I love the response "What if the umbrella I have is purple, will it make my photos look purple?" I don't think that person caught on that he meant a photographic umbrella and not a random "rain" umbrella.
I just buy the best umbrella box on the market--the Lastolite Umbrella Box. It gives a beautiful quality of light, and uses the principle of double diffusion to make its light output softer than that of the cheapy "brolly-box types". Annie Liebovitz uses the Photek equivalent to the Umbrella Box, the Photek Softlighter
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002HTK7A/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?ie=UTF8&cloe_id=027bb3ac-7d4f-40b2-aaab-c1bb2b75960f&attrMsgId=LPWidget-A1&pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000B73O4Q&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0TR0CSTQX57Y8B71KTDMREG/Lastolite_LL_LU3227_Umbrella_Box_with_7MM.html]Amazon.com: Photek Softlighter II, 46" Umbrella with Diffuser.: Camera & Photo[/ame]
perfect!
my umbrella just broke on a shoot last weekend when the wind took the stand right to the ground (umbrella first, thankfully). snapped the post, so now im just left with the umbrella piece.
thanks for the link!