Softbox v. reversed umbrella

[brosig]

I'm currently using Alien Bee monolights w/ white umbrellas that I've reversed to aim directly at the subject for studio/location lighting. I've been wondering about softboxes for the lights but they can get somewhat expensive. I've been getting nice light with the umbrellas reversed but have always been impressed with what appears to me to be even softer light with the boxes. AB sells something they call a brollie box, which is an umbrella with an enclosure that limits back blast on the light and works something like what I'm doing now. (Mount the thing and aim the light directly at the subject.) Any comments from the lighting gurus here on the relative benefits of either modifier?

Thanks
Andrew Brosig

[danwolfgang]

If you want a catchlight in the subject's eyes, I much prefer and umbrella. It makes a roundish catchlight, rather than a square one like a softbox.

I use umbrellas that can be shot through or bounced off. There's two layers to the umbrella--white to shot through and a black cover to let the light bounce back. Both offer different effects, and the bounce definitely gives a bit softer light.

[mikej]

It's a toss up on those that perfer a square catchlight (this is what most people see indoors because window light is square) or a round catchlight (this is normal from lamps and light bulbs). Myself, I don't care which it is as long as the catch light isn't exactly in the middle and so big it over lays the pupil of the eye.

The reason softboxes do a better job of diffussing and softening light is because of the design of most softboxes. First off you have the box chamber. This bounces the light around and scrambles it from it's nice straight lines. Then you have a inner baffle of white nylon that diffuses the light more, another chamber to bounce the light around and an outer baffle of white nylon that spreads out the light and diffuses it some more. The light that comes out of a softbox is so mixed up it doesn't know which way is up or down... but it's nice soft diffused light. Some softboxes only have the outer baffle and not an inner one, which doesn't diffuse the light quit as much.

An umbrella on the other hand does one of two things. If you shoot through it, the nylon material is diffusing and spreading the light out. It's not bouncing it around and mixinig up the light rays. You are making a bigger light source from a smaller light. If you bounce out of an umbrella, you are spreading the light out but again, you aren't bouncing it around. By spreading the light out, you are again making a larger light source, which is going to produce softer shadows. The size of the umbrella counts as well. I use everything from a 32" one all the way up to a 60" one. I use the 32" for fill light and the 60" one for main light. Sometimes I will reverse their roles.

I like and use both softboxes and umbrellas. They both have their place in the light tool chest. I like the softboxes because they do produce a softer and more even lighting in the area of light they create. You can also controll the light more with a softbox since you are shooting out of a defined box. The umbrella is good for times I don't want as much softening or I need a bigger spread of light. The umbrella is a bit less controllable although you can feather it by turning it to one side or the other and using the side light from the umbrella (this is very good light). Umbrellas are also easy to carry around and take on location.

There is one type of umbrella that is kind of like a softbox in that it has a cover that goes over the front of it (I think they are called Softlighters). The cover does what the baffle in the softbox does, it helps diffuse the light, softening it up a bit. Many people use these types and the results are good.

Then you get into light panels. As the name says, these are panles of white nylon that spread the light out and diffuse it at the same time... very much like a white shear curtin does on a big picture window. I think light panels give the softest light of all and I've used a 4'x6' one for awhile that created really nice light.

I hope this helps more than it confuses you.

Mike

[JohnC]

The Softlighter is from Photek. Reasonably priced. A quick search turned up this page (I have no idea who Owen's is, I probably got mine from B&H, I've had it for years and use it a lot)...

http://www.owens-originals.com/phote...ftlighter.html

Photoflex has something somewhat similar in their OctoDome, but it is more like a rounded softbox. A bit more expensive, too...

http://www.photoflex.com/photoflex/index.html

You could also make a black mask with a square cut out to use on a round light source if you sometimes want a square catchlight.

John

[superkev]

I use softboxes, umbrellas, and brolly-boxes on my Bees. I prefer the softboxes in studio because they provide a directional soft light as opposed to a more ambient type. The softboxes allow you to really point that light where you need it. Umbrellas tend to radiate it all over the place. The brolly box is a bit easier to control than the umbrella, but because the front of the brolly box is a hemispherical shape, it also tends to radiate light, making it slightly more difficult to control.

Nowadays I usually only use the brolly boxes when I'm shooting at a location where it's impractical or difficult to bring the softboxes, or where I'll need to light a large area with diffused light. I never use the brolly boxes or white umbrellas in my own studio now that I have softboxes. I sometimes use a silver umbrella to take portraits of young people who have excellent skin, because it makes them sparkle.

As for catchlight shape... well that's a matter of taste I suppose. I actually like the square catchlights, but other people may disagree.