1/4 Stop Silk Overhead Butterfly

[Jim Ritscher]

I need to buy some silk (etc.) for a 12 x 12 overhead butterfly, and I was thinking about "1/4 stop" (which is really .6 stop) white imitation silk. The purpose, of course, is to reduce contrast in the sun. My thinking is this: I don't want to knock the light down too much, just diffuse it a little, so that whatever is in the background will be at about the same exposure as my subjects. Does this make sense? What am I missing? Thanks for your help.

--Jim

[Mark Kenfield]

1/4 stop silk is great for taking the edge off bright highlights from the sun. It still lets a lot of light through though - so you still get a fair amount of directionality in the way the light will fall on your subject, but it will be less harsh.

[Stuart Brereton]

1/2 soft frost works well for that.