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I'm in the process of writing up a blog entry about my softboxes. I took a series of macro photos showing different flash options including 2 of my softboxes. I thought people might be interested in seeing the effects of various options so enjoy.

My Softboxes

i should really get off my bum and build a soft box with lights to the sides and top
i used a sheet on one i set up at work but it cut down the lights too much

Thanks for that summary Andrew. I have already built your version 1. Though I lined the insides with AlFoil, so perhaps is is version 4.

The collapsibles look good, but don't you lose a lot of light out the sides? What bounces off the paper just escapes. If there were sides, some, at least, would eventually get out the front

Mr Darcy wrote:Thanks for that summary Andrew. I have already built your version 1. Though I lined the insides with AlFoil, so perhaps is is version 4.

Version 3 is foil lined. Version 4 is a longer collapsible model.

Mr Darcy wrote:The collapsibles look good, but don't you lose a lot of light out the sides? What bounces off the paper just escapes. If there were sides, some, at least, would eventually get out the front

Not noticeably. In both cases the angle of coverage of the flash is such that it just fills the front panel of the softbox so there is no light spillage there. I would think that any light reflected off the front panel is going to be pretty much lost anyway and even with a foil lined tube you wouldn't get much back out the front. With the longer one, I did go with tissue paper which greatly reduces the amount of light reflected of the front. Anyway, I am getting sufficient light out of each of them.