S-Bowen Modifiers - School Usage

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dancook

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Dan
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I have a couple of 60x85 rectangular softboxes which came with my 2x lights (pixapro citi 600)

I'm going to need some portable and versatile options going forward

School based photography

- large group / team shots
- semi-posed 'in action' classroom shots
- portraits

Any recommendations? good stores to buy through? I was looking at lencarta website but found it difficult/missed the option to narrow selection by mount type.
 
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Go to the Photography Show at the NEC on 17-20 March.

It's hard to advise without knowing exactly what the situations are, and a lot of it is personal preference. Broadly speaking, a softbox is a softbox in terms of the light quality, with size being the major differentiator. Something around 80-100cm is most versatile. A recessed front is handy for feathering, and attaching a grid if the fancy takes you, but otherwise, square, rectangular or octa is personal preference. Rectangular might be handy if you want to put two side by side for bigger groups.

School photography is mostly about bright, happy, smiling faces than arty shadows. I'd probably prioritise practical considerations for location work. The push-up umbrella style is quickest and easiest, or even actual umbrellas if you want to be quick and dirty, cheap too. White brollies are very like a softbox; silver gives a slightly harder light; shoot-throughs are softer (as you can use them closer) and good for speading light over a wide area, and since half the light is bounced out of the back and all over the place they can produce kind of automatic fill-in when used in a smaller area.

You need to get started with something middle of the road, and keep it simple. Suck it and see, and build from there.
 
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Phil V said:
Probably, amongst others.
Click to expand...

Among many others.

But Dan, don't rush out and buy loads of stuff, unless you're happy to replace half of it. Not that there'll be anything wrong, but a) you'll probably get confused with too many options, and b) once you've sorted it all out you'll almost certainly end up wanting something just a bit different.

And with lighting, less is more. You can do a heck of a lot with just one light (and a reflector) but a very good rule of thumb is only one light per subject zone. The sitter is one zone, the background could be another zone, a hair or accent light could be a third - you get the picture :)
 
HoppyUK said:
Among many others.

But Dan, don't rush out and buy loads of stuff, unless you're happy to replace half of it. Not that there'll be anything wrong, but a) you'll probably get confused with too many options, and b) once you've sorted it all out you'll almost certainly end up wanting something just a bit different.

And with lighting, less is more. You can do a heck of a lot with just one light (and a reflector) but a very good rule of thumb is only one light per subject zone. The sitter is one zone, the background could be another zone, a hair or accent light could be a third - you get the picture :)
Click to expand...

I was kind of thinking
1 shoot through umbrella - Classroom posed shots
1 reflective umbrella - groups
1 large easily collapsible octobox - portraits
1 focused cone thing for hair lighting

does any of this seem like a safe bet?

edit. guess octobox won't be awesome for groups, spread might not be good enough.
 
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