Now we get to the fabric diffuser. I'm using a small offcut of white ripstop nylon - because that's what I have. Any material that diffuses light could be used - tracing paper, Roscolux, Target shower curtain, etc, as long as it doesn't give it a colour cast. There are many ways in which the diffuser could be attached to the box (Velcro would be an elegant solution), but because of my sartorial ineptitude, I elected for a "no sew" process.
I cut four strips to fit inside the front edge of the box...
...and stuck them together with Gorilla tape to make the frame.
The frame should be a snug fit in the front rim of the box.
Ripstop nylon rips even less if you cut it with a soldering iron, and for other synthetic materials that do fray, this is by far the best way.
The fabric is cut a bit larger than the frame.
The corners are cut off, then the diffuser is stuck to the frame with spray adhesive.
The completed softbox ready for testing.
Test shot 1. Without the diffuser. Nikon SB-900 set to manual 1/64th power and zoomed out to 18 mm, and triggered by Pocket Wizard. Exposure 1/60 sec, f/14, ISO200, WB auto. The shadow in the top left corner is cast by the edge of the softbox.
Test shot 2. Diffuser in place. Strobe settings as above, exposure 1/60 at f/11. I'm very happy with this result :)
The setup the test shots. The strobe and box are just propped on bits of scrap wood for the test. The next part of this tutorial will deal with making a mount for the strobe and a means of fitting the assembly to a lightstand.
I cut four strips to fit inside the front edge of the box...
...and stuck them together with Gorilla tape to make the frame.
The frame should be a snug fit in the front rim of the box.
Ripstop nylon rips even less if you cut it with a soldering iron, and for other synthetic materials that do fray, this is by far the best way.
The fabric is cut a bit larger than the frame.
The corners are cut off, then the diffuser is stuck to the frame with spray adhesive.
The completed softbox ready for testing.
Test shot 1. Without the diffuser. Nikon SB-900 set to manual 1/64th power and zoomed out to 18 mm, and triggered by Pocket Wizard. Exposure 1/60 sec, f/14, ISO200, WB auto. The shadow in the top left corner is cast by the edge of the softbox.
Test shot 2. Diffuser in place. Strobe settings as above, exposure 1/60 at f/11. I'm very happy with this result :)
The setup the test shots. The strobe and box are just propped on bits of scrap wood for the test. The next part of this tutorial will deal with making a mount for the strobe and a means of fitting the assembly to a lightstand.
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