what modifiers for family portraits?

PopeBuckfastXVI

So I have a little budget to get some modifiers for my lights, can go with two softboxes or a softbox plus umbrella kit (reflective + trans).

Would it be better to stick with the same quality from the same modifier or mix them.

Target is individual and family portraits.

stcstc

i would suggest getting a variety

softboxes have a much steeper fall off in light than brollies generally,

and having a variety means you can adapt easier to different situations

PopeBuckfastXVI

That's a good point, probably allows me to get a couple of other bits and bobs with the budget too, thanks for the reply.

gloobag

If you're going to be shooting families as a group, then you need to have something fairly big if you want to light them evenly. Westcott have a 7ft parabolic umbrella that's kinda affordable (about €100). You could get the silver version (highest efficiency) and then also get the optional white diffusion cover that fits over the front, turning it into a giant softbox. Westcott also have a 60inch silver reversible umbrella if you want to go cheaper.

For groups, stick something like either of those modifiers up high above your head, on axis with the camera, with a slight angle downwards and you can't go wrong.

I've used both for groups and they're both good, but the 7ft is definitely more versatile. It's beautiful for individual portraits too. Use it with a wide aperture to get a dreamy natural light look

PopeBuckfastXVI

Thanks for the great info gloobag!

Will definitely get at least one umbrella now.

Was thinking about 105cm ones for Elinchrom, would that be big enough?

gloobag

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

Thanks for the great info gloobag!

Will definitely get at least one umbrella now.

Was thinking about 105cm ones for Elinchrom, would that be big enough?

Yeah, it will do it. You may have to pull it back a bit and up the power if you've got more than one row of people in your shot and you want a relatively even exposure (inverse square law).

Personally, I'd go bigger. I think every portrait photographer should own one of those big 7ft Westcott silver umbrellas. I also use it as a huge reflector or even some make shift open shade when shooting natural light outdoors.

But yeah, any big umbrella will do ya for a group shot

stcstc

keep an eye on calumets ebay store, i bought a couple of 60" brolleys for about 50 each if i remeber rightly

not worth buy the cheap ones though, the shafts are crap and bend and buckle etc


i bought a 6Ft octagnal softbox, which produces wonderful light, but its a bitch to control outdoors :-))

Borderfox

I had softboxes but went to brollies as they were quicker to put up.

superflyninja

what kind of lighting would you use with that? (the 7footer)

kelly1

Gloobag, good tip about putting the fill light on the camera axis. It's how the real pros do it

gloobag

superflyninja wrote: »

what kind of lighting would you use with that? (the 7footer)

Anything. Speedlites, strobes, whatever you have. I use Elinchrom Quadras the majority of the time myself, but I have used it with speedlites on occasion as well.

PopeBuckfastXVI

kelly1 wrote: »

Gloobag, good tip about putting the fill light on the camera axis. It's how the real pros do it

Should you have a keylight too then, or just the one on-axis and above?

gloobag

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

Should you have a keylight too then, or just the one on-axis and above?

Well, the setup I described is just one big umbrella, on axis as the key light. No fill required.

But kelly1 raises a good point about fill lights. It's good to have them on axis or at least close to the camera axis. Or even better, coming from all around.

Sometimes when I'm shooting with hard light, I'll use that Wetcott 7 footer as my fill light. I put it at the back of the studio, firing just over my shoulder.

A better option for fill light would be if you had a big white wall that you could position yourself in front of, and just blast a couple of bare strobes into it at a high enough power. That way the fill will be coming from almost everywhere. A ceiling bounce would work as well. Just be careful of the shadows under the eyes.