Knock-out Results - What kind of results can you get from such a small softbox? Personally I think the results are quite amazing. You can always combine two or more types of flash (snoot and small softbox) to get some super results, perhaps knock-out results in some cases.
TTL or Manual Setting on Flash - I like to use the TTL features of the flash when I shoot with this little softbox. It really give some nice results when you shoot like this. If you don't have this option and you want to shoot in manual mode that is perfectly fine also. You will get great results either way.
I will let this lesson speak for itself through the images shown below. You decide if this is an item you should add to your bag of camera tricks.
The first image consists of some bananas in a glass bowl. The softbox is postitioned about 1 foot to the left of camera. I set the flash exposure to minus 1 stop to help balance the image contrast and give what I thought was a better looking exposure.
Camera settings - f/9.5 @ 1/60 aperture priority - iso 200 - white balance 5560 (or just set the white balance to flash)
The second image has the same camera and flash settings but the softbox is held about 8" directly over the bananas. This make the stand that holds the glass disappear into black. Pretty nice look.
This third image is made with the same settings as the two above. It could stand to either have the flash bumped up a stop or the aperture on the camera could have been opened up a stop to give a little more exposure. The light was about 2 1/2 feet from the subject which allowed for more depth to the light reaching both the pitcher and the bananas.
The rolling pin and grater are next. The softbox was held at about the 10 - 11:00 position. It was about 18" from the subjects. You will see some areas in this photo that could use a little post work, I agree. Most of my images come straight from the camera without additional work done to them. That is not the way you would want to handle your photographs. You should use lightroom, photoshop or aperture to make your image or images look as good as possible. I just want to show you the results of how the light really falls on the subjects........ so post work is mostly not used for these examples.
An example of the small softbox and rolling pin/grater setup. An Nikon SB-800 with a small softbox aimed at the subjects. This is not the actual position of the light for the above picture.
The following is a simple shot with the softbox aimed straight in at the cat on the bench. Not bad light, but it does create a shadow behind the cat. The flash/softbox is about 4 feet from the cat which gives more depth to the light. (The closer I move the light to the subject the more abrupt the fall off of light). The hardest part about this shot was getting the cat to stay on the bench.
For the last example of lighting with a very small lightbox I have photographed one of my dogs. A little dirty and she needs to be brushed, but an excellent subject. The softbox was held at about 4 feet from the dog. Yes, the exposure could have been bumped up a little but that little softbox still did a pretty good job.
I hope this opens up some possibilities for you. A small softbox can work wonders in some cases. Give it a try and see what you think.
Until next time.....Stephen H Causey
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