Lighting Instrument
Addendum
Cycs and studio backgrounds can be lit from the top and bottom with cyc lights.
The one here sits on the studio floor 
and is directed up at the background.
A six-section is shown; but, depending on the area that needs to be covered, ground cyc lights can have from one to 12 sections.
The cyc light on the right is attached to the grid and is directed down along background. A large background area may require a number of these lights.
The lamps in Fresnels have been known to explode, breaking the large Fresnel lens in the front. Since these glass lenses are heavy and they are positioned ten or more feet (3 or more meters) above the talent, this constitutes a major safety hazard.
The large Fresnel on the right has a wire screen in front of the Fresnel lens that is designed to keep broken glass from falling.
The use of safety cables or chains that loop from the light to the lighting grid are also important to safety.
Softlights are similar to scoops in their effect. However, instead of a large amount of direct light from the lamp hitting subjects, the illumination from softlight is all indirect. Light from the concealed lamps is all reflected from the large reflective area. Housings can accept one or more lamps from 300 to 1,000 watts.
Open face lighting instruments are typically mounted on floor stand and used in on-location lighting. The front of these lights accepts scrims and diffusers.
These are just a few of the lighting instruments that are available for studios and on-location production. The. B&H Photo lighting catalog, for example, is almost 1,000 pages long.
