softbox question

[kimspics]

i have a small room as a studio indoors..I am thinking I need a softbox...can I make one easily or should I invest in one? If I can make it how? I don't have a great understanding but everything I read tells me I need one..I take alot of baby and toddler portraits..

[sk66]

Soft boxes are great for smooth lighting..Like window lighting on an overcast day. It is easier to buy one, by far. But another "workable" solution is a "shoot thru" umbrella (looses more light than a softbox) or pushing your light thru a white sheet or diffuser panel. The final result will be similar, there's just a little less "penalty" (light loss) when using a softbox and the size of the light source is a bit more defined. With a soft box there is an "edge" to the light, and all of the light must go thru the front of the box. With umbrellas/sheets/diffusers, a good bit of light can reflected back, and there is no "edge".

[Jim Bryant]

I have two softboxes made by photoflex, a large one and a small one, both produce soft diffused lighting.......can't beat it.

[RustySterling]

I have a large (photoflex) and medium (westcott) softboxs. They hardly ever come off my studio lights.

However, I'm starting to look at large panels as well after doing some studying with Dean Collins lighting course DVDs. I'll probably build my own (ala Tinker Toys) and buy some ripstop nylon from Joanne's Fabrics. This would be along the lines of someone who said push your light through a white sheet or diffuser panel.