Hot Light w/ Umbrella as a diffuser?

esac

I am fairly new to photography. I got a bunch of equipment that I inherited, and one of these is a tripod and a hot light. I need a diffuser and the only thing I have is an umbrella. I tried attaching the umbrella to it with the adapter, but the hot light 'shell' is too big to angle it correctly. Is this typically done?

pathfinder

A good diffuser is a thin scrim of nylon or even cotton - don't get them so close to hot lights that they melt or catch fire in the case of cotton.

A hand held Tri-Grip diffuser or an Impact round diffuser screen will work. California Sunbounce, among others, make diffusers and stands.

It is easy to shoot a speedlite through a diffuser, or a white sheet, to get soft window light. The farther the flash is from the diffuserand the wider it is adjusted, the softer the light will be, despite the fact that without the diffuser, the farther the flash is from the subject the harsher the light becomes.

Using hot lights through diffusers, will cut their light intensity by about a stop or so. Since most hot lights are not that bright to start with, that can be a problem.

You can shoot a speedlite through a white umbrellas for very diffuse light, similar to a softbox but less directional. The reversed umbrella needs to be very close to the subject, just outside the frame. If you can mount your hot light to shine through an umbrella that might work, but be very careful, you do not want to set your diffuser on fire with your HOT light. They do get very hot frequently.