Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Unbelievably soft lighting is actually trickier to do than many think. Sure we can place a large softbox in front of our subject to light them, but does that really look good?
No, I’m not trying to trigger anyone here and I’m genuinely curious because, to me, the classic softbox look is a unique look to studio-style lighting. Does that softbox light really look like daylight? If that’s the look you’re after, is a softbox really the best solution we have?
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.
Hi — My name is Dan St. Louis, and I’m the Owner and Head Photographer at HeadShots Inc, a San Francisco-based photography service focused exclusively on professional headshots.
In the regular course of my business, I often take headshots at outdoor locations across San Francisco. For a long time, I struggled to get great portraits on sunny Bay Area days.
I haven’t seen anyone else using the following technique, so I thought I’d share, to help other photographers out there avoid the same issues!
Even though speedlights are incredibly useful for macro photography, they’re light does not always look flattering. Harsh shadows in unwanted places, blown-out highlights and strong aberrations are common issues. And even though strong, directed light can look good in many cases, diffused light looks more natural and generally more pleasing to the eye too.
The two following photos illustrate that effect:
The sunlight on an overcast day is a soft light ideal for photos and videos. And in this video tutorial, George and Kevin of Filmora will teach you how to emulate the look of sunlight when shooting indoors. It takes very little time, it’s a pretty affordable setup, and you can use it for both video and stills.
5-in-1 reflector is a super-handy tool for both bounding and diffusing the light. Arron Nace from Phlearn shows you seven different setups you can create using a single light, with the addition of a reflector or even simple foamcore. Both the reflector and the foamcore are pretty cheap, yet they are versatile and can help you create a whole lot of lighting setups. Check out some of Arron’s suggestions for using them for portrait photography, both in the studio and outside in the sunlight.
At 2010 NAB show in Las Vegas, Zylight presented Active Diffusion – a flexible and lightweight panel which allows you to control the amount of diffusion on demand. It was a long time ago, but it seems that it was worth the wait – in 2017 they are finally launching it for sale.
Understanding different types of light is important. If you don’t know how light works, then fixing issues that show up in your lighting during a shoot is going to be a pain.
In this video from Wolfcrow, filmmaker Sareesh Sudhakaran explains the different types of light, how they affect our subject, the problems they can present, and some tips on how to overcome them.
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