Silk that's only 50% Silk

[swiperstopswiping]

I want to buy some silk, but it is only 50% silk. Does anyone know how well this will work with lighting outdoors?? Does the really have to be 100% silk to get natural looking lighting?

 

[novelt]

Silk
Any material that has a bright translucence to it and is used as a diffuser.
Silk
A lighting diffusion or reflective material, formerly real silk. (Grip/Lighting)
Silk
Diffusers of various sizes which scatter and soften artificial light or sunlight. Synthetics (which don't yellow as fast or blow the budget) have tended to replace the labor of silkworms. But large silks on exteriors (see: Butterfly) allow some air to escape, reducing the fabric's tendency to become a sail on windy days.

just letting you know it doesn't have to be real silk or any percentage thereof. :thumbsup: the last one is from Lowel

 

[MattinSTL]

I use white, ripstop nylon... and sometimes other fabric... depends on how much opacity I want... and frankly... you can experiment with soft colors and various levels of off-white.

Most "newer" shooters I've seen would benefit from a reprogramming... that is to look at the world not in specific tools for a job, but in the results they want... you don't always have to have a "professional tool" to get a professional result... but then again, sometimes you actually DO need a professional tool...

In the case of a silk... I would just look for a few different types of fabric that fill the need... it's amazing how cheap you can get fabric for at times... look at the clearance rack at any fabric store or possibly WalMart... just pick out the bolts of white and off-white. We're talkin' cheap here man.

white sheets... cheap... soft... thin... cotton breathes... easily washable.

 

[bcheong]

A lot of the times I find artificial silk way to heavy. Sometimes something lighter produces a more pleasing result. But as MattinSTL said it's all about the look you're after. I totaly agree with him in that people (and seemingly more and more as time goes on) really do seem to be thinking the other way around starting with the tools and how they can incorporate them instead of the other way around.

 

[Cool Lights]

I use white, ripstop nylon... and sometimes other fabric... depends on how much opacity I want... and frankly... you can experiment with soft colors and various levels of off-white.

Most "newer" shooters I've seen would benefit from a reprogramming... that is to look at the world not in specific tools for a job, but in the results they want... you don't always have to have a "professional tool" to get a professional result... but then again, sometimes you actually DO need a professional tool...

In the case of a silk... I would just look for a few different types of fabric that fill the need... it's amazing how cheap you can get fabric for at times... look at the clearance rack at any fabric store or possibly WalMart... just pick out the bolts of white and off-white. We're talkin' cheap here man.

white sheets... cheap... soft... thin... cotton breathes... easily washable.

Yes, but I wonder where you can find a source of heat resistant inexpensive translucent material like that used on the front of a softbox. Would be nice to have sometimes.

Bed sheets are okay (I even used tissue paper once on a 110w fluorescent fixture and no problem--but don't try this at home:violent5: ).

Someday when I have my ultimate studio that i want to build and will have a grid high up, I will not want to fool around with stuff that even might possibly catch fire under any circumstances. When it's on the floor on a stand and you can keep an eye on it or make sure the distance is safe then who cares really.

 

[MattinSTL]

Sorry I keep forgetting that a lot of people use hotlights... for me tungsten isn't used very much... If I needed a tungsten to punch through a silk then I'd use a 2900-3200k flo for that function instead.

I really only need a silk for Mr. Sun.

I totally forgot how many people get a silk and punch a fresnel or open face through it... so yeah, don't be stupid guys... hot lights are actually hot.

If anybody knows specifically what the fabric is on the front of a small-medium softbox please let me know! I've been dying to source this material in bulk for quite a while... that's how I ended up using thin, rip-stop nylon... but I'd love to have the super-thin stuff from the front of a softbox... it's got a tight pattern to it, like rip-stop... but it's super thin... translucent... like a frost gel... if you push a paper to one side you can EASILY read through it... I WANT that stuff... so if you know the source then spill it!