When Small And Soft Is A Good Thing
Here's a quick self-portrait I made testing out a Lumiquest Softbox III I got for my birthday. This thing is cool as heck. The light it produces isn't as soft and diffuse as an umbrella or a full-size softbox, but it beats the crap out of straight flash. For close-up portraits it's the bomb. The trick is you have to get it in really tight with the subject; that will make its relative size a lot bigger and the light a lot softer. And when you're that close in, even a speedlight will put out enough light to overcome the sun in an outdoor shot. And the fall-off is really quick (you can see in my photo that the light is pretty much confined to just my face) so it doesn't affect the ambient lighting at all. But the real appeal of the SBIII is that it folds down really small, it's fast and easy to assemble, and you can handhold it (I took the photo above holding the camera in my right hand and the SBIII in my left). All of which make it ideal for remote location shooting, or when you don't have time to set up an elaborate lighting rig.
Hey! Happy birthday!
ReplyDeleteThanks man. It was a nice quiet birthday, which is just fine by me. Spent it with the family. Not looking forward to going back to work after New Years.
ReplyDeleteHappy new Year. Great beginning to blogging. I dunno if it's work experiences or what, but you came right out of the gate with polished, good-flow writing. I have to work harder at it. If I ever need to write a business proposal, I'm just dumping it in your lap (wink wink) to make me look good! Also, I'm pretty wowed by 99% of the photos, and I feel redundant saying it all the time ... so if you put up some nice work, and never get any comments, rest assure Jesse liked it.
ReplyDeleteThank you. That's quite a compliment considering the writing on yours is so well done. (A point that switbo made just yesterday. Note to self: Should I be worried that my wife digs my bro's blog more than mine?) I admire that your blog is more about the human condition and is therefore a lot more broadly compelling. My blog is so narrowly focused and self-absorbed that I realize I'm writing mainly for me and a handful of really great and understanding friends. But I enjoy doing it and up until the photobook, I think this was my photography trophy.
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