What is the difference between using a rectangular soft box and an octagon bank?  I get these types of questions all the time and you have to admit, when it comes to strobe lighting the options available are sometimes a bit overwhelming.  So how do we make sense of it all?

Well, I love to take the mystery out of the whole lighting process, so once you understand some basic principles, the easier it will be to choose what type of modifier works best for you.  

Before you begin to decide what equipment you need to buy, you have to ask yourself what is the final result you are trying to achieve.  For example, I love to play the guitar, and if I go to a music store to buy a guitar, I have to determine what sound I want before I spend my hard earned money.  Do I want a screeching electric or a soft acoustic sound?  Now the sales man may give me some guidance, but ultimately I have to determine what it is I like, what fits me.  Likewise in photography, you are a creative artist, and you have to define the look and feel you want to achieve, and then the path to getting there is really not that difficult.

To understand lighting, the first rule of thumb I use when choosing a modifier, is the larger the modifier (in relation to your subject), the softer the quality of light.  This goes for all modifiers from umbrellas to bare reflectors.  For example, if I use a medium soft box and place it five feet from my subject, it will produce a quality of light that is softer than if I used the same soft box at a distance of ten feet.  It doesn’t matter who the manufacture is, the larger the total surface diameter, the softer the light.  It is true that if your soft box has an inter baffle or if you have a silver interior as opposed to white, these variables can change the quality of light, but only slightly.