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soft box question
May be a stupid question but worth a shot. I am using 2 starflash 650ws strobes with the 3' octodome softboxes on them. These boxes are 3 in 1, they come standard with white inside and there are gold inserts as well as silver. The question that I have for those with experience with reflective colors is which color would be best to shoot fashion with. Silver? Gold? White? Right now for playing around I have been using 2 gold inserts and the rest is white, my reasoning is that the 2 gold will accent skin tone slightly but not too much. I haven't had any time to play with all 3 on their own for experiments so I am curious to know what you guys prefer to use. I will be doing a shoot for promo material and will need to find that perfect balance between skin tones and the fashion itself while minimizing the post process adjustments. Nor do I want to waste the models time by switching the inserts just to find out it looks like crap. There is also a silver/white reflector mounted on a boom on the side wall for reflection that I made, would the soft box liners determine what color my side reflector should be during setup? Sorry if it seems like a dumbass question ;-) S Dec 12 07 10:55 am Link I use white predominantly. Dec 12 07 10:57 am Link I use white, but also use the warm expodisk, so maybe your gold will do the same thing. Don't worry about the reflector. It will pick up whatever color your lights are putting out. Dec 12 07 11:00 am Link I'll use either, just depends on my mood and how the picture looks. *edit* since I'm lazy it also depends on which color the reflector is set to. or if I'm even more lazy I'll just use another light - if I have one. Dec 12 07 11:01 am Link depends on mood; setting and model's skin color. Dec 12 07 11:07 am Link exposureclothing wrote: The gold inset gives warmth to the light while the silver seems to amplify light and give higher contrast.... It would all seem to depend on the effect that you want or the amount of light that already exsists... Dec 12 07 11:11 am Link White - and I have used gels inside when I have needed them... (all 3 times)...  Dec 12 07 11:13 am Link Just Ask LLC wrote: QFT... this is the difference. For run way, you may want the extra contrast the silver would give. It's all a matter of personal style and meeting what the designer wants. You should do test shoots w/ each and show it to the designer to find out which style he/she wants. Dec 12 07 11:19 am Link ward wrote: < Agree Dec 12 07 11:23 am Link I use white for the most accurate color. Gold will warm the colors, something designers may not like, and silver will sharpen add a bit of contrast, to a degree weakening the effect of the softbox. Dec 12 07 11:26 am Link Oh ya, forgot to mention that I will be shooting against a white paper backdrop with white puck board on the floor. One strobe will be for BG washout while the other one will be angled slightly towards model with the bounce on her other side. I guess the white tells the mood lol. I like to use white so that there are no distractions on the photo itself, just the hot girl and the fashion ;-) From your comments, I think that the gold will be out as I don't want to warm up the shot, ecspecially if she is in a whit'ish outfit. Which color, white or silver will give me the best seperation of subject/clothing from the washed background? Common sense tells me that silver will be the harshest and white will be softer but I have been told that my sense is not all that common ;-) S Dec 12 07 11:27 am Link White is safe than Gold. You could always add yellow to warm a subject up in Photoshop. If you use Gold & you don't like it! It is more difficult to get rid of orange cast in Photoshop. Dec 12 07 11:31 am Link If you are using a silver reflector expect to see some loss in highlights, particularly if the dress is white. Translation, the dress could look like a big white mass. Use RAW shoot and change the white balance to a golden glow evening light, rather than using a gold refelector. Dec 12 07 11:31 am Link N Stiles Photography wrote: All the shots are for my business and they are in my small 10'w 25' studio so no runway. Just want to hear from others what they prefer so that I can minimize the time wasted with tests. Dec 12 07 11:32 am Link exposureclothing wrote: Neither. Your lighting set up will determine that. Light placement will be the critical issue-- which insert may change the light set up by a few inches, but either is equally capable of doing the job. Dec 12 07 11:34 am Link I usually use a paid of old under ware in mine to get that slightly brown tone to my images. Dec 12 07 11:35 am Link |
