For such a simple looking tool, when considering what is a softbox in photography, there’s a lot to cover, because there are so many softbox variations to use in different circumstances. But that’s one of the great things about softbox light – softboxes are extremely versatile light modifiers for portrait photography!
Before we begin, let’s bust a softbox lighting myth
If you’ve heard that you have to use a round softbox (also called an octabox, because it has 8 sides) for portraits, you’ve been told half a story.
I agree with the logic of using a round softbox outside for portraits to mimic the shape of the sun for round catchlights in the eyes. It doesn’t mean that I always use a round light source, but I do see why some photographers prefer it.
However, from a purely catchlights point of view, when photographing indoors, it doesn’t really matter what type of softbox you use.
If you use natural light only indoors, the catchlights would be the reflections of the windows…. which are not round. The vast majority of the time anyway.
So when photographing portraits with a softbox indoors, you really should be choosing your softbox based on the light effect that you want. Not just catchlights, which are a minuscule part of a portrait.
Headshot taken indoors with an octagonal softbox, which you can see if you look at the catchlights in her eyes.
Softbox facts we’ll cover:
- Best softbox shapes and sizes for portrait photography
- Softbox light vs ring light vs umbrella lighting
But before we get into the details of how to use softbox light for portraits, we should cover the basics:
- What is a softbox?
- What is a softbox light used for?
Oh and at the end I’ve included a few useful warnings about using softboxes, as well as a great DIY option for experimenting with softbox shapes, without having to buy every shape available.
What is a softbox?
Softboxes are lightweight light modifiers that come in different shapes and sizes and attach to strobes and speedlights. They’re a great way to increase the size of your light so that you have softer shadows on your subject.
Speaking of soft light, which is what softboxes excel at, you can fit two layers of diffusion to softboxes to soften the light even further. There’s a:
- Inner diffusion panel
- Front diffusion panel
Photo taken from the back of the softbox with the outer material peeled back so that you can see the inner diffusion panel. You’ll also notice that the interior of this particular softbox is silver.
Also, photography softboxes are made with two different interiors:
- White for the ultimate soft light
- Silver (most common) for more reflective, crisper light that is still soft
Although all softboxes are lightweight, some are designed to be more portable than others. These are the types you’d want to use if you photograph outdoors. Not only are they super light, but they’re designed to fold up quickly and easily for efficiency and portability.
Studio soft boxes are also very portable, but take a little more time to set up and pack away again as they’re designed for daily studio photography use. You wouldn’t expect to pack them up after each use.
Further reading: Soft light photography – 4 facts every photographer should know
Softbox shapes
Softboxes come in three basic shapes:
- Rectangle
- Square
- Octagon (round)
Stripboxes (narrow rectangular softboxes) and octaboxes (octagonal softboxes) are softboxes and their names simply refer to their shape.
And there are several sizes in each shape for different uses. The bigger the subject and the softer you want the light, the larger your softbox should be. Also, get it close to your subject for really soft light.
We’ll get to this in a moment.
What is a softbox light used for?
When studio photographers want to create natural looking light, a softbox is most often the tool they reach for, because you can easily create the same effect as window light
Further reading: How to use window light 3 ways for very different looks
Softboxes are used in all types of photography, which is why every professional studio you ever walk into will have a selection of softboxes to use for different subjects.
And just to drive the point home, that includes:
- Car photography
- Portrait photography
- Jewellery photography
- Fashion photography
- Etc etc etc
The reason softbox light is used so much is because it gives ultimate control of:
- Direction of light
- Light fall off – in other words the transition from light to shadow in the shot
Softbox vs ring light vs umbrella lighting
But, I hear you say, umbrellas and ring lights are also good. So what’s better?
As always, the answer is – it depends. And what it depends on is the look you’re going for, the space you have to shoot in and your budget.
Let’s take a closer look…
What’s better softbox light or ring light?
As with any style choice in photography, ultimately it comes down to personal preference, but softboxes and umbrellas are the industry standard in portrait and commercial photography studios.
A ring light creates an easily identifiable catchlight in the eye, so is very easy to see when used in portrait photography. This is a ring of light around the pupil of the eye.
Further reading: Using catchlights in photography to easily create eyes that sparkle
A ring light photo is also characterized by minimal shadow on the subject’s face, which is why it’s so popular with beauty vloggers and bloggers. It also takes up significantly less space than a softbox and is often cheaper. Plus a softbox also requires a speedlight or strobe to be of any use.
Softboxes are endlessly versatile, because you can get them in different shapes and sizes. They create the most amazing soft light for portraits and are also perfect for product photography, especially for products with reflective surfaces.
Depending on the shape of the softbox, catchlights from soft boxes can look like the sun (round) or like windows (rectangular), so they’re perfect for both indoor and outdoor photoshoots.
What’s the difference between softbox light and umbrella lighting?
Because octaboxes (round softboxes) create lovely round catchlights that mimic the shape of the sun, they’re very popular for outdoor photoshoots. Well, so are umbrellas.
Like softboxes, umbrellas are also great for creating soft light.
So why choose a round softbox over an umbrella?
Four reasons:
- Spectral highlights (aka hotspots) – because you can double diffuse a softbox and, because the light bounces around inside before leaving the softbox, you have more control over spectral highlights on your subject. Shoot through umbrellas don’t have as much diffusion, and the light doesn’t bounce around as much inside, so they’re more prone to creating hotspots on your subject’s skin. Especially if their skin is already even slightly shiny.
- Catchlights – even if a reflective umbrella (as opposed to a shoot through umbrella) is diffused with a diffusion panel attached to the front, you’ll still be able to see the rods of the umbrella, your flash and the lightstand in the catchlights. Softboxes reflect simply as a round light.
- Spread of light – umbrellas spread the light everywhere so aren’t an efficient use of light. Also, if you don’t want too much light spilling onto the background, an umbrella isn’t a good choice.
- Wind – umbrellas are like sails in the wind, and even if your lightstand is secured with sandbags or a helpful assistant holding onto it, an umbrella can easily be pulled out and blow away in a strong wind.
That doesn’t mean that softboxes are better than umbrellas. Each has their use and you decide which to use based on the look you want to create, the shoot environment and conditions.
I very often use a large umbrella indoors and occasionally even outdoors.
Further reading: Photography umbrella lighting intro – how to choose and use umbrellas
I used a large rectangular softbox to camera right to create soft light that looks like it’s coming in through a window.
Best soft boxes for portrait photography
The size of the soft box you use is determined by the size of your subject (for example baby vs adult) and how much of them you want in frame. Aim for your softbox to be the same size as the part of your subject in frame.
- Head and shoulders – about 24 inches
- Three quarter length – 36 – 48 inches
- Full length – 48 inches and above
You can of course use any size softbox you wish, but to take advantage of the soft light that you can get from a softbox, size and proximity to subject are important. For truly soft light that wraps around your subject, the bigger and closer your softbox the better.
That said, for newborn photography I favored a large softbox near the baby so that I could create the softest light possible that looked like natural light coming through a large window.
On the left I aimed a stripbox at the wall and on the right I aimed an octabox at the wall to demonstrate the different shapes of the light.
Shapes of softboxes for portrait photography
- Octaboxes – ideal for outdoor photoshoots. The size will dictate how much of the subject can be in shot as you’ll see the light fall off if the octabox is too small for the shot.
- Stripboxes – great for use as a rim light, hair light, background light, graduated background light and perfect for fitness shoots where you want shadows to accentuate muscle definition. Any time you want shadows to feature heavily on your subject, use a stripbox as your key light.
- Square – perfect for headshots
- Rectangle – ideal for all types of portrait photography, from headshots to full length shots, depending on the size of the softbox
It’s not just the size and shape of the front of a softbox that matters. The depth of a softbox also has a big impact on how the light falls on your subject.
The deeper the softbox, the more the light will wrap around your subject, creating a beautiful transition from light to shadow.
Further reading: 5 portrait lighting patterns you need to know
Photography softbox material tips
Softboxes are made of polyester and nylon.
Creases
I mentioned that softboxes come with a front diffusion panel, which arrives folded up. So when you first unbox it, it will be creased. Don’t worry about trying to get rid of the creases. They won’t affect anything and over time they’ll smooth out anyway.
Material strength
I learned this the hard way so, hopefully my experience will help you…
On an outdoor portrait shoot we moved from one part of a location to another for a change of scenery. I pack light for shoots, so it’s easy to just pick up and move.
What I didn’t realise was that as I was walking with gear and talking to my client, her partner lit a cigarette and was chatting and walking with my assistant , who was also carrying gear, behind us. She wasn’t particularly close to the softbox, but when she flicked the ash off the end of her cigarette an ember caught in the wind, blew into the softbox in my assistant’s hand and burned a hole in the front diffusion panel (made of nylon).
The hole is so small that it doesn’t make a difference to anything, fortunately. But it’s a good lesson not to allow any smoking near your gear.
Lastly a DIY photography softbox trick
When I set up my first studio I didn’t have stripboxes, but I love shadows in photos, so really wanted to use a narrow strip of light to reduce the amount of light on my subjects and also for creating rim light. So I used to clip strips of black card to the front (and bent around the side to avoid light spill) of my larger softboxes to make them into DIY stripboxes.
Obviously, a stripbox is better, but it actually worked really well, until I had the budget to buy stripboxes.
If you have rectangular softboxes and you want to experiment with the effect of a stripbox, give my DIY solution a try.
That was a really long time ago and I notice that now some brands actually sell strips that you can velcro to the front of softboxes to make them into stripboxes. I don’t know how great they are, but they’re probably better than my bits of black card.
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