umbrellas - types matter?

FiddlerMD

FiddlerMD

Well-known member
I'm looking for a cheap soft light source. at this time i can't afford a softbox so an cheap umbrella on my tota or omni will do fine. i am scouting ebay for cheapie ones, and there's like a million types .. first of there's various sizes.. and i'm guessing the bigger, the software the light but are there disadvantages to bigger ones?
second, there's white, silver, gold , transluscent etc... is it better to get a white transluscent and shoot through that or a white reflective? also will silver give too harsh of a reflection?
any comments on umbrellas are much appreciated - thanks!
 
Yep, a bigger one will give you a softer look. There's not really a drawback to using a bigger on (unless you're trying to fit it in a tight space). I would go with the white transluscent and shoot the light through it.
 
Silver bounce will be the most efficient (brightest) and hardest.

Shooting through white diffuse will be the most light loss as well as the softest source.

You could also just pick up a frost gel of some kind to clip to the barndoors on the omni. That'll give you a slightly gentler (softer) source whilst still retaining some of the control of the barndoors.

And of course remember those huge [generally] white slabs supporting your house (called walls) can be used to bounce light for a far softer source than any of the above.

-Kevin
 
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