Lighting Advice

[grotty]

I'm possibly going to be shooting at an event - punters trying on various garments and having a shot taken against a backdrop. It's indoor (in a city hall) and from a few tests I assume that a single off camera speedlight with some kind of diffuser should do the trick.

What I'd like to know is;

- Would a single OCF (SB700 or 900) on a light stand be adequate
- Would a largish (30 x 30cm) soft box diffuser or umbrella be best?
- Would the Nikon built-in flash trigger still work using one of the above on the speedlight?

I'm sure there's some crucial information that I've missed so please bear with me.

Thanks in advance.

 

[JonathanRyan]

Yes.

 

[grotty]

Thanks - how about the second, multiple choice question?

 

[JonathanRyan]

Thanks - how about the second, multiple choice question?

Either

 

[grotty]

Thanks.

 

[JonathanRyan]

Thanks.

Actually the choice of softbox vs umbrella will have more to do with the space you are shooting in than anything else. In an infinitely big room with no surfaces to bounce off they will do almost the same job unless you are using the edges of the softbox.

In a very small room the umbrella will give much softer and less directional light since the light bouncing backwards will hit something and come forwards as fill.

In practise your room will neither be infinite nor (probably) very small so you'll have a happy medium. Which you choose can just come down to personal choice - or what you have.

I'd tend to use a softbox for this to avoid light hitting the crowd behind me but many people would choose a brolly simply because they are cheaper and easier to pack.

 

[grotty]

Great, thanks for that. I am waiting to find out the room size, but it won't be huge. Am I right in assuming the larger the softbox the softer the light?

 

[JonathanRyan]

Am I right in assuming the larger the softbox the softer the light?

More or less. It's the apparent size that matters. So if you put a large softbox further away it can be harder than a smaller softbox closer up.

But in general yes.

This is still one of the best references on the subject..... http://www.zarias.com/modifiers-from-day-03-of-my-creativelive-class/

 

[grotty]

Thanks for your help and the link Jonathon, much appreciated.