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Why Use A Softbox?

Softboxes provide photographers, film and video professionals and amateurs alike with a viable solution to the age-old problem of how to make light look more "natural". The solution is: Softboxes create flattering light.

Using a softbox between your light and the object or person you are photographing, (i.e., "the subject"), effectively lowers contrast and provides more control over where the light falls. The size of the softbox and the distance it is placed in relation to the subject (which determines the effective size of the light source as well) is the single most important factor in determining how "soft" the light will appear.

A large softbox as close as possible to the subject will give you a quality of light that wraps around the subject, providing a smooth fall-off from highlight to shadow area. This type of set-up makes it easier to render detail in both highlight and shadow areas. Since film and CCD chips tend to be far less forgiving than the human eye for extremes in light intensity, lowering this contrast is a step in the right direction for producing results that are more professionally pleasing.

Before softboxes were invented, photographers blasted their lights through frames with white diffusion silk attached. This softened the light, but left the problem of controlling extraneous spill light through the use of numerous flags. This took a long time to set up, and there would still remain a possibility of excessive spill light. Softboxes provide a literal chamber between the light and the front face of the box for the light to bounce around in before it goes out in one direction - forward through the front face. In this way, the amount of spill light is significantly lessened. Softboxes provide photographers with a platform on which they can attach a fabric grid to further control the direction of the light.

Are all softboxes the same? Not at all. Some softboxes are made to soften the light from strobes and are NOT intended for use with hotlights. The material used inside a box intended for continuous lighting ("hot lights") needs to be extremely heat resistant and is usually more expensive than that designed for flash only. If you do a lot of work with strobes and hotlights, you should consider buying boxes rated for hotlights which you can use on your strobes as well. This is a common practice but don't try to do the reverse or you will end up with either melted fabric or a fire.

Why the huge price difference between softboxes from different manufacturers even though the dimensions are the same? All I can say here is this: Even though most cars have four wheels, you still need to pay attention to the manufacturing and the options, as well as the track record. Some softboxes will last longer because of better materials and hand sewing. Some will give you more choices between levels of diffusion material, grids and other accessories. With that in mind, the most important thing about softboxes is choosing the right size and placing it in the right place.