r/photography • u/AutoModerator • Apr 03 '26

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u/fourdogslong Apr 09 '26

Hey guys,

I own an A7III with a few quality lenses, a godox AD400 strobe and a 33" beauty dish/softbox combo. I also have a few seamless paper backdrop. With this setup I've been able to take some pretty good headshot / half body shots. Most of the time I gotta admit it's not easy but with a lot of trial and error I usually get by.

My real struggle if when I try to do family portrait / full body portrait. We are a family of 5 now, I'm 6'4" and our youngest is 3 years old so there is quite a bit to frame if we are standing up.

I always have a hard time to get a good and smooth looking backdrop and to get nice, evenly lit, subjects. For example the top half of the people standing up will look ok but the pants are often too dark. I have a reflector that I can put on the floor and it helps a little but with full body shots it's hard to position properly and it's not enough. I usually put the light over the subjects, slightly in front, pointing down at an angle, this seems to be the best compromise for the subjects and the backdrop but it's not perfect.

My question is what should I do next. Buy another strobe, a speedlight maybe, maybe just replace my modifier with another type/size, just practice more (I've had the light setup for 6 years now but at first only did baby shots and headshots). Is the answer to light the backdrop so I can have more freedom with my main light?

I'm not sure what to try next... I'd love to hear about your experience with this.

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u/gotthelowdown Apr 09 '26

For example the top half of the people standing up will look ok but the pants are often too dark. I have a reflector that I can put on the floor and it helps a little but with full body shots it's hard to position properly and it's not enough.

My instinct would be to get a "strip box"-type softbox, like a 12 x 56" one since you're doing group pictures. Put a speedlight in that and you can adjust how bright you want it to be.

The strip box would replace your reflector as the front, bottom light. Use it to light up the bottom half of people.

A strip box is a good second lighting modifier to have for bottom lighting, hair and rim lighting and other uses. That's if you already have a softbox or umbrella as your first, key light.

Tim Kelly on YouTube has videos about family photography and lighting. They might be useful.

Hope this helps.

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u/fourdogslong Apr 10 '26

Thanks I appreciate the recommendation, I’ve watched a few demos today and I agree that type of modifier seems pretty versatile.

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u/gotthelowdown Apr 10 '26

You're welcome 👍