Ah Soft boxes. I remember them well. My fingers still tingle with burns from the glue gun and I can still smell the smoke from the burning one in the studio on St Sacrement in Old Montreal. . . .
Tungsten soft boxes are a risky animal due to the heat. Sheet aluminum is light and reasonable easy to work. I shoot mostly tungsten and never use 'em. Instead I just stretch some translucent Gridcloth between poles on C-stands. But I make my own .032 aluminum reflector boxes. Flash/strobe light boxes on the other hand are easy and very workable. I basically make them out of the 3/16" foam core. and cut an opening for the light head in the back --and a couple of vent holes-above and below the light position for convection flow. The Tungsten modleing lights will, as our narrow box did in Vieux Montreal, set fire to foam core. One critical factor is that the white foamcore really isn't all that good a reflector, and a completely open back will lose a lot of light. It's best there for to design them with a keystone shape to bounce the light toward the front. It is also very good to buy a roll of pebbled silver reflector material from Roscoe gels (or order from Mole Richardson or Calumet). I used rubber cement though spray mount will work as well, and cover the inside of the box with the silver reflector material. This will give you maybe two additional stops. I use the pebbled surface because tinfoil or a mylar would through uneven spectral reflections on the front of the box. The face of the box I use Roscoe Grid cloth. It has the small ripstop grid incorporated (just like your winter parka) and won't shred like the pure plastic translume and such. I just gaffer tape them to the front. That's about it. They aren't as easy to store as the roll up ones but you can create individual light boxes for specifc shoots. ---William Nettles [EMAIL PROTECTED] Nettles Photo / Imaging Site http://www.wgn.net/~nettles Find out what's happening in Echo Park: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 12:07:44 -0700 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Cameramakers digest, Vol 1 #367 - 5 msgs > > Dear colegues, > > this question is not directly connected to camera > making. I would like to make a Soft box and I am > looking for some help. Can someone give me a hint, > where to find more information? > > Regards, > > Janez _______________________________________________ Cameramakers mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://rmp.opusis.com/mailman/listinfo/cameramakers
