49.1

So in an interesting experiment with this photo I managed to create a giant soft box by stretching a large piece of white cloth which I had bought as a white background (but proved pretty useless for that) out in front of my SB700 flash (with diffuser attached). It created a huge area of diffuse light which was controllable through adjustment of the cloth - covering it folding it etc. The effect was somewhat like window light albeit on a dull sort of day. Anyway I was pleased with the results as it gave the kind of look I was after. The only problem is it didn't look like a window so I couldn't have it in the shot although I suppose that could be another thing to work on. At about £86 with both stands and a 3x6m sheet from Amazon it's actually a lot cheaper than most decent brand medium soft boxes let alone anything of a similar size and it's also easy to dissassemble and put away even coming with it's own bag. I'll put the Amazon links at the bottom. Note I wouldn't recommend it as a backdrop (unless you're some kind of Ninja with an iron).

As with nearly all of my photos retouching was in Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Nik Software Color Effex Pro 4. I also quite like the monochrome versions which I can post if anyone is interested.

Photo info:

Model: Axel Von Rosencoff
Photographer: Me (Arif Akhtar)

Cheap Chinese Backdrop set (as makeshift window/softbox), SB700 Speedlight, Nikon D800 Camera, Sigma 24-70mm/2.8 lens.

Links:

Backdrop Support Stands:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002JCE7KQ/ref=oh_details_o00_s02_i00

White Sheet:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004L0VB76/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i00