IMAGE 9.8.where that light ends, the point at which the edge of the frame blocks the white diffusion front, will tell you where the light will fall off. Aim the softbox at the ceiling from a distance that allows a full bounce down to the subject and creates nice shadows. Meter as usual, under the chin, reading both the bounced light as well as the little bit of oblique light coming from the angled box. The bounced light below the oblique light will be less strong and will fall off at that point. As with any trick that involves light bounced off a surface, a custom white balance is a necessity. I know this looks odd (it is), but it produces a terrific soft light that also quite unusual because of the vignette. See image 9.8.This first image was made with the model about 4 feet from the edge of the softbox and about 10 feet from the background. Notice how soft the light is on her face, due to the large surface area of the ceiling and the slightly more defined light from the edge of the softbox. A hair light, a beauty bowl with a 25 degree grid (a favorite combination), was set on a boom arm directly over the model head. It was powered to the same f-stop as the main light, providing just enough kick to give the model extra dimension. See image 9.9. We created a nice variation with this lighting when the model held a translucent umbrella and the hair light was boosted an additional 1 3 stop. The halo from the / umbrella, along with the angle of its handle and the model arms, combined with the light falloff to direct all attention to her beautiful face. See image 9.10. If you like this as a general idea but prefer less falloff, simply increase the distance between the model and the light (it was approximately double for image 9.11). The softbox will spread the light more evenly. Youl also see an increase in the brightness level of the background, as the Inverse Square Law comes into play and the light on the background is closer in value to that of the model.IMAGE 9.9.IMAGE 9.10.IMAGE 9.11.THE SEARCH FOR SUPER-SOFT LIGHT 51
