SOFTBOX OR UMBRELLA?

A friend and I are setting up a studio and would like to know a little bit on the correct lighting to start off with....
Is a softbox a good starter upper?
Any suggestions would help for a new studio!!
Please Please Please

Yes and no. First of all, how many lights are you going to have and also what type of light do you want? Theres soft lighting, harsh lighting etc.

elysium wrote in post #5518311
Yes and no. First of all, how many lights are you going to have and also what type of light do you want? Theres soft lighting, harsh lighting etc.

How many lights are we going to need?
We have been told that we will need 2 lights, and the softbox kit has just that, also they have dimmer switches on them for softer or harsher lighting!

I would say as minimum for a suitable started into a studio setup.

- Softbox (not sure on size)
- Umbrella flash for fill
- Reflector

Softboxes come in many sizes so it would be difficult to really sit down and decide. Your best bet would be to check out www.strobist.com for more detailed info on setups.

elysium wrote in post #5518396
I would say as minimum for a suitable started into a studio setup.

- Softbox (not sure on size)
- Umbrella flash for fill
- Reflector

Softboxes come in many sizes so it would be difficult to really sit down and decide. Your best bet would be to check out www.strobist.com for more detailed info on setups.

Thanx for the help!!

First I would say that while two lights are the absolute minimum, if you're actually starting a "studio", you may wish to consider 3 if not 4 for portrait work (if that's your intent...if your doing product work it's different). One as a main with a softbox, one as a fill with an umbrella, one as a back light with a snoot (to separate the subject from the background) and having a fourth one as a hair light is nice if you can afford it. And for the record, I am talking strobes here and NOT continuous light.

By the way, the dimmer isn't to adjust "harshness" it's for setting the correct exposure of the light. In other words, let's assume you're shooting at ISO 100, f/8, 1/125 sec and the shot is under exposed...then you'd turn that dimmer up a bit. If it's over-exposed, you turn it down. That's a rather simplistic explanation, but that's the jist of it. The "harshness" of light refers to something else entirely and is more related to contrast. You can have to images that are correctly exposed and one can be harsh and the other soft. Softness and harshness of light have nothing to do with the dimmer...that's what the softboxes and umbrellas are for.

This is just my opinion and I most certainly could be wrong, but from the sound of your posts, you really may wish to do a little more research before you purchase anything...there's more to "setting up a studio" than just going out and buying a light kit.

Lastly since you said you were interested in buying "a lighting kit", make sure you know what you want and need before you buy...not all lighting kits are created equal. I'm not saying that you need to buy top of the line strobes or anything for your first studio, but some of the kits out there (such as some on Ebay) are little more than regular light bulbs with a flash attachment...they don't do very well for most serious photography work. Also decide -how- you will be working before you buy. I do most of my portrait work at relatively open apertures such as f/2.8 - f/3.5 so I can get away with lower powered monolights such as my 150ws units. If you are planning on shooting at say f/8, then you may need more powerful monolights such as 300ws or more depending on your working distance to your subject.

Okies...just my $.02 worth,
Jim

Walczak Photo wrote in post #5519216
First I would say that while two lights are the absolute minimum, if you're actually starting a "studio", you may wish to consider 3 if not 4 for portrait work (if that's your intent...if your doing product work it's different). One as a main with a softbox, one as a fill with an umbrella, one as a back light with a snoot (to separate the subject from the background) and having a fourth one as a hair light is nice if you can afford it. And for the record, I am talking strobes here and NOT continuous light.

By the way, the dimmer isn't to adjust "harshness" it's for setting the correct exposure of the light. In other words, let's assume you're shooting at ISO 100, f/8, 1/125 sec and the shot is under exposed...then you'd turn that dimmer up a bit. If it's over-exposed, you turn it down. That's a rather simplistic explanation, but that's the jist of it. The "harshness" of light refers to something else entirely and is more related to contrast. You can have to images that are correctly exposed and one can be harsh and the other soft. Softness and harshness of light have nothing to do with the dimmer...that's what the softboxes and umbrellas are for.

This is just my opinion and I most certainly could be wrong, but from the sound of your posts, you really may wish to do a little more research before you purchase anything...there's more to "setting up a studio" than just going out and buying a light kit.

Lastly since you said you were interested in buying "a lighting kit", make sure you know what you want and need before you buy...not all lighting kits are created equal. I'm not saying that you need to buy top of the line strobes or anything for your first studio, but some of the kits out there (such as some on Ebay) are little more than regular light bulbs with a flash attachment...they don't do very well for most serious photography work. Also decide -how- you will be working before you buy. I do most of my portrait work at relatively open apertures such as f/2.8 - f/3.5 so I can get away with lower powered monolights such as my 150ws units. If you are planning on shooting at say f/8, then you may need more powerful monolights such as 300ws or more depending on your working distance to your subject.

Okies...just my $.02 worth,
Jim

Thanx Jim your $.02 is worth a million bucks to me!!

Niether.

Learn bare and figure out what you like shooting before you spend scratch.

Go to the book store or library or online and pick up Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting and The Complete Guide to Light & Lighting in Digital Photography

They'll explain the whats and whys of lighting. They'll both help save you money in the beginning and make you money in the long run.

i second getting a good book (e-book) on lighting. but you may start with one softbox and reflector right now.

Walczak Photo wrote in post #5519216
Lastly since you said you were interested in buying "a lighting kit", make sure you know what you want and need before you buy...not all lighting kits are created equal

Excellent advise.

If taking standard, classic portraits of children or adults, strobe in softbox as key, with reflector for fill, and additional light for hair would work for most situations. 24x36" or 36x48" softbox would probably be more than adequate for that purpose. Also, if you're shooting groups, the reflector may quickly become less useful and should be replaced by a fill light through umbrella or bounced off something, like white foamcore.

If you want to keep it portable, you could get away with white bounce/shoot thru umbrella as key for similar purpose, but IMO the effect isn't the same as a softbox.

If taking more controlled, artistic photos, might want to consider larger softboxes, strip boxes, barndoors, beauty dishes, grids, and so on. The same is encouraged for fashion and glamour styles; control becomes very important, and you can use any of those modifiers, as well as flags.

Look at his examples of light properties

Softbox Vs Umbrella