a question about umbrellas

[chrisburke]

I've decided to start getting into lighting.. for the past year or so I just depended on natural lighting, but I've been experimenting with flash and other light sources...

I've got a photo shoot coming up in about a month, and I have no fear that I can get good pictures (as I've been doing this for a while and getting nothing but good results and happy customers) but I want to start trying new stuff with my clients (i.e. lighting tech) I'm wondering what the difference is between a normal umbrella and a shoot through umbrella...I guess essentially what I'm asking is, can I buy a normal white umbrella hack off the handle and stick it in front of my flash, or is there something about the 20-30+ dollar umbrellas you get at a photo store that makes them... well worth 20-30+ dollars?

maybe I should put this post in beyond the basics?? but I guess its beginner lighting for me.. but thats not a section..

 

[GeneralBenson]

This is also something that I've ben looking into, and I might have maybe partially figured it out. So, hopefully someone else will chime in and set things straight, but this is what I think I know so far. Regular umbrellas are reflective, and are designed to bounce light. So you would have the concave side of the umbrella facing your subject, and the flash would be firing away from your subject, then bouncing off the umbrella back towards your subject. Shoot through umbrellas are meant for the light to travel through them. So you would have the concave side of the umbrella facing away from the subject, and the flash firing at your subject, traveling through the umbrella. I think shoot through robs your of more light, but is maybe softer...? That the stuff I still don't get, is which has what kind of light characteristics. Well, I leave that to the smarter people.

 

[chrisburke]

this isnt at all what i'm looking for... I know what umbrellas do, i'm wondering if I can use a regular umbrella or if there is something special about the ones you get at the photo stores..

 

[GeneralBenson]

I would assume the relctive/translucent properties would be different; as would the potential color cast involves with something not designed for photography.

 

[Big Mike]

Photo umbrellas aren't expensive....check the price of softboxes :shock:

 

[chrisburke]

oh i know they are no where near the cost of softboxes... just thought i'd ask the question

 

[William Petruzzo]

I suppose the only thing you could do is try. If you don't get a good white umbrella, it's going to alter the color of your light, which might be undesirable. It also seems to me that the shoot through material feels thinner. But it might jsut be in my mind.

But, for $20 - $30 you can pick up an umbrella that converts between shoot through and bounce. All my umbrellas are convertible and I switch between methods all the time. If you're only going to get one anyways, I'd pick up a real photo umbrella. Here's a nice big one: http://www.adorama.com/JTU40BWD.html I'm not sure the build is great, but it's worth a shot.