softess of light from a softbox

Dear Fellow members of Photosig.

Apart From size and a white interior is there any other consideration

about softess of light from a softbox? I ask because I want to buy

one mainly for beauty shots.

Thank you in advance for your time.

Best Regards,

Walter Iglesias

Photosig! Photosig!

 

You mean Photo.net I think!

 

Size is what counts, but it's relative size of course. A smaller softbox closer the the subject has the same "softness" as a larger softbox further from the subject.

what bob said. closer the light source, softer the light. (for a given size of softbox)

Size matters as does relative size. The ideal whe nusing softboxes is that the

diffusing surface of the lightbox should be no farther away from the subject than the

length of the diagonal across the face of the softbox. If closerthe light wraps around

more and so appears more enveloping. Further away than the length ofthe diagonal

and the harsh , more contrasty the , less enveloping the light appears to be.

The interior surface has little to do with the softness of the light produced. the quality

of the diffusion screen and the placement of thebox, and the evenness ofthe light

spread from the flash head to the diffusion screen are the controlling factors.

Photosig? I think you're a bit confused.... Photo.net is a <b>photography</b> site!<br>More seriously though, I agree with the above answers and the relative size thing is the reason why the little clip-on diffusers on camera flashguns often give disappointing results and is also one of the reasons why studios often have enormous lightbanks, containing several heads, when it isn't possible to bring lights close to the subject.

Sorry I meant Photo. Net. That confusion was the result of me being very tired at the time of writing the question.

Photo.Net will always have a very special place in my heart, through this site I have met wonderful people, also is a very serious site, with the best Photography and best Photographers.

Thank you all once again for your answers they are very appreciated, especially because in my part of the world there is no good Photography school and no one to ask.

I asked this question mainly because a couple of days ago I showed a print of a Photo that will go on UNICEF cards, at the photo lab. And a photographer asked me if I had used a softbox number one or two and I didn´t know what he was referring two, I guess he was talking about the numbers of diffusion screens on the softbox. Anyway it is curious that most people here in my country think I have a fancy studio with the most advance gear, if they knew all I got is a couple of flashes (recently I got 2 studio flashes, before that I used small $20 electronic units) and a piece of Styrofoam. LOL.

Best Regards,

Walter.

<I>anyway it is curious that most people here in my country think I have a fancy

studio with the most advance gear, if they knew all I got is a couple of flashes

(recently I got 2 studio flashes, before that I used small $20 electronic units) and a

piece of Styrofoam. LOL. Best Regards, Walter.

</I><P>Proof once again that it is only the results that count.

If someone asked me if I used a "softbox number one or two " I wouldn't know what to say either... t

I would have looked at the guy as if he were and idiot and said "Number three, of course..."

I prefer a 1.5 myself.