Beyond the softbox

Lets clear one thing up before we start, there is nothing wrong with a softbox. It does what it’s designed to do and it does it very well. It provides a flattering even and soft light that will give you pretty good results in a studio most of the time. What it will do however is give you very similar results most of the time, which again is fine most of the time because an even well lit photograph is what we’re looking for. However, if you’re wanting to be creative and  produce something a bit out of the ordinary then this is when perhaps you need to look beyond the softbox. This is what I wanted to explore, something a little bit different and over several shoots and with the help of Bobbi Castle, Bonnie Bellotti, Scarlett Fox and Rebecca Harrison-Stokes here’s what we achieved. There were some softboxes used for secondary lighting but not for the main lighting. Amongst other things we used beauty dishes, basic reflectors, gels and not forgetting the amazing Hilite lightbox. What is the Hilite? Basically it’s an 8ft. x 7ft. softbox, but it’s so much more. 

Take a look below at a slideshow of just a few of the images from the shoots. Sit back and enjoy my images from beyond the softbox.