Shoot through umbrella question

[schuylercat]

That was a joke? Damn!

Mike - I think that fact is what scares people most about off-camera lighting: 1/2 distance from light to subject is 1 stop in-camera. In full manual, that idea makes me feel like I'm juggling totally uncontrolled elements: from light spillover control to subject/backdrop lighting ratio controlled by both flash power and distance relative to each other...all narrowed through the lens to that little bitty focal plane...and THEN you can start thinking about shutter and aperture. I have to experience this myself, and I have to experience it a lot, becasue no matter how well it is explained, doing it makes it happen, right? Good thing I'm not burning up roll after roll of Provia...

On the up side, my mother (who is very busy spending my inheritance on home improvements and vacations as all of her children directed her to do since my dad died) decided she'd forgotten my birthday last year. She didn't, but that's not the point: she bought everything in my Amazon cart for me as a gift. 2 - 8' light stands, 2 - 45" convertible umbrellas, 2 swivels, a super clamp, and a big padded tripod/lighting carry on.

And...2 Honl speedstraps, 1 - 8" snoot, 1 - 5" shorty snoot, and 2 gobo/barn doors that I had in my wish list. She neglected to buy the 70-200 f/2.8L Canon lens I had in there, which is understandable: she's remodeling her kitchen. Sometimes everyone needs a mom, I guess.

So, in a week (sooner, if I get my new memory cards after smacking down a seller on Ebay who sold me 5 counterfeits) ) I'll have Stobist open on my laptop, my kids up in a room with a big ugly pink wall (to be draped with some WalMart sheets, one set estimated about 30% gray and another about 80% gray, if a little blue), and a whiteboard with notes on it in the shot as I experiement with setups and such. More to come.

 

[Village Idiot]

With experience it all becomes 2nd nature. Lighting is a very daunting task to some one who's never tried it and really doesn't know what to buy or what o do with the stuff once they have it.

Strobist is great as the information makes this much easier and much accessible to your average Joe.

From there, a lot of the knowledge and techniques are gained from experience. After learning the basics and practicing for a bit, you'll know that according to your flash's guide number, @ 8 feet away on 1/4 power, you need an aperture of 6.3. Then you stick an umbrella infront of it. That requires about an extra stop of light, so you crank it up to 1/2 power and take a shot. It's about spot on and may need a miniscule change in aperture or flash power.

That's about how it should go for you. Enough time playing with the toys and you'll know exactly what to do for exactly what you want.

 

[JerryPH]

That's one of the tips that they give you. Expeience will tell you that at a certain distance and light strength setting, you will be able to use a certain F-stop, and to put that info on a sticky or tape on your strobe.

Me, I know this little piece of info how it relates to my equipment, but I like to see the result on a lightmeter in advance and go from there.

Time and practice are basically all thats needed along with a lot of reading and understanding what is going on, on the strobist site... it comes together quite fast actually... but the practice and seeing it all happen first hand is what ties it all together.

As I mentioned before, I am more technical than artsy or creative, and I really get off on all that techno-babble... lol.