Louver assemblies for lights are generally used to direct or limit the distribution of the light emitted. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,065,814 (Lennon) and 2,906,864 (Boutelle) illustrate two such louvers. The louvers are typically placed over the front of a reflector, such as a parabolic reflector, which is used to direct light from a light source and which partially encloses the source. The louver assemblies generally consist of a series of rigid planar slats secured to form a parallel grid.
Louvers are particularly useful in photographic work such as studio photography where artificial light is used to create desired combinations of shading and illumination on the subject matter. The ability to control the dispersion of light through the use of louvers is most helpful in achieving the desired effects. Further, in connection with frontal projection photography of the type described in Jenkins U.S. Pat. No. 2,727,427 wherein a background is projected on a reflex reflector screen which reflects light back only in the direction from which it came, control of the lateral dispersion of the illumination is particularly important. By limiting the light that is directed onto the subject in the foreground to that coming directly from light sources on the sides, the background which is projected from and reflected to the viewing camera's position does not become obliterated by the side illumination.
Since photographic lighting is often moved not only within the studio but to different locations it is desirable that a louver attachment can be removed from the light and collapsed to a small configuration for transportation and storage. It is also desirable that the louver design lend itself to lightweight, durable, and economical construction. It is further desired that the louver attachment be adaptable to fit a variety of configurations of light and reflector arrangements. Such a louver attachment is provided.