Shoot Through or Reflected Brolly For Portraits?

ianbarber

ianbarber

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I have been asked to do a small portrait shoot for a friend so he can give them to relatives for xmas.

I havent got alot of experience in portraits so any help would be appreciated.

I do have a small shoot through brolly but was wondering if I would be better buying a Reflected one.

I will be using Off Camera Speedlights unless anyone has a cheap setup they want to sell
 
You can get the light source closer to the subject with a shoot though, with a reflective one move the brolly in too close and you'll take their eye out with the shaft....
 
Shoot through gives less (no) control of light spill, which goes all over the room in every direction, lighting your background and the walls and ceiling in the room. Reflective gives some focus to the light and stops it splashing about everywhere.

Shoot through lets you place the light source closer to the subject, which makes it relatively larger and softer.

You can buy brollies that do double duty, with a removeable cover so that you can shoot through or reflect. They don't cost much so you could always buy one or two of those and see which style you prefer.

A softbox lets you place the light close to the subject, for a softer light, and also allows you to control spill. With a grid fitted you can gain even more control over spill. It costs a bit more and takes longer to set up and tear down, but does have advantages when it comes to fine tuning the quality of the light and control of the light.

If you have an hour to kill, at a leisurely pace, then you might like to watch the free video tutorial/demo on "Indoor Basics" available here - http://fridayphotoschool.com/dl/index.php?id=. You will need to register for free (no spam results). You can watch a sample here on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miWYRc1HAWg. The full video includes examples of both reflective and shoot through brollies and softboxes.
 
Had much practice?
 
I use shoot through mostly because I can get it closer to the person, making the light nicely wrap around the person. Also sometimes the spill from the umbrella can nicely illuminate the background with the light that bounces around the room.
 
kokakaste2 said:
I use shoot through mostly because I can get it closer to the person, making the light nicely wrap around the person. Also sometimes the spill from the umbrella can nicely illuminate the background with the light that bounces around the room.
Click to expand...

Do you use just one light or more
 
Typically I would use single light, making life easier. But sometimes (like when you have dark background) I use kicker light (or hair light). :)
 
I've started using one light whenever I can get away with it. Shooting on black does often require a kicker, but what I've learnt is that it is far, far better to use one light and concentrate on getting some decent interaction with the subject than have fancy light and a dead expression.
 
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