<p>if you want to get dramatic lighting where the shadows are strong you could a small deflector and attach a honeycomb grid if ytou want a more direct pool of light, these take up no room at all so you can position anywhere, if you going for more family portrait style and just want nice soft even lighting then a soft box works better i think<br>
In my studio i have beauty dish which gives me quite strong lighting with honeycomb grid insert to control the light more<br>
I have a big Elinchrom Octa Lightbank which is about 1.5 metres across 0 this is the ultimate light if you are shooting a group of people, kids, a whole family, as its so big it lights everyone nicely without having to adjust the positon of the light, so if kids are moving around, standing, sitting, it will light them.<br>
For more contrasty stuff you could use a smaller softbox, which might be better for your space, i use an elinchrom 2ftx4ft(approx) which will give you much softer lighting than the bare reflectors or beauty dish, but more contrast than a big octa lightbank.<br>
I think my point is that there is no one softbox that will do what you need, unless you plan on shooting the same style of lighting forever, and a good studio setup will have several softboxs and light shaping tools to suite each job.<br>
If you want white backdrop that will last for about 1-2 years of use you can get white vinyl rolls, they cost about £250 but thats it, you can whipe it clean after the shoot, it takes on marks over time, but nothing to affect the photos, compare this price to buying white colorama paper and the savings are massive.<br>
Another option is interfit flatpanels, which i used several years ago when i had a very small studio 9ftx12ft, they are softboxes but only about 3 inches deep, like a flat panel pc monitor, very handy for small studios and they lasted several years so quite sturdy.<br>
Size of softbox?
in Lighting Equipment
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<p>if you want to get dramatic lighting where the shadows are strong you could a small deflector and attach a honeycomb grid if ytou want a more direct pool of light, these take up no room at all so you can position anywhere, if you going for more family portrait style and just want nice soft even lighting then a soft box works better i think<br>
In my studio i have beauty dish which gives me quite strong lighting with honeycomb grid insert to control the light more<br>
I have a big Elinchrom Octa Lightbank which is about 1.5 metres across 0 this is the ultimate light if you are shooting a group of people, kids, a whole family, as its so big it lights everyone nicely without having to adjust the positon of the light, so if kids are moving around, standing, sitting, it will light them.<br>
For more contrasty stuff you could use a smaller softbox, which might be better for your space, i use an elinchrom 2ftx4ft(approx) which will give you much softer lighting than the bare reflectors or beauty dish, but more contrast than a big octa lightbank.<br>
I think my point is that there is no one softbox that will do what you need, unless you plan on shooting the same style of lighting forever, and a good studio setup will have several softboxs and light shaping tools to suite each job.<br>
If you want white backdrop that will last for about 1-2 years of use you can get white vinyl rolls, they cost about £250 but thats it, you can whipe it clean after the shoot, it takes on marks over time, but nothing to affect the photos, compare this price to buying white colorama paper and the savings are massive.<br>
Another option is interfit flatpanels, which i used several years ago when i had a very small studio 9ftx12ft, they are softboxes but only about 3 inches deep, like a flat panel pc monitor, very handy for small studios and they lasted several years so quite sturdy.<br>
Hope some snippets of that info help, this is my studio setup now, maybe some tips you can see in the pics <a href="http://www.studio7.uk.com">http://www.studio7.uk.com</a></p>