How to use the photographic soft box

Lead: What is the most frequently asked question? Where should the main light source be placed? People are confused and uneasy about this problem. If you have ever felt this way, I have some good news for you (you may never have heard of it). First of all, you already know that the lights in the studio will be installed high on the light rack and shine down at a certain angle (just like the sun shines on us). Let's take a look at the skills of using the soft box.

Now, if they put a lamp behind the subject, guess where they usually put it? (and so on. Wait. The answer is, either directly behind the main body or at 45? Adjust the angle. I know you must think the answer should be more complicated, but that's the truth. So, the next time you feel confused about the position of the main light source, you can put it in front of the subject, or set it to 45? Angle irradiation, you know? Everyone else does it.

Ok, suppose you choose to take 45 now? Light source arrangement for angle illumination of objects. So what happened next? Although 45? Corners are the basic placement, but as long as you move a few inches to both sides, the lights will change. So you should carefully place the light source and let it create the effect you want most. You can draw the lighting settings as a clock diagram from the top. The lighting setting is the clock face, and the subject is the center of the clock. Standard 45? The corner is shown in figure #2 above, and then, you can follow it? Clock? Spin. For example, the position of # 1 is closer to the front, so it can illuminate people's faces in a wider range; #3 is closer to the side, and the backlight on the other side will leave more shadows; #4 is completely sidelight, and the backlight side of the face will be completely shadowed.

Now, what kind of lighting is correct? The kind you choose. Because they are all right, but the shadow area is different. If shooting men, I prefer number 3 and number 4. For ladies, I prefer # 1 and #2. But I have used all the above four kinds of lighting, both men and women, so this question really depends on you. You just need to remember: in these four examples, the subject is facing forward. If you want their faces to get more light under these lights, turn them to the light source.

Use almost any soft box on your studio lamp.

Many people may not realize that if you have a certain brand of studio lights, you don't have to buy the same brand of soft boxes, because you can buy an adapter ring so that your studio lights can use different brands of soft boxes. For example, F.J.Westcott has an adapter ring for sale (about $30), so you can install Westcott's soft box on almost any brand of flash. If you have a Profoto studio lamp, but want to use the soft box of Elinchrom, just buy an adapter ring from Elin Chrom. In short, you can use almost any brand of soft box on any studio lamp? Just buy an adapter ring.

The USB cable of the camera is too short.

Fortunately, you can buy a USB extension cable to extend the original USB cable, so you don't have to worry about accidentally pulling the USB cable out of the computer when shooting online in the studio. You can go to B&; The photo is still a USB extension cable bought by Amazon.com.

Speaking of soft boxes, the bigger the better.

On the question of how to get beautiful light, if I can only give you one hint, that is: try to use the largest soft box. Recently, large-size soft boxes have become more and more popular, because the bigger the lighting effect, the better. Now manufacturers have followed this trend, so we have many choices. So how old is enough The soft box I use most is Elinchrom's Rotalux 53-inch octagonal soft box, because it is really big, but it doesn't take up much space when shooting on the spot (I often use it when shooting on the spot). If your ceiling is really high, maybe you can look at Elinchrom's 74-inch octagonal soft box (amazing! ), but it doesn't have to cost a lot of money to buy such a huge soft box. F.J. Westcott has just released a series of giant 7-foot parabolic reflective umbrellas (the inside of the umbrella is flashing, and then the light will be reflected to the main body, making the light source very large) and soft umbrellas (the light passes through the umbrella surface instead of reflecting back from the umbrella surface). Their price is about 100 USD, which is quite affordable (in the category of lighting accessories). If you want to use a traditional soft box (the light of soft box is easier to control than soft umbrella and reflective umbrella, so I prefer to use it), you can look at Wesker's 54-inch? 72-inch soft box (huge, but great, the price is about $329). See the pattern? Yes, the big soft box was a complete success. It makes it much easier to take beautiful portraits, and I support everything that can make it easier to take good photos.