question of soft box use

[mike_herring]

I am fairly new to studio portraiture and have a question. I am using Photoflex soft boxes, size Medium i believe, for my main light. I notice a hard edge shadow off of the nose. Something I do not recall seeing when I used umbrellas. Am I using the soft box improperly. I place as close to subject as possible without seeing in viewfinder. Can anyone help me with this question?

 

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Thanks in advance

Mike

http://www.humboldt1.com/~mikeh/

[colm boran]

I also use the Photoflex Medium Litedome. When I started out, I used the softbox much like you described and had similar results (some relatively hard edges on the noses). I assume you're using both the inner baffle and the removable front diffuser panel. A wedding pro gave me some tips a few months ago that helped me tremendously. It's a bit difficult to describe without diagrams, but here goes:

 

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Assuming you're photographing a woman, put the softbox a few feet off to one side and about half way between the camera and the model. Turn the model's shoulders away from the softbox a bit. Turn her face toward the camera and tip her head slightly toward her higher shoulder. Aim the softbox so it is shooting light *across* the imaginary line between the camera and the model, not at her! Look at the model and note how the light is falling on her face and body (assuming you have a modeling light in your flash unit). Move the softbox toward the camera to reduce the shadow, toward the model to increase the shadow. Don't turn the box toward the model, just move it forward or backward. Also, you should probably try a white posterboard reflector on the other side of the model and reflect some light back into the shadow side. This reflector can be angled slightly to direct light onto the model and away from your camera lens. This lighting can yield great results but you have to take care that the camera lens is not exposed to direct light from the softbox. In the layout I described above, you will probably need something black to block the direct light from the softbox from hitting your lens (or a good long lens shade helps).

 

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If you're shooting a man, turn the shoulders the other way and tilt the head toward the lower shoulder. Men typically look better with some shadow, so you'll probably want to move the box away from the camera. When shooting couples, keep the man on the far side (away from the softbox) with his shoulders facing it and the woman on the near side with her shoulders away from it.

 

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E-mail me directly and I can send you a drawing if you want.

[twmeyer]

hello

softboxes are designed to yield more directional light and umbrellas will yield better "wrap-around" light (look at the shape of the tool).

a box will let you control light spill (onto the background, for instance) easier than an umbrella, which may require a gobo (a card on a stand) to block the light.

another consideration is the catchlight formed in the eye, the rectanglar shape of a softbox seems subconciously easier to accept (a window?)by the veiwer than an umbrella (ribbed with a stobe head in center and scalloped edges).

i use a 3x4ft box with a fill reflector or second head powered down, because it leaves the impression of window light.

you can heighten this effect by adding branches or using black tape on the face of the softbox to simulate a french window type grid or trees outside a window, which will be seen in the catchlight. however, it's easy to be too obvious with this technique.

photoflex makes a circular mask, which renders the whole catchlight almost obsolete, as a round catchlight in a round eye practically ceases to consciously register with the veiwer. it does make your light source effectively smaller.

have fun.

twm