Appropriate distance for softbox lights?

[crob2go]

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF SOMEONE CAN GIVE ME SOME HELP WITH THIS.

JUST BOUGHT SOFT LIGHT IN HOPES OF LATER TURNING PRO AFTER I WORK

OUT THE NICHES. MY QUESTION IS WHAT IS THE NORMAL DISTANCE FOR

SUBJECT TO BE FROM SOFT BOX. MY SOFT BOXES HAS A 500 WATT OUTPUT.

ALSO WHAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED TO CLOSE. I'M SENDING ONE OF MY FIST

ATTEMPT USING THE SOFT BOX. HOW CAN I IMPROVE. ANY COMMENTS

WELCOMED....THANKYOU....CRAIG<div></div>

[gluteal cleft]

<p>The distance at which you put a softbox depends on two things: How soft you want the light, and how large the softbox is.</p>

 

<p>The closer the light, the softer the light. With a larger softbox, the softer the light, given the same distance.</p>

 

<p>I have a 30"x40" softbox, and place it anywhere from 10 feet to 1 foot from the subject, depending on how I want the light. The only time a softbox is *too* close is when it shows up in your picture!</p>

 

<p>(Although with your hot light, it would also be too close if it made your model sweat, or their makeup to melt/run.)</p>

 

<p>In <a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/4240394" style="{text-decoration: underline; color: #00a000;}">this picture</a>, I placed the softbox above and in front of the subjects, pointing down and just a little toward them. It was placed as close as I could get it without it showing up in the frame. It's not a perfect shot, the lack of a catch-light makes the mother's eyes look flat and dark, but I'm just a rookie. :-)</p>

 

steve

[jeffrey_blake_adams]

You place them depending upon your meter reading, and the desired effect, are you looking for hard light, soft light, detail or depth? Where do you wish the shadows etc? Check out www.montezucker.com and www.zuga.net for some great tutorials. Jeff

[leicaglow]

I Craig, Just a couple of thoughts (though lighting is so subjective).

 

The hot spot on the girl's forehead bothers me a little. I would rather see this as a highlight in her hair. Note that it also causes a shadow across her lip, where this might be better from the side. You might at least try moving the light further back to her right, causing it to boost her hairline and even clothes a bit more.

 

The lighting is a little flat for my taste, and probably doesn't enhance her youthful skin tone. I'm not sure if you have more than one light box or not, but I would move one over to her left as the main light. Normal distances are fairly relative, but I think most people would at least want enough distance to comfortably walk between the subject and soft box. I would think you have plenty of power at 500 WS.

 

So: Use the main light on her left. Move the light causing the "hot spot" on her forehead to highlight her hair (and possibly lower it to include a kicker effect on her clothing). If you have a third light, use it to fill in the shadow on the right side of her face, but give it a little more contrast. And if you really want to get nit picky, I might lower the value of the background by just a stop or so.

 

Lighting darker skin tones is always tricky,

[john_murphy1]

Here's <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Frub&tag=">a link</a> to a comparison I created to demonstrate the effect of softbox distance on light quality.</p>

When purchasing a softbox, keep in mind that the size affects how far you can move the light away from the subject before you start to lose the soft effect. That's why Steve said that you can never get too close with a softbox.

[jim c]

A rule of thumb is to measure the diagonal of the front of the softbox and that's the proper distance to the subject for a soft wrap around light.

[crob2go]

THANKS, TO EVERYONE THAT GAVE A RESPONSE TO THIS QUESTION. KNOW THAT IT WAS DEEPLY APPRECIATED AND HELPFUL......CRAIG