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I love home made stuff. Years ago I made several photographic umbrellas and they worked great. I don't know what happened to the small one but the big one bit the dust when a gust of wind picked it and my flash unit up and whisked them about 10 feet away before dropping it. That was the end of that umbrella! Now when I use a an umbrella outside I screw one of those metal things you attach your dog's leash to, then I bungee cord the stand to it. I never built a softbox until now. I saw one that another guy built on another site and decided to make one myself, but of course I was going to Benjize it. |
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| One thing I didn't like about the other one was it was rectangular and sat on legs on the floor. The light was placed on a stand behind it or inside of the rectangular enclosure in the middle of it. I'm guessing moving it is a bit of a hassle. I decided to use an old Photogenic Studiomaster II because it is bottom heavy and rolls easily on four wheels and the framework of the softbox will be easy to attach to it. I also decided to make mine triangular rather than rectangular. The shot here shows the base of the light. The center slot is for the light stand and the two smaller ones are for 1/4 inch bolts that when loosened up will allow the softbox to slide forward or backward. The light can also be pointed either forward or backward. Forward is more specular, backward is softer. |
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| This is the light with the base attached. The framework is 3/4 inch PVC pipe. You can see the 6 "T" fittings at the three corners. the steel angle iron gives the 1/2 inch plywood more stability. |
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| Here it is with the pipe framework. It is seven feet tall and 40 inches wide. I had to add a fifth wheel in the center front as it wanted to tip over. Mistake # 1 corrected! |
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| I had a local seamstress stich up the cloth. I couldn't find black cloth with silver backing so I bought some black material and some silver material and had her sew them together. The light is pointing backward in this shot. I had her double up on the edges so I could run small screws with washers to attach the cloth to the framework. |
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| She sewed Velcro on the front two edges of the black/silver cloth so i could easily remove the white front cover. It rolls around very easily and is not top heavy at all. |
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| One of the first shots I did with it. Not sure I like it quite yet!!! But since I've got about $250.00 in it I'd better start liking it!!! |
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Benji's Book Posing and Lighting My full color 8.5 x 11 inch glossy 44 page book on how to pose and light the high school senior girl is in my hands are ready to be shipped. It has 44 different poses in it, including head and shoulders, waist up, 3/4 and full length poses. Twenty six poses are shown without a prop, most of the rest of the poses are with chairs that can be bought locally in a second hand furniture store (or new!) I also show a steel "school" chair that I have modified, and I've included instructions how to do it. Four pages of lighting diagrams and five wide angle shots showing the entire scene, then the actual close up shot of that same image so you can see just what the heck the rest of her body is doing to get that great close up shot! LOTS of posing and lighting tips in easy to understand language. Poses for the larger gal as well as the size 6 senior are shown. This is a "lay flat" book that you can show to your client and let her choose what she likes thereby eliminating poses that will not sell. Benji's Video Photographing The High School Senior in the New Millennium Over 45 minutes long and jam packed with lots of good instruction on posing and lighting for the high school senior girl. How to get beautiful indoor lighting for head and shoulders portraits, 3/4 length and full length poses. All of this and lots more are covered, most showing exactly what I do to get the shot. I show in several of the images what problems will crop up when YOU attempt this pose and what you need to do to correct it. The exact placement of the lights to get these shots is also covered in detail. Outdoor poses are covered also. Perfect exposure quickly and easily whether you are shooting digital or film. This is the instructional video for you. You have already experienced my easy to understand style of teaching in my tutorials found here and several of them are included in this video also.How to order:
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