Thanks Tom, very helpful. I saw some foam-core poster board in a store the other day and was wondering if it might work. Eventually I'd like some bigger/better lights but for now 'cheap' is the word of the day. ;-)
Don > -----Original Message----- > From: Graywolf [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 6:03 PM > To: pentax-discuss@pdml.net > Subject: Re: Sot Box or Umbrella, which is better? > > > Interestingly I saw several of the answers before your post came up, Don. > > The real answer is that depends. It depends on what you are > trying to do, and > how much light you have available. > > Taking the second first as it is simpler to answer, softboxes use > up quite a bit > of light. So with your small strobes they would not be the best > thing to use > unless you are only interested in small product photography with > the lights up > close. > > On the first, what you are trying to do, I prefer umbrellas for > portraiture, and > softboxes for most anything else (sometimes I like hard light > rather than soft > though). For portraiture 2 medium power umbrella lights and two > lower power > snooted lights work well for traditional lighting (or two large > floods and and a > couple of baby spots if you use continuous lighting). That give > you Key, Fill, > background, and hair or back lights. > > For other stuff you can wind up using everything you can get your > hands on. It > seems however that most location photographers use minimal > lighting these days. > Just two lights with softboxes. Serious film crews use a truck > load of lights. > > So based upon the above I would recommend you get a couple of > higher power > strobes (something like those Alien Bees that Tom Van Veen uses) > that you can > use with boxes for location work, or with the existing lower > power ones for > studio. For portraiture you can put the umbrellas on the high > power strobs and > fabricate snoots or barndoors for the current ones. That would > give you maximum > versitility for the least money. > > However if you are mainly doing small product shots you can just > consider a > couple of small softboxes for your existing strobes. Or, you may > want to think > of getting a light tent instead of softboxes. > > BTW: if they do not need to be portable softboxes can be fabricated from > foamcore and duct tape real easily. > > Hope this is helpful. > > graywolf > http://www.graywolfphoto.com > "Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof" > ----------------------------------- > > > Don Sanderson wrote: > > I'm trying to come up with the best way to complete > > a small studio lighting setup. > > I have 2 120WS strobes with 32" umbrellas and stands. > > I also have 2 extra stands. > > I'd like to get 2 more AC slave strobes of about the same power. > > I can't decide whether to go with 2 more umbrellas and holders or > > get 2 24-32" soft boxes. > > My umbrellas can be used as bounce or "shoot thru". > > When used as shoot thru sometimes the ribs cause a shadow > > problem. > > > > What do you all think of umbrellas vs softboxes as far as ease of > > setup/use and effectiveness/versatility. > > Main uses would be: portrait, product and still life. > > > > TIA > > Don > > > > > > > > > -- > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. > Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.6.11 - Release Date: 1/12/2005 >
