Why use Softbox?
The form of a softbox is to melt the light from a flash supply. If you’ve visited or tried the setup of huge photo studios, you would possibly have noticed big flash units, usually known as monolights or strobes. You’ll nearly always see some variety of modifier connected to these unit, whether it’s a big umbrella, a softbox, or a more unique form of modifier like a beauty dish.
The truth is that for flattering photos of subjects, direct light from these units is almost always too harsh and throws unsightly shadows on the person being photographed.
When we think of light, we should always keep in mind the size of our source. An example that I frequently use is the sun and clouds. If you’ve ever been out and taken pictures on a bright and sunny day, you’ll notice the harsh shadows almost anywhere you look. Portraits in direct sunlight will feature big shadows under the chin or around the eyes, depending on the placement of the sun.
Now, consider the quality of light that you’ll observe on cloudy days. Even if you can’t see the sun directly, it passes through the clouds and is softened. Shadows on subjects are almost unobservable when there are clouds to diffuse the sun’s rays. In some ways, clouds are the world’s largest softboxes. They increase the size of the light source (in this case the sun) from a tiny dot in the sky to the size of the entire sky. The light is then described as soft.
The relationship in size with flash units is much the same. If we use a bare flash, the quality of our light is going to be harsh. We are pushing a lot of light out of a relatively small rectangle, so harsh light is the result. You’ll see photographers bounce flash to get around this, but another great way is to use a softbox.
The important part of my personal flash philosophy is mixing ambient light with light from flash units. If you aren’t familiar with the term “ambient”, it simply refers to the light that’s already in a scene. It can be something like the sunlight coming through the windows, or the lamp that lights up a living room. Sometimes, it’s not enough to light a scene, so we mix in flash with the ambient light.
However, flash can have a dominant effect. This is where a softbox becomes invaluable: softening the light introduced by the flash to appear more like ambient.
As you may have already learned with photography, there are rarely absolutes. Soft light isn’t what we are always looking for, but when we do, we look to softboxes as the perfect way to lose the harsh shadows and provide great light.
LumiQuest Softbox III
Awhile back, I began becoming interested in using flash in a less obtrusive way. I loved that I could manufacture my own light on location, but I wasn’t always pleased with the quality of light that my flash units provided me. I once told a friend that my goal with flash was always to make it seem as if I hadn’t used flash.
When a fellow photographer offered up this softbox as a solution, I took the plunge. It was inexpensively priced at under $40 and was virtually a no brainer. Additionally, it didn’t require any type of special connector or attachment to affix to my flash unit of choice, and worked with all of my flash units.
Another one of the things that attracted me to this product was the amazing form factor that it provides. It can fold down and fit flat in my camera bag and can spring to life in a matter of seconds.
The best modifiers are the ones that you will actually carry, so this softbox scores big in this category. I’ve got enough big accessories that stay at home because they’re inconvenient to carry. So when I add something, size is always important.
After receiving the softbox, I couldn’t wait to get started with lighting scenes. Setup was nearly instantaneous. The flaps of the softbox have the crinkly velcro that attached to the soft velcro on my 285HV. One thing that I might suggest is to pick up a Honl Speed Strap. This wraps around the flash and the softbox and keeps the connection tight. The softbox is pretty lightweight so it won’t fall off easily.
I used some metallic, reflective blinds to give you a better idea of how this softbox modifies the light. The top photo shows off the effect of direct flash, while the bottom shows off the impact of the LumiQuest Softbox III. As you can see, the light has a much greater spread and throws off far less harsh reflection in the center. The reflection from the blinds is different because the light is softer when you use the softbox. Harsh light throws back harsh reflections, so imagine the ways that a softbox will aid in providing high quality light in portraits.
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| In this photo using bare flash, some reflective glare appeared in the center of the image. |
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| This photo used the softbox and the result is a much greater, even spread of light. (The vignetting was an effect of the lens and aperture being used) |
LumiQuest’s for Studio Portraits
It doesn’t take renting space and furnishing a studio to get those great studio quality photos. With this softbox, all it takes is a flash unit and a large enough space to manufacture studio style portraits from anywhere in the world.
Lighting Environments in LumiQuest’s Fold Flat Softbox
One of my favorite tricks to light creatively is to apply gels. It can make a part of a photo really stand out. Gels are simply colored, semi transparent thin plastic that go over flash units to change the color of the light involved.
In this photo, I used the flash with a softbox and a yellow gel to light the mailboxes outside my apartment. It makes them stand out and appear unnatural in a good way, although the softbox makes it look perhaps as if I didn’t use a harsh flash. The effect here is to provide a light that appears from nowhere, yet doesn’t have the telltale look of bare flash.
Environmental Portraits
One of the most ideal applications for a softbox like the LumiQuest is to utilize it on the go in environmental portraits. When I use the term “environmental portraits”, this just refers to placing a subject somewhere outside a studio in the midst of any type of environment. The truth of the matter is that you will rarely have ideal lighting for photographing a person. Although natural light works quite frequently, the truth is that only flash can provide certain lighting looks. If that’s what you’re looking for, the need to introduce flash arises.However, with bare bulb flash (no modifier) we are somewhat tied to a look. Bare flash is harsh. Again, this isn’t always bad, but if we’re looking for natural yet unique lighting, introducing flash with the LumiQuest softbox III attached is the perfect solution. That’s exactly what I applied when I ventured out for the evening with a friend. We were testing it and fired a test shot in the nearby woods in front of some train tracks. It was almost pitch black, but we used the softbox with our flash unit to provide simple yet effective lighting.
Conclution
In all, I can’t recommend a softbox such as this one enough. It may sound cliche, but it’s truly a game changer when it comes to using small flash units. I feel as if I can get the best of both worlds, portability and quality, from the small flash units that have somewhat limited my lighting style in the past. Inexpensively priced and extremely portable, it’s not hard to justify a spot in your bag for it.Above just few examples of the use of applications with flash softbox. and only a small part that can be done by this great application. you'll be able to flip to a softbox any time that you simply wishto subtly add in your own soft light. bare bulb flash definitely has its place in my list of flash tricks, however I notice myself turning to applying natural flash techniques a lot of usually that mimic the design of ambient light.