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Best on-camera softbox?
Yesterday I posted the first set in a photo series that I'm doing, but before I did so, I ran a couple of versions of one of the photos by a fellow photographer, who suggested that I should have used a large softbox or octabox to soften the light instead of a speedlight firing into an umbrella. Studio size, e.g. 18"x24", was out of the question considering the location, but a softbox on one or both of my flashes MAY have helped. Any suggestions as to size or brand? Note: Something collapsible and easily transportable would be preferred. Jan 30 16 06:15 pm Link It's a generalization, but usually anything that large isn't going to work well on a speedlite; you won't have even coverage, and you'll end up with less of a hotspot, and more 'areas that are totally unlit.' As far as size, there's really three parts to the math. 1) A larger box is softer, but less bright per square inch 2) Moving the light further away increases coverage on the subject, but gets darker 3) Using a diffuser on the flash head inside the box makes the light more even, but doesn't make it any brighter - it just spreads it out So what's right ... who knows? Using a tiny Lumiquest box eight feet away is roughly as bright as using an 18x24 box right next to the subject, but the bigger box gives softer shadows, assuming it's lit evenly. I remember discussing this with Paul C Buff's service department ... I had a few Einsteins, I wanted bigger boxes, and wondered if I ought to buy more powerful lights. If you ever need to call Buff, you'll quickly learn that they have one of the best service departments in the industry, if not THE best. So I called them up, ready to buy new lights. We went over the math on the phone, and they explained to me that since I can place a larger box closer to the subject and get the same coverage as a smaller box further away, based on my average shooting (thigh up) I would have almost exactly the same exposure as the smaller boxes I had been using from further away. So they talked me out of buying new lights, and I tested my boxes when I got them. The new 50" boxes were within a third of a stop of the old 24" boxes from halfway across the room. The moral of the story? Bigger doesn't mean better. If you're cramped for space, and don't mind trying to dance around your equipment in a tight space, using box boxes can work really well, even if you have to stick another diffuser on the flash inside the box to make it happen. If you don't want to litter your living room with stands and cables, using a smaller box jammed in the corner will give you a little harsher shadow/highlight transition, but there's no reason why it can't cover the same area at the same exposure But the corrolary to that is if using a small box in the corner isn't bright enough, moving to a larger box is unlikely to fix anything. It's still the same amount of light leaving the flash head. For what it's worth, I use Lumiquests and umbrellas with my speedlite kit. Key is a close Lumiquest, and fill is an umbrella stuck wherever I can fit it. That works pretty well for me. Jan 30 16 08:56 pm Link Shawn Wright Photo wrote: I'm a little confused. You were using an umbrella and it wasn't soft enough (he suggested a large softbox or octabox). But you're looking for something smaller than your umbrella? Or am I misunderstanding the question? Jan 31 16 07:49 am Link I keep at least one lumiquest Softbox III in my strobe kit at all times. I don't normally use it on-camera, but it will work that way too. Linking to a great srtobist review: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/09/by … x-iii.html Jan 31 16 07:56 am Link LightDreams wrote: White on the reflective surface, black on the outside, not of the shoot-through variety. I believe that it's 18", and maybe 15 feet from my subject (I wasn't keeping track). Lastly, it was outdoors, and it was almost pitch black, and in an area with difficult access at that time of day, hence my need for something smaller than a studio-sized softbox. Jan 31 16 09:26 am Link Shawn Wright Photo wrote: Ouch. Under those circumstances it's going to be a trade-off of size versus softness. There's no possibility (with those rather unique and difficult conditions) of having softer lighting without going much larger in some form. It sounds like you have no large neutral color surface that you can bounce light off of. Jan 31 16 10:29 am Link For the record, this is the photo in question. I did this shoot with two models, and this was the first shoot for both of them, so I sent links to a couple of sites that had advice on posing. It was pretty obvious who read them and who didn't. She's the one who did.  _DSC3784aaa by Shawn Wright, on FlickrJan 31 16 06:05 pm Link I think You'd see results more to Your liking by using a shoot through umbrella. Jan 31 16 06:15 pm Link 51 Imaging wrote: I bought one after this shoot. It's at least 12" larger than my other umbrella. Jan 31 16 06:40 pm Link Shawn Wright Photo wrote: They can be found in various sizes, Feb 01 16 06:28 am Link I'm into more power. A GN=640 flash setup is on my back at times.  Feb 01 16 07:39 am Link In addition to the advice above about using the larger shoot through umbrella and positioning it closer to the model, you might also try using a tripod and a slow shutter speed (1 to 8 seconds or so). The flash will still trigger and light / freeze the model, but the longer exposure will help get some detail / exposure in the background. And if you dial in your flash to slightly underexpose (as also previously mentioned) she'll blend in better with that now brighter background. I'd also consider putting the shoot through umbrella up higher to reduce the difference that the light has on the ground (up close). Or shoot the new images in tighter without the foreground. All sorts of possibilities! Or, for some more artsy looks, try hand holding it for 1 or 2 seconds if there are some lights in the background. I.E. a deliberate background glow / blurred background mixed in with a partially frozen (due to the flash) image of the model. With this type of experimental approach, some shots will suck while you may get a couple of great ones. Works better when you have some interesting lights in the background. I.E. Not just a dark black background... Don't be afraid to experiment, experiment, experiment! Feb 01 16 10:25 am Link GRMACK wrote: I wonder if I can mount that on the back of my car for those pesky tailgaters... Feb 01 16 03:45 pm Link @ LightDreams - cool ideas Feb 01 16 06:13 pm Link Phantasmal Images wrote: The best way to flash people in public! Feb 02 16 12:59 pm Link I use a shoot through umbrella and pull down the small diffuser on my 580EX flash. This seems to work very well for me. By pulling down the diffuser it causes the flash to broaden out into the whole umbrella. I have never had much luck with those small on flash diffusers. On a shot like that it's going to be difficult to get perfect results. With a totally dark background you're going to have light fall off. What I might do in a situation like that is use a friend as an assistant and have them hold a small reflector so as to bounce light back onto the subject off to the side somewhere. You might get a little better results. I recently have started using 2 speed lights (in manual mode) and two shoot through umbrellas. I find this works quite well. Check out this guys site...http://smokingstrobes.com/ I hope this helps, I know what it's like to envision a shoot and then later in post processing finding out it's not the way I hoped it would look. Bryan Feb 14 16 11:48 am Link |
