Small or large Softbox?

[Phyrr]

I am currently looking at buying a lighting kit for a new studio setup. I will be doing a lot of full body shots where light will need to fall over the entire person and not just head/shoulders and up. Would a 24x24 softbox suffice for this or should I get a larger one with a stronger strobe accordingly?

[JCPhoto1]

24x24 is a little small for a full body. The ideal size for a softbox is as big as your subject. Most people don't want to or can't afford a 6' softbox but try to get the biggest one your budget can afford. You might try a diffusion panel. They can be made cheap out of PVC pipe and rip stop nylon or buy a commercial set for a few hundred. Much better control than a softbox. If you can find some Dean Collins videos on studio lighting they show how he uses panels for better control.

[Asylum Steve]

Jim's advice is pretty good, but I wanted to add my two cents...

One, I've never seen a square softbox, but I guess that's not important. Bottom line is a 24" softbox will most likely be too small for full body work.

Still, I feel his comment about "full-size" softboxes misleading. I've never seen a six foot softbox used for anything other than very large product shots (things like cars). A medium box (mine are 36"x48") is easily large enough for full body and group shots. You could probably get by with even smaller...

The reason is that light from a softbox spreads, and being so soft and diffused, it spreads over a large, evenly lit area (unlike umbrellas which feather with much more drop-off). So a 4' box's light (depending on the distance) will not have any problem covering a six foot or more area with only perhaps a half-stop difference in intensity.

If money is a big concern, I agree that homemade light panels are the way to go, although personally, I feel they give you much less control than a softbox. Well, not less control per se, but much more of a hassle to get that control.

There is a great deal of spill light with a light panel, and to truely place the light only where you want it, you usually will need at least two, maybe three panels to prevent side spill.

But, they're extremely cheap to make and can tear down, so if make one, why not make a bunch?

BTW, this may be stating the obvious, but another simple reason to buy as large a softbox as you can afford is that it is easy to mask the front of the box to make the light smaller if you ever need to.

BTW2, have you considered using a large umbrella? If you main concern is just throwing large amounts of directional soft light on a subject, large umbrellas are probably a better solution than softboxes...