There is nothing more pleasing and complementary for portraits or people photos than beautiful, soft lighting. Certainly, there are instances where a more directional or even harder light quality is more appropriate—but in the world of traditional portraits, a soft, pleasant lighting scheme always seems to win. More importantly, it results in better sales almost every time.
Image 3–1. Diffused light tends to produce more flattering and salable results.
Image 3–2. Hard light has its place, but it is more limited in its successful application.
You can diffuse the light from any type of light source simply by introducing a translucent material of some kind in between the light source and the subject. Many different products and tools are available.
When shopping for this kind of lighting tool, the first thing to look at is the size and shape of the source you are considering (think back to the previous chapter on light quality). Keep in mind that the maximum size of the source might be constrained by the size of your shooting area or limited by what you can easily transport to use on location shoots. There is an added level of complexity when you start factoring in variations in the thicknesses (or densities) of the diffusion fabric or material. Some manufacturers offer ½ stop, ¾ stop, 1 stop, and 1½ stop materials. How you plan to use yours will help determine the right product for you.
Happily, most camera stores today have highly trained and well-informed personnel working behind the counters to help make the right decisions. In fact, many of them have their own photo businesses as well. Asking for help, or at least some input, is always a great idea. Let’s take an in-depth look at some of these tools and identify their strengths and weaknesses.
Softboxes are easily the most popular kind of light used in most of today’s portrait photography, and rightly so. They simply offer beautiful light quality when a strobe, speedlight, or a continuous light is placed inside. As with any light, the effective size of any given softbox will vary with its distance to the subject.
Softboxes can be used in the studio but are also at home outdoors. In fact, I have personally been using softboxes outside considerably more than at any time in my past, as I see more and more benefit to their use. They produce a great look when properly balanced with the appropriate quantity and quality of ambient light. Depending upon the client/subject, adding a softbox to your outdoor session can really pump up your game when it comes to light quality.
A lot of photographers use speedlights outside with no real control or any kind of diffusion. This is fine in some cases—but the knowledgeable photographer will try to match the light quality on the subject with the light quality in the ambiance. In other words, if there are beautiful late-afternoon or early-evening soft light conditions, it would be a shame to offset those with the sharp look of an unaltered speedlight. (We’ll take a much closer look at this option for working with speedlights outdoors in later chapters.)
Image 3–3. Softboxes, in many sizes and shapes, are a popular source of diffused light.
Image 3–4. Adding an egg-crate grid to the front of the softbox constrains the spread of the light and reduces spill.
There is one drawback to softboxes: the fixed distance between the light and the diffusion material on the front of the box. This does not allow for any additional control by moving the light itself closer or farther away from the front panel. That issue is one that can be addressed by using another diffusion device: a diffusion panel or scrim.
Diffusion with Scrims and Panels
Working with diffusion materials other than the front of a softbox can be highly rewarding—and these devices can actually come to the rescue in a variety of lighting situations that need improvement.
Unlike with a softbox, you can also adjust the distance between the light and the panel to control the level of diffusion. When shooting with the panel close to a flash, the diffusion effect can be minimal—it may even be a little harsh, with harder shadows than you might want. However, if you move the light source farther away from the panel (or move the panel closer to the subject and farther from the light source), the light quality will be softer. The shadows will soften, as will the highlights. When using a diffusion panel between your light source and the subject, I suggest positioning it so that the entire surface of the diffusion panel is lit evenly by the light source.
Image 3–5. On a sunny day, a large translucent panel was used to soften the highlights and the shadows. After adjusting for the loss of light on the face, it also offers a pleasing background.
Image 3–6. A circular diffusion panel.
Image 3–7. A large Scrim Jim by Westcott offers a sturdy frame and a hand-hold opening for ease of use.
You can also let some undiffused light spill past the edge of the panel to light up the background area. This is a unique little technique that is not talked about much but can be extremely helpful in a lot of situations. As the direct (undiffused) light streams past the panel, it can spill over the top and even fall on the front of the subject. This allows the photographer the ability to make a single light source appear as if it is four lights: a main light, a background light, a fill light, and even a hair light.
One of the great elements in control that we have when working with any translucent fabric or diffusion panel is that while we alter the light quality we are simultaneously altering the light quantity. If the fabric has a density or exposure value of 1 stop, when we place it between the subject and the light source there has to be an adjustment in exposure to compensate for the light loss. This is fine—as long as you know it will happen.
Background Control (Key Shifting)
When shooting with ambient light, the sun, or any other continuous light source that will fall at full intensity on the background (not be cut by the diffusion panel), the background will receive 1 stop more light than the subject’s face. Essentially, it will become brighter relative to the subject. I have to credit Dean Collins for articulating this effect, which I call “key shifting,” as an objective control.
Of course, the opposite effect will occur when we use a reflector to bounce additional light onto the face, then close down the exposure settings to compensate. The background area (which receives no extra light) will shift darker relative to the subject. In chapter 5, we’ll talk more about using reflectors.