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.
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:
Well, here is a random collection. If you have a spare nylon bag lying around, dont throw it away. As a photographer there is plenty you can do with it.
Ok, I am just kidding, you can throw that bag away. Hopefully, you have a recycling thing for nylon bags. That said, this random collection of photography uses for bags is kinda interesting. I would personally not use any of them if I had a choice (maybe the soft edge one is an exclusion), but in a cinch, you wanna keep this in the bag of your head.
The humble popup flash. Let’s face it, we hate it.
You might be able to use it for a little fill now and again, but as a main light source it gives hard shadows, often harsh specular highlights, and is generally the last type of lighting you would ever consider using, but for those times when you have nothing else to hand and just can’t avoid it, what can you do in a pinch to make it look a little better?
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube.
His videos have over a hundred million views, have been extensively published by news outlets, and has even received recognition from a few film festivals, such as International Ocean Festival
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