smaller areas. What I didn't like about them was how hot they got and my seeming inability to remember this before grabbing hold of them to adjust. I always wanted to use small area of hard light as opposed to broad areas of soft light in my portraits---probably because our instructors were showing us the benefits of soft lighting(I generally don't go in directions I'm shown to be true without first having to push the limits and question everything!) If you read my postings regularly you'll note that I try to shine my lights through things all the time to create shadows and highlight area. Recently while photographing Nikida Eve i had her lean on a chair seat as the light shone thru the back--we moved minutely to find sweet spots of light on eyes and features. I think I'm going to look for all the shaped metal pieces I've collected over the years and just begin to shine lights thru them to see what I can get out of it! SayerMotter Photograph by Richard Sayer.