

So is any one of these modifiers really "better" than another? Softbox, Umbrella or Beauty Dish: Which is Better? Now let's look at the difference in the catchlights in the eyes for each scenario. These were shot with the Larson 4圆 foot softbox. Softbox Lighting Exampleįinally let's look at a large softbox, my FAVORITE modifier to work with. Also notice the difference in the shadow pattern on his face. Look at the difference in the background spill when I skim the beauty dish at the subject from the side versus hitting him with the light head-on. Then I moved it into a more typical glamour position that is used with a beauty dish - high and frontal - just above the camera position. First I positioned it feathered to the side as I would with a larger modifier like an umbrella or softbox. Next I pulled out my Flashpoint 16 inch beauty dish. You can see what I am talking about later in this tutorial when I share closeups of my son's eyes. This position gives a much cleaner catchlight because you can no longer see the light unit itself reflected in his eyes. This is the same exact umbrella I used above, however, here I removed the black cover and turned the light around to face my son. I started with a Calumet 60 inch white-interior bounce umbrella.
#Gridded softbox iso
All images were shot with a Nikon D700, 24-120 f4 lens at ISO 200, 1/200, f 4.5. I used a kicker behind the subject and camera right to help provide separation in the situations where the background became very dark. Unless otherwise specified, a background light was not used so any light you see on the background is only spill.

For all cases but one I used the light modifier (ie: softbox, umbrella, or beauty dish) camera left and a giant free-standing reflector camera right.Īn important thing to notice is the variation in the amount of spill on the background. I did not test a brolly box for this tutorial but thought it was worth mentioning in case someone wants to research them further.įor each studio light setup I will include both a portrait and a pullback. You won't get as much directional control with a brolly as you would with a softbox, but you get more control that with just a basic umbrella. A brolly box is basically a shoot thru umbrella with black backing added to help control spill a little bit. A brolly box is often called "the poor man's softbox" and is somewhat of a hybrid between a softbox and an umbrella.

They also allow you to have rectangular catchlights in the eye versus round catchlights. Softboxes offer much more directional control of your light (less spill) than umbrellas. Softboxes require a speedring to be able to attach to the face of the light, although lately there are some umbrella-ish softboxes on the market that do not require a speedring.Umbrellas are usually less expensive, more portable, and quicker to setup than softboxes.So what are some of the main differences between softboxes, umbrellas and beauty dishes? Softbox, Umbrella, and Beauty Dish Differences Is studio lighting using a softbox better than an umbrella or a beauty dish? Today I would like to talk about these 3 different studio light modifiers and share some example photos.
#Gridded softbox how to
How to Sync Lightroom Presets from CC to Mobile
#Gridded softbox install
How to Install Presets in the Free Lightroom Mobile App
