![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/60-portraits\/allison-scott\/Allison-Scott-60P_0062.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Off-camera flash is the easiest way to create dynamic lighting – and using a speedlight with a softbox, is\u00a0on-location lighting at its most elegantly simple. For most of my on-location portraits, I like to travel (fairly) light, and my lighting of choice is a speedlight, wireless transmitters and a softbox. The softbox is either held up by a light-stand (which I weight down with my camera bag), or held up by an assistant (with the softbox on a monopod.)<\/p>\n
I like TTL flash – it often gets us there faster than manual flash. But for consistency, especially when photographing someone in a static position relative to the light, manual flash is the only way to go.<\/p>\n
I discussed beforehand with Allison and Scott the idea and feel for this photo session – glamorous. Night on the town kinda glamorous. For this New York rooftop location and that dress, a vertical photo would’ve have made less sense. Too much would be “lost” against the drab brick wall as background.<\/p>\n
The pose was a compromise between something sexy & glamorous, and the practical need to have Allison not feel precarious on the (wide) ledge there. Scott had his arm around her, and I then asked Allison to drape an arm over Scott’s shoulder. In this way the pose came out of the environment and backdrop.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/60-portraits\/allison-scott\/Allison-Scott-60P_0057.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The pullback shot to show the positioning of the softbox – handheld by an assistant.\u00a0The\u00a0speedlight\u00a0was set to manual output.<\/p>\n
Camera settings and photo gear (or equivalents) used for the main image<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/60-portraits\/allison-scott\/Allison-Scott-60P_0047.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
To show the progression, \u00a0here\u00a0is the photo without the additional light. My basic exposure was chosen so that the background wouldn’t blow out in over-exposure. Then\u00a0the flash was added. At this distance and aperture, and using the softbox (which cuts down on the flash’s light),\u00a0 we were close to full manual output on the flash. But this is where I decided I want to be in terms of balancing them with the background.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This simple lighting setup works for so many on-location portraits, and is most often my starting point. It just works.<\/p>\n
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Lastolite EZYBOX 24\u00d724″ softbox<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The main advantage of this type of softbox, is how it folds open, and clips onto a \u201clollipop\u201d. None of the metal rods that need to be mounted onto a speeding.<\/p>\n The Lastolite EZYBOX collapses into a conveniently small size … although the latest versions of this has a large triangular bag, instead of the smaller round bag. Still, it’s a handy softbox for speedlights, and very easy to setup. It has an inner baffle that\u00a0can be removed if you need a bit\u00a0more power from your flash.<\/p>\n Review<\/strong>:\u00a0Lastolite Ezybox 24\u00d724 softbox<\/a><\/p>\n To purchase: It also comes in a slightly larger version, <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Impact Quickbox\u00a024\u00d724″ softbox<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Impact\u00a0rebranded the Lastolite EZYBOX\u00a0under their own name-brand. Slightly cheaper, but otherwise exactly the same as the Lastolite version.\u00a0The same advantages and ease of setting up.<\/p>\n Review:<\/strong>\u00a0Impact Quikbox Softbox (24″ x 24″)<\/a><\/p>\n To purchase: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Westcott Rapidbox 26″ Octa Softbox<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The\u00a0Westcott Rapidbox 26″\u00a0Octa Softbox\u00a0is\u00a0compact<\/strong>\u00a0when it folds up, and comes in a\u00a0handy carry bag<\/strong>. The carry bag has enough space for a speedlight and your favorite set of wireless triggers.<\/p>\n It\u00a0is also\u00a0easy to set up<\/strong>, with no rods and speed-ring like traditional softboxes. It folds open like an umbrella. Since the speedlight sits on the outside,\u00a0it is easy to adjust as you need.<\/p>\n Review:<\/strong>\u00a0Westcott Rapid Box 26″ Octa Softbox<\/a><\/p>\n To purchase: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Profoto RFi Speedring for dual\u00a0speedlights<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The Profoto dual-flash Speedring is\u00a0rugged (which means it is heavy), and it easily allows two speedlights!\u00a0Double the power.<\/p>\n You can now add any softbox via the rods that go into the speed-ring. I use the medium-sized\u00a0Profoto 1.3′ x 2′ softbox<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>) with these.<\/p>\n I use these in my flash photography workshops, because I can now accommodate different systems with one softbox. The two speedlights could be of different size and use different radio systems.<\/p>\n With two sets of these\u00a0dual-flash speedrings,\u00a0it\u00a0means that we can accommodate up to 4 different flash systems simultaneously at\u00a0the\u00a0flash photography workshops<\/a>!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div> Review:<\/strong>\u00a0Profoto RFi dual-flash speedring<\/a><\/p>\n To purchase: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Softboxes with speedlights for\u00a0on-location lighting Off-camera flash is the easiest way to create dynamic lighting – and using a speedlight with a softbox, is\u00a0on-location lighting at its most elegantly simple. For most of my on-location portraits, I like to travel (fairly) light, and my lighting of choice is a speedlight, wireless transmitters and a softbox. Read more inside…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[833,15,22,110],"tags":[56,525,880,472],"yst_prominent_words":[1116,10035,10034,1115,1021,3782,7868,10036,10043,2959,3778,3763,7866,10049,10038,3759,2158,2157,3756,3753],"class_list":{"0":"post-163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-equipment-reviews-lighting-gear","8":"category-flash-photography","9":"category-lighting","10":"category-off-camera-flash","11":"tag-flash-photography-tips","12":"tag-lighting-setup-on-location-photography","13":"tag-off-camera-flash","14":"tag-on-location-photo-shoot","15":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48932,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions\/48932"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Lastolite EZYBOX 24\u00d724″ softbox<\/a> (B&H<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Amazon<\/a>)<\/p>\n
Lastolite EZYBOX 30\u00d730″ softbox<\/a>\u00a0 (B&H<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Amazon<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/gear\/Lastolite_EZYBOX_24x24_Softbox.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t
Impact Quickbox 24\u00d724″ softbox<\/a>\u00a0 (B&H\u00a0\/\u00a0Amazon<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/gear\/Impact-Quikbox-24x24.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t
Westcott Rapidbox 26″ Octabox<\/a>\u00a0 (B&H<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Amazon<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/gear\/westcott-26-octa-softbox.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/gear\/Profoto-dual-speedring.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
Profoto RFi Dual Speedring<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0(B&H<\/a> \/ Amazon<\/a><\/em>)
Profoto 1.3″ x 2″ softbox<\/a>\u00a0 (B&H<\/a> \/ Amazon<\/a><\/em>)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/p>\n
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