So I was out on an engagement shoot and had done all the normal stuff and wanted a little something extra…

But the simple daylight angle was not very flattering and the busy environment of the playground rope piece made for a very messy image – cool – but a little too messy – what could I do quickly to improve the impact of my couple in the space…

Here I am climbing around searching for the right perspective….

Read on to see the final shot and read about my camera settings making it….

This was shot at ISO 100, F8 and 1/250th of a second with a 15mm fisheye lens.

The small soft box in a large environment creates a pool of light.  With such a wide angle lens I was able to obtain a vignetted feel highlighting the engagement ring and the couple with soft directional light in the midday sun.  To darken the background I chose a low ISO and a fast shutter speed which has the effect of lowering the contrast of the ambient light.  I increased the output from the TTL flash head to +1 EV for the flash output, transforming the flash light from fill to the main exposure source.  A quick tweak in photoshop could dramatically increase the contrast without blocking the shadow tones if I thought the client would like a more dramatic look – so I’ve created a very flexible capture.  As I listen to the shadows, I note that there is a nice Rembrandt caress across both their faces.

If you can swallow this yucky corporate video there’s probably a nugget there for you.

I use the extra small softbox, as you can see in my bag, but I always use it hand held because the principle:

the larger your light source, the softer your light

Only applies if you are computing your exposure solely on the quantity of light that is coming from that source.

Your light source is relative to the subject.

A 18″ softbox is a small light source compare to a 70 inch man – so what is it good for?

Working close

I often use the ST-E2 transmitter and keep the flash on TTL allowing me to control the contrast using Exposure compensation on the camera. In this way, you can see how I’ve blended the daylight balance in the room – the tunsten source in the background – and finally the softbox providing the ‘key’ or main illumination shaping the subject.

There aren’t any shadows though, because my baseline exposure is the light in the room. I’ve used the soft box to create a shaping highlight. So there’s a bright shaped area, and a darker flatter area.

In this shot an assistant was holding the light (as I can only shoot hand held – light to my left). Here again you can see how I have blended the ambient and bumped it up with the softbox. Using your light to see shapes is really the psychological core of ‘making light real’. Light gives you that power to sculpt and form.

To achieve this exposure with your camera in TTL auto flash as well as Aperture, Shutter Speed, or Program exposure mode.  Adjust your main exposure compensation value to -1EV.  That’s it – the flash exposure will correct for everything else – easy eh?

Upcoming later, I have a video clip titled the 3 minute portrait, that will show how I’m using the mini softbox.  So the question of size must come up at some point….and you have to know the right answer when you’ve found the right question.

Is the 18 inch softbox big enough?

NO – so (moments later) I switched to using the ceiling as my soft-box.

Size is relative to proximity (distance from the subject) and you want to always have a softbox as big as or larger than your subject.

Gear List:

1. Canon 1D MarkII
2. Canon 1Ds MarkII
3. Canon 50mm f1.4
4. Sigma 24mm f1.8
5. Canon 90mm TSE f2.8
6. Canon 135mm f2.8
7. Sigma 70mm f2.8 Macro
8. Sigma 15mm f2.8 Fisheye
9. Mamiya 55mm f2.8 (grown up lensbaby)
10. Canon 550EX Shoe Flash
11. Canon 550EX Shoe Flash

Lighting / Accessories

1. Digital Camera Battery High Voltage Pack
2. Canon CP-E2
3. Canon ST-E2
4. Manfrotto 3350 Baby kit stand
5. Photoflex XTS Softbox
6. Photoflex 18″ umbrella
7. Photoflex Shoe Mount Multi Clamp
8. Pocketwizard (2)
9. Sunpack Readylight
10. LumiQuest Snoot