Best Light Modifiers For Portraits

Craig beckta 6 years ago when it comes to shooting fashion portraits if you are like many photographers you most likely struggle with the decision of whether to use a soft light source such as a softbox or a slightly harsher light source such as a beauty dish.

Best light modifiers for portraits.

As the softness of the light depends on the relative size on the modifier to the subject close means softer and farther away the light gets harder. I can use a medium sized softbox to shoot a great portrait or even a full length shot with just a little light falloff from the shins to the feet. Here s a typical setup i use with this modifier and the resulting photo. Shot as an example in the studio.

One of the key points of the 3ft octabox that daniel covers pretty early on in the video is that it can simulate the look of various other popular light modifiers. Being four feet in size it s super soft in close. In conclusion there s no right or wrong choice of light modifier they re just all different and the best choice for you depends on what you re hoping to achieve in your portrait. Photographer daniel norton explores that topic in the above video and explains why he thinks an octagon softbox aka octabox is the best and mose useful modifier for portraits.

Softboxes are my modifier of choice when i want a soft directional light and i want to be able to control how much of that light is going to fall on my background. The sun almost always the main light source outdoors acts like a spotlight when high overhead like a portrait light from 45 degrees up and off axis like a hair light from behind and above the subjects or low and warm colored at sunset. Another great thing about grids is the fact that they are compatible with many other light modifiers such as beauty dishes and soft boxes. Lighting in the simplest possible terms is all about main light and fill light.