Experimenting with an umbrella..

Foques · June 30, 2010

Finally got around to learn how to use umbrella..:scratch.. as in umbrella instead of diffuser, or a sheet of paper, or a napkin.. you know, not using the workarounds..

I do think i need to get a smaller one.. but here are the results..
thoughts?

what should I have done different?

thank you in advance.

Hackbone · June 30, 2010

For mood shots these are quite nice. If you wanted to you could add another light for more separation from the bkg or to add some fill. Why a smaller umbrella? The smaller the light source the harsher the light. The further you move your light source away from your subject the harsher the light. When your use the largest light source possible and keep it as close to your subject as possible the light gets softer and tends to wrap around some to lighten the shadows. Look at how hard your shadow is on a sunny day. You've got a small light source very far away.

marikris · June 30, 2010

You can try a grid, btw, instead of a small umbrella for the dramatic light fall off.

Foques · June 30, 2010

Hackbone, the umbrella I used was 34" one I think..
in the first shot it was right next to my face. I figured, I'd need a smaller umbrella to get heavier light concentration..

I was shooting my sb600 at full power through it.

Mari, what is grid? Do tell, please!

Hackbone · June 30, 2010

Arseny, pretend you can see the path of light coming out of your umbrella. At the flash it is just a pin point and then it tends to extend out to the subject in an elongated pyramid getting broader and broader from its original pin point start. It now has a left and right edge as well as a middle section. I'm not sure of the light theory but where you subject stands in the light path effects the sharpness of light to shadow. Meaning left edge, middle or right edge. The left edge tends to be and softer edge shadow and the right edge tends to be a sharper more harsh edge shadow. Even your exposure changes from the left edge to the front edge. If you want that hard edge move your subject to the right side of the path of light.

Foques · June 30, 2010

Charles, thank you for the explanation.
I do understand that.. What I am lost about is why I get such a low light output..

The umbrella is ~4" from me, which puts flash itself at around 6".

I checked settings on the commander mode - Tried M and TTL modes, and tried upping levels.. still get same result.

Hackbone · June 30, 2010

I'm not sure how your light is set up........4 inches puts itself at 6 inches?

Foques · June 30, 2010

I figured there would be a question or two, so I just made two screen caps..
hopefully, that will clear things up

i'm dead in the center of the brella..

I just realized that I shot at 1/4000 f5.6..

I was shooting higher than the sync speed, didn't I?

Hackbone · July 1, 2010

I've never used a speed light in an umbrella. Would you have gotten more power with the light being reflected by the umbrella rather that shooting thru it? Could you have adjusted the zoom aspect on your flash. Push it out to 105, that tends to throw a little more light. There is a guy in New York who uses Ace Hardware reflectors with a simple high wattage light bulb and gets fantastic fashion shots.

marikris · July 1, 2010

Honl 1/8 Grid for Speedlite

They have a 1/4 also. They're really cool because the straws in the grid prevent the light from going all over the place. They're useful for hair light as well.

There are some examples on Google image if you want to take a look.

And this one from a blog.

And this one shows you the effects of zooming your flash.

cavediver2 · July 1, 2010

Dont shoot through it turn it around and let it reflect back on you.

Foques · July 1, 2010

Charles, Marikriss, thank you very much! I will try a what you are suggesting!

Cavediver.. the whole point of this WAS to shoot through the umbrella..

Mike J · July 2, 2010

Foques wrote: »

I just realized that I shot at 1/4000 f5.6..

I was shooting higher than the sync speed, didn't I?

Definitely higher than normal sync speed. Shooting through an umbrella that close, full power would be way too much if you were shooting at max sync speed. I just did a quick experiment. I set-up a 43" shoot-through umbrella in a mostly dark room. I did not choke up on the umbrella shaft so the SB-600 is about 18" from the umbrella and I am metering about 12" on the other side of the umbrella (subject side). At ISO 200, a shutter speed of 1/200, and the SB-600 set to 1/64 power, I meter just about f/5. At full power, I meter about f/20. You have plenty of power.

At full-power, the SB-600's flash duration is 1/900. I'm by no means a lighting expert (just starting myself) but I would think that at 1/4000 which is way above the sync speed, you are getting a pretty good mismatch between when the shutter is open and when the flash is at its peak. I duplicated your settings using my umbrella set-up above and at 1/4000 I was getting results similar to yours. At 1/200, f/5.6 and full power on the SB-600, most of the image as blown-out.

Foques · July 2, 2010

Hey Mike, thank you for looking into that. My findings have been the same

I feel a lot of practicing coming up.. shortly..

LKN Dave · July 2, 2010

Check out the strobist . He has a great how-to for speedlighting with all sorts of modifiers.

Mike J · July 2, 2010

LKN Dave wrote: »

Check out the strobist . He has a great how-to for speedlighting with all sorts of modifiers.

I second this recommendation if you are not already doing so. Check out the Lighting 101 topics and work your way through them.

Hackbone · July 2, 2010

Don't think you always need a pro flash to take great shots. Check this out. http://blog.apollo-imagizing.com/blog/bid/12599/The-Lab-Apollo-s-Janelle-Models-For-Brian-DeMint-at-SEWPPA#Comments His name is Brian DeMint and does awesome work with Ace lighting.