Umbrella effect outdoor?

[Buckster]

oh Buckster, you're hilarious

Thanks. Hey, it keeps me young at heart!

Here's my little story: Few months ago, I asked opinion about Gary Fong's products and got some mixed opinions, as well as link to this site DIY Reflector-Diffuser. After reviewing it and purchasing this funky material, I liked the results but it wasn't replacement to umbrella.

I'm with you 100% so far, and we're tuned in like FM here! This is the root source of my confusion on some of what you've been saying I think: We both realize that these little modifiers being discussed just aren't going to replace a larger diffusion light source like an umbrella.

So again, I looked at fong's site and saw a product that he has where you're shooting through. So i tried my $0.99 hardcore investment to shoot it through. Unlike the design, mine is simple Velcro on the bottom to fasten to the flash. And after few experiments shooting indoors I was pretty impressed by illumination and softness compared to omnibouce.

I can understand that. It's a little bigger than the omnibounce, so it's a little more effective. Been there, done that myself. I've got a couple of Stofen Omnis that I use for certain things, as well as some white foam sheet bouncers decked out with velcro and gaffer's tape. :thumbup: We're still in sync!

I then took it outdoors and although it is WORTHLESS for full length adult, it does the job relatively decent on a two year old.

Here's where you start to lose me. Even on a two year old, outdoors at that small size, it's got to be close enough to the subject to do some wrap-around because there's nothing to bounce off of. So it's got to be pretty darn close. To me, that mean you're going off camera, and if you're outdoors and going off-camera, you've got to be setting up your light somehow, and if you're doing that anyway, why not just use an umbrella? That's what I'm thinking as I replied to you... but here comes the answer to that conundrum...

The light-stand you mention. At a wedding, and such I work with an assistant and he is holding a quantum flash rigged to a remote. In the park with my wife and a two year old, she's holding sb800 mounted with my design while camera is set to commander mode.

So you have an assistant who's holding the small modifier close enough to your child to resolve the problem of it being close enough to the subject that, in relation to that subject, it's large enough to create a soft light! Well, now it makes sense! :thumbup: Of course, she could hold the umbrella just as easily...

I would love to hear some of your lighting techniques. Thats why I love photography, very subjective and always room to learn and improveeacesign:

I rarely have assistants, so I'm forced to use stands most of the time. I occasionally bunjee, clamp or gaffer tape a light to something handy, but usually, it's stands for me. I prefer to use umbrellas and reflectors for softening my light because they're easy to fold up, take anywhere and set up, but I do have 2 medium and 1 large softbox that I employ, as well as a light panel system, though they're usually reserved for use in studio settings, where I use 2 300 w/s strobes and 3 200 w/s strobes along with my 2 580EX II's in whatever combinations I think I need for the situation.

Like you (it sounds like), I'm big on the whole DIY thing, and have a variety of modifiers for bounces, grids, snoots, gobos, barn doors, and so on made from paper, cardboard, poster board, foam sheets, coroplast, gaffer's tape, wood, plastic, hot glue, and whatever... lol. Then there's the sound, light and IR beam triggers made from DIY kits, and a pressure trigger made from tin foil and cardboard. I even DIY'd myself a gimbal head from scrap motorcycle parts, a couple of bearings and a few other odds and ends welded and bolted together:

It actually works great for birding and so on with long lenses.

Anyway, so yeah... that gives you a pretty good idea of what I'm using for light and modifiers I guess.

 

[IgsEMT]

You can say I have an assistant holding the modifier, but my wife isn't going to hold an umbrella with a clamp, I did thought about it though. Plus park outings already include a stroller, dipper bag, her purse and my small camera bag (so I'd like to keep it as light as possible).

Yeah, for years I've been an assistant and now I have one. When I first started actually shooting, I tried few jobs w/o an assistant and felt that I spend TOO MUCH TIME running and setting up. Now on average wedding, I got 4dyna-heads and 3 packs. One pack stays with portraits, two others go as room lights. My assistant holds the quantum with a sunpack battery (traded in lumydynes b/c they are TOO big & HEAVY) and my main flash is sb800 on the camera.