Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
In this tutorial I will explain how I built the softbox used to take the image on the left. It is a 40cm X 40cm foamboard softbox that accepts a strobe. Kinda similar in size and effect to the Photoflex LiteDome XS which I use a lot out of the studio.
On the left image this softbox was used as key, see this lighting setup for another use of the softbox as fill.
It is a simple softbox to make and it takes about half an hour if you have mediocre cutting skills.[Read More…]
A softbox is a studio thingy that professional photographers use on their studios. Why? for a couple of reasons.
For one thing, softboxes create a smoother light – less hotspots (yea – those are the bright, burnt our noses in your photos), anther is smoother shadows. Most professional models are shot with softboxes to get that glamorous, look. Softboxes are also great for macro shots – they produce even diffused light.
The only trouble starts when you head down the road to the store and want to get one of them nice wonders. They usually cost something like a small county side house. In this article I will demonstrate how to build a homemade studio softbox for just a few $$.[Read More…]
Sometimes you need fancy equipment to create a great photo, and sometimes you just need a towel. In the video above, photographer Robert Harris shoots a female boxer using an interesting trait of light. The way that light wraps about objects.
So before the film school nerds explode, let me just explain what a ‘scrim’ actually is and what the term colloquially means to us photographers.
Technically scrims are large sheets of black woven fabric that reduce the brightness of a light when placed in front of them (these are usually constant HMI lights that don’t have individual brightness adjusters).
There are alternative large sheets of fabric that are placed in front of lights called ‘silks’ and these are actually white in colour. When ‘silks’ are placed in front of the lights, they diffuse the light and spread it over a far wider area resulting in very soft lighting. You could consider that a softbox is actually just a small silk as it has a large sheet of diffusion material in front of the light that softens it as it passes through it.
Bored of being stuck indoors yet? Shooting against the same white background all the time can get tiresome, so why not switch it up with some creative DIY alternatives.
Early on in my photographic career, I spent literally thousands of hours photographing subjects in front of white walls. This was an incredibly popular look in the 90’s as we moved away from the grey and brown cloudy backdrops of the 1980’s, but times are changing once again as we tire of the stark and clinical look of a pure white backdrop.
There can be many reasons why you don’t have a softbox, but there can also be many situations when you could really use one. I know I’ve had them. If you can relate, this awesome tutorial from SLR Lounge’s Pye Jirsa is just what you need. In this video, he shows you how to turn your on-camera flash into an off-camera softbox and get the flattering, soft light. You will need around $30 worth of gear for this, but you know what’s great? You probably already have it at home.
There are a lot of LED panels out there these days with no real access to add modifiers. Sure, there are some that are Bowens mount that let you use the same sorts of things you’d use with strobes, but for panels, not so much. There are also a lot of Fresnels out there, that can be a pain to attach softboxes to as well. DOP Choice’s Universal Snapbag solves that problem by attaching directly to the barndoors on the front of the light. We spoke with DOP Choice at IBC 2019 to find out more.
When photographing portraits in a studio, you can create many different looks using only one light. Depending on how you place it and how big it is, a softbox can significantly change the look and mood of your photos. In this video, Jay P Morgan discusses different factors of softbox placement. And when you learn how they affect your portraits, you’ll know exactly how to achieve the look you want.
Along with camera profiling, monitor calibration is one of the most vital things a photographer can do to ensure their work looks the way they intend it to look throughout the whole imaging process. There are various devices out there for calibrating monitors, and now a new one has been added into the mix.
Yesterday, Datacolor announced the new SpyderX Pro and SpyderX Elite, adding to their lineup of monitor calibration tools. They say it’s their fastest and most accurate calibration device to date. Well, I’ve had a SpyderX Elite here for the past couple of weeks, so let me tell you about my experiences with it.
I believe that all of us would connect circus with a giant tent. However, with some imagination and DIY magic you can turn even the smallest home studio into a circus. In this video from Adorama, Gavin Hoey will show you how to bring circus into your studio space, no matter how small it may be.
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