# Softbox for Speedlites



## sactown024 (Nov 14, 2012)

Hey again,

I was thinking about this last night and I did a little googling and came up short. I wanted to take some night shots of my car last night and I was thinking there we be no way to light my entire car up (one side at least) with my speedlite and shoot through umbrella. If I wanted to do such a thing I feel like a large softbox would be needed and probably more than 1 or at least one with my umbrell also. 

Question is, will a speedlite be enough to make use of a large softbox or would I need to start using strobes at that point? Same with portraits, if i wanted to add a softboox to my setup, large enough for full body, would another speedlite be enough or do I need a strobe?


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## 2WheelPhoto (Nov 14, 2012)

last pics down show a portable car lighting set up for professional quality pics.

Car Studio Photography Set-ups - Core77


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## sactown024 (Nov 14, 2012)

holy hell thats a lot of lighting, those studios must cost a fortune. even the mobile one is insane!


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## 2WheelPhoto (Nov 14, 2012)

Yeah but its proper lighting =)

Bigger the subject and more reflective - more hassle to light up


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## Robin_Usagani (Nov 14, 2012)

google light painting.  Take a long exposure of your car (on tripod) and you can run around and hit it with your flash (or large continuous lighting) hand held multiple times at different spots.  You have to experiment with the setting of the cam, the flash power and how to hit it.  Obviously if you overlap the flash it will expose the car more.


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## sactown024 (Nov 14, 2012)

Robin_Usagani said:


> google light painting.  Take a long exposure of your car (on tripod) and you can run around and hit it with your flash (or large continuous lighting) hand held multiple times at different spots.  You have to experiment with the setting of the cam, the flash power and how to hit it.  Obviously if you overlap the flash it will expose the car more.



yeah I have done that, pretty fun, I was looking for some more natural looking solutions though. The questions was more or less asking if a speedlight is powerful enough to light a soft box or is a monolight needed.


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## 2WheelPhoto (Nov 14, 2012)

yeah light painting is cool but colors change with angles, WB may off at different angles, may appear surreal, etc

for pro quality pics proper lighting is required.


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## tirediron (Nov 14, 2012)

sactown024 said:


> Robin_Usagani said:
> 
> 
> > google light painting. Take a long exposure of your car (on tripod) and you can run around and hit it with your flash (or large continuous lighting) hand held multiple times at different spots. You have to experiment with the setting of the cam, the flash power and how to hit it. Obviously if you overlap the flash it will expose the car more.
> ...



It depends on the size of the softbox.  I have a 30x30 Lastolite Ezybox which works great with my speedlight, BUT that's only going to light about 1/3 of the length of a typical car at best, so by the time you buy three good speedlights, three Ezyboxes and three light stands, you're going to be into the cost of a couple monolights.


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## MLeeK (Nov 14, 2012)

How about instead of one huge soft light to illuminate the car go in the opposite direction and use a snoot to highlight line form and detail? 
A single speedlight and softbox are expecting a LOT out of a small flash to illuminate all of a side of the car. 
Vehicle photography is awfully equipment intense.


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## Derrel (Nov 14, 2012)

"Speedotron".

"e-Bay"

Salem Tent & Awning


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## sactown024 (Nov 14, 2012)

MLeeK said:


> How about instead of one huge soft light to illuminate the car go in the opposite direction and use a snoot to highlight line form and detail?
> A single speedlight and softbox are expecting a LOT out of a small flash to illuminate all of a side of the car.
> Vehicle photography is awfully equipment intense.



yeah I will try some other techniqes, i like the snoot idea.


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## Big Mike (Nov 14, 2012)

> I wanted to take some night shots of my car last night and I was thinking there we be no way to light my entire car up (one side at least) with my speedlite and shoot through umbrella. If I wanted to do such a thing I feel like a large softbox would be needed and probably more than 1 or at least one with my umbrell also.


An umbrella will typically have a larger spread than a softbox.  So while a single speedlight in either an umbrella or softbox will probably not be enough...the umbrella would get you closer.  

And the good thing about shooting cars, is that most of them are mobile.  So rather than going crazy trying to buy lighting for the shot...you could just find a location with good lighting and drive the car there.


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## Robin_Usagani (Nov 14, 2012)

Big Mike said:


> > I wanted to take some night shots of my car last night and I was thinking there we be no way to light my entire car up (one side at least) with my speedlite and shoot through umbrella. If I wanted to do such a thing I feel like a large softbox would be needed and probably more than 1 or at least one with my umbrell also.
> 
> 
> An umbrella will typically have a larger spread than a softbox.  So while a single speedlight in either an umbrella or softbox will probably not be enough...the umbrella would get you closer.
> ...




What mike said.  You dont need bright light. All you need is even lighting.   The car is not moving so you can do long shutter.


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