Softboxes

[412 Burgh]

Looking to get into some soft boxes for interior of car pictures, at home portraits of my family to just practice or so.. I seen a few on Amazon relatively cheap. For example Amazon.com: DMKFoto Studio Softbox with Universal Speedring 24x36 inch: Camera & Photo

What should I look for in a soft box? I don't want a HUGE one, because I don't think they are collapsible and I don't have tons of room to store them when I'm not using them.

 

[Ryan L]

Unless you are shooting cargo vans how do you plan on shooting a 24x36 softbox inside a vehicle...and get your lens in there? Wouldn't a fong or other diffuser be a better fit?

 

[o hey tyler]

Unless you are shooting cargo vans how do you plan on shooting a 24x36 softbox inside a vehicle...and get your lens in there? Wouldn't a fong or other diffuser be a better fit?

A 24x36 will actually fit quite nicely up to a window on an automobile. That's how I shoot the interiors of vehicles, except I only have an umbrella at the moment. But it works similarly.

 

[412 Burgh]

Unless you are shooting cargo vans how do you plan on shooting a 24x36 softbox inside a vehicle...and get your lens in there? Wouldn't a fong or other diffuser be a better fit?

A 24x36 will actually fit quite nicely up to a window on an automobile. That's how I shoot the interiors of vehicles, except I only have an umbrella at the moment. But it works similarly.

Thank you, I was referring to your post of a picture you showed me before. It looks nice and it works well in your picture. I was going to put it outside....NOT inside the vehicle. But that's probably only going to be a few fun photos of my audi or my brothers bmw just for practice

 

[Big Mike]

What should I look for in a soft box? I don't want a HUGE one, because I don't think they are collapsible and I don't have tons of room to store them when I'm not using them.

Yes, they are collapse able...well, it may be more accurate to say that you have disassemble them and then store them quite easily. I've got an AB 'collapsible' softbox, and while it's very easy to open and collapse, it doesn't break down into a small package like the 'normal' softboxes do.

And just to make sure we're on the same page...a softbox is just a modifier. You still need a light to put it on.

 

[412 Burgh]

And just to make sure we're on the same page...a softbox is just a modifier. You still need a light to put it on.

My next question! lol. So what kind of light would I use for a softbox?

 

[Big Mike]

That should have been your first question. :er:

There are two main categories...flash/strobe or continuous.

Continuous lights are basically lamps...you turn them on and use the light. They let you see exactly what your photo will look like and you control your exposure just like you would with ambient light (shutter speed, aperture & ISO). The down side is that they can get hot and unless they are really powerful, they may require you to shoot with slower shutter speeds (or really high ISO). This doesn't make them ideal for shooting with the camera hand-held of shooting moving subjects (people etc). For still subjects, with the camera on a tripod, they would work fine though.

Flash/strobe is a better option when shooting people, as it practically ensures that you can shoot without any noticeable motion blur (shutter speed isn't really a factor in the exposure). On the down side, they can be expensive, they have to be triggered, you don't really have 'what-you-see-is-what-you-get'...so there is a bigger learning curve.

So first you should decide which type of lighting you want to go with. Then look around a choose which product/brand that you want to invest in. Then you can start to look at which modifiers you will want. Umbrellas, softboxes, snoots, grids, barn doors etc.
With softboxes, you use a 'speed ring' to attach it to the light...so you have to make sure that your speed ring matches the mounting type of your light.

 

[412 Burgh]

That should have been your first question. :er:

There are two main categories...flash/strobe or continuous.

Continuous lights are basically lamps...you turn them on and use the light. They let you see exactly what your photo will look like and you control your exposure just like you would with ambient light (shutter speed, aperture & ISO). The down side is that they can get hot and unless they are really powerful, they may require you to shoot with slower shutter speeds (or really high ISO). This doesn't make them ideal for shooting with the camera hand-held of shooting moving subjects (people etc). For still subjects, with the camera on a tripod, they would work fine though.

Flash/strobe is a better option when shooting people, as it practically ensures that you can shoot without any noticeable motion blur (shutter speed isn't really a factor in the exposure). On the down side, they can be expensive, they have to be triggered, you don't really have 'what-you-see-is-what-you-get'...so there is a bigger learning curve.

So first you should decide which type of lighting you want to go with. Then look around a choose which product/brand that you want to invest in. Then you can start to look at which modifiers you will want. Umbrellas, softboxes, snoots, grids, barn doors etc.
With softboxes, you use a 'speed ring' to attach it to the light...so you have to make sure that your speed ring matches the mounting type of your light.

Thank you for the great information! If I read correctly, a continuous would be good for simple portraits of family for fun. I don't need/want to invest tons of money into it. It's just a new hobby I enjoy and want to take some cool pictures.

 

[Big Mike]

If I read correctly, a continuous would be good for simple portraits of family for fun

Not really.

What I was trying to say, is that since you do want to shoot portraits of people...then you should get a strobe/flash....and NOT a continuous type of light.

You don't have to go out and buy a studio light, it could just be a flash unit that is meant to mount onto the camera's hot shoe (if you don't have one already). If you can manage to get it off the camera and start using 'off camera flash', then you can really start to play around with lighting.

Start here....Strobist: Lighting 101

 

[Ryan L]

lol, even if you can cram the softbox through the window of a smart car, you definately don't need a softbox yet. Learn a little about OCF before diving in.