Umbrella?

kyeezie

Hello all! I was wondering how important an umbrella is for the inside portraits. I'm new the the whole umbrella thing, please help.

zacker

it all depends... a umbrella is used to shape, direct and modify lighting, you could get away with not using one if you have lower, white ceilings to bounce the flash off of or white walls.. there are all sorts of other modifiers, soft boxes being about just as popular as brollies (umbrellas) and then there are snoots, barn doors, diffusion panels, grids, dishes..the list goes on. So again, umbrellas work great and you prolly should have / use one.... but, there are other ways to work with light.

kyeezie

My latest project iIwill be working on is in an office and they want me to take the pictures on a white background. I am worried about having it too bright, the office has really bright flourescent lights and don't want everyone to look washed out, will the umbrellas help with this, or what can I do?

zacker

well first problem is the flourescent lighting, youre gonna get a terrible glow from them, you shoule gell your flash.. second, you wont blow out the photos if you know about lighting and how to controll it.. what do you use for flash, whats your set up?