CanonYouCan wrote in post #17648804
Hi,
I have 3 small gear questions :
1> I have a 80cm 32 inch softbox umbrella (inside metalic with diffusor cloth), my co-photographer found it a bit small.
What do you find about this size, too small, average ?
2> I also have a Westcott 152cm/60 Inch Optical White Satin umbrela with removable black cover
Problem is that I don't have a diffusor cloth of 60 inch, can you buy this on Ebay, or is this umbrella only meant as reflector without diffusor & shoot through umbrella ?
3> He used a shoot through umbrella, If I remember good the result doesn't differ much with a softbox umbrella, only the light is not lost behind in the softbox.
I know the distance to the model is also important, but mostly I take 2-3 meters with my Yognuo 600-RT so that the softbox is not in the frame.
Thanks!
Heya,
Depends on the look you want.
A 32" softbox, well, I'd be ok with it probably upwards of 36" from the subject, further than that, nope, too small, and no speedlite is powerful enough for the distance if it has an inner baffle to boot. I've tried similar, and I found the light gets harsh real fast, as you back it up too far, and you're dropping the light with it. Small soft boxes are good up close. Just use different rigging to position it so it's not in the frame. With 2~3 feet of space, you should be able to keep it out of the frame realistically (this is where a boom stand comes in). This applies to umbrellas too. Anything in the 24~30" size range. They're small, meant to be up close. If you use them at 3 meters away (10 feet!), they're just too far away and you end up with harsh light, instead of soft light, and you get very little wrap around.
A 60 inch umbrella would be good, if you have sufficient light behind it both as a shoot through, or as a bounce source. I'd probably not want it much further than 4~5 feet at best though. Again, I'd try to get it closer. 10 feet is still very far away for this, especially for a speedlite. Again you have to consider the power of the light source, the size of the light modifier, and it's distance to the subject. You're working with a small powered light source, and a large light modifier, so if you put that 10 feet away, it will produce very little light on your subject and look harsh. Up close, it will be softer and have a lot more wrapping around effect. But I would want more than a speedlite behind 60". I'd probably want two speedlites, or a strobe for that.
Umbrellas, used as shoot throughs, are very effective and inexpensive and portable, so they're a staple for most everyone in some way. They work very much like a softbox at close range. They just spill a lot more light, so they're less controlled.
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I use 43" shoot through umbrellas at close range (3 feet or so) for portability and for rapid setup, even outdoor, with speedlites.
I use a 24 x 24" softbox about 3 feet away, max, from the subject when I want a close range soft modifier with little to no spill, with speedlites.
I use a 48" softbox about 4~5 feet away, max, from subject when I want a bigger source for more than one person, or when I want greater wrap around at closer range and maintain a real soft light, both indoor & outdoor. I use a strobe (600Ws) in this (also portable) for the size and distance, speedlites just aren't enough (for me anyways).
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If you want to have 10 feet of distance between source & subject, I'd look more at beauty dishes, rice bowls, etc.
Very best,
