Shoot through or reflective.Which umbrellas for small home studio?

[wonderer]

I have a pretty functional small home studio going but naturally due to a limitation on space there are a number of issues that I have to deal with with and the main one right now is deciding which kind of umbrella is better for me.

The distance between the subject for portraits and the vinyl background is only around 4-5 feet due to space. Now obviously this makes lighting the background separately pretty difficult. To ensure the light does not blow the backs of the subjects it has to be too close to the background which just causes hot spots and an awful variation in tone and colour across the background. I do a fair bit of full length shots and some groups, width is not a problem. I have long ago come to terms with a certain amount of pp work and am happy to do so, you can only work with what you have right? My question is this.

As I need to also light the background using the 1-2 subject lights and adjust in pp which kind of umbrella would be best to get an even tone across the background? I'm not aiming to blow it or even make it white nessasarily, I just want to obtain an even shade across the whole background. Would shoot through umbrellas or silver reflective ones be better for doing this? The lights will be about 5-6foot from the subjects who in turn will be 4-5 foot from the vinyl.

Any help or opinions would be received gratefully.

 

[Garry Edwards]

Neither. Silver would be the worst possible choice, the light from these is designed to be far from even.

Shoot through would be reasonably even but because they would be in front of the camera, more light would spill back and create more flare than other types of umbrella.

To be honest, your best bet, if you really must use a white background in a small space, is a giant softbox, e.g. a Hi-lite or similar, they make the most efficient use of the space.

Or you could use 2 x softboxes to light the background. If cost is a major factor, which perhaps is why you want to use umbrellas, then the best type of umbrella is a white reflective one.

 

[wonderer]

Neither. Silver would be the worst possible choice, the light from these is designed to be far from even.

Shoot through would be reasonably even but because they would be in front of the camera, more light would spill back and create more flare than other types of umbrella.

To be honest, your best bet, if you really must use a white background in a small space, is a giant softbox, e.g. a Hi-lite or similar, they make the most efficient use of the space.

Or you could use 2 x softboxes to light the background. If cost is a major factor, which perhaps is why you want to use umbrellas, then the best type of umbrella is a white reflective one.

Thank you for your reply Garry. Although I have enough width to allow a couple of softboxes aimed at the background unfortunately to get even lighting across the entirety of the vinyl the lights still blow the edges of the subject due to their proximity to the background. I have fiddled with positioning separate lights for the background and unless the subject remains perfectly still in a certain position ( impossible with kids!!) the light spills way too much onto them. I only really have the option of lighting both subject and background using the same source and metering for the subject.

So can I ask, would two white reflective umbrellas be ok either side and slightly above the subject be better than two shoot throughs? Does the white reflective spread the light more evenly than shoot through?

Thanks again

 

[Garry Edwards]

I would say that white shoot through spreads the light more evenly than white reflective - but the biggest single problem with a shoot through is that about 60% of the light passes through it, and lights the subject, the rest bounces back, and puts light in all the places you don't want it to - including into the lens.

Really, a well designed softbox gives the best of both worlds - the light is passing through it and is diffused, and like a shoot through umbrella, can be placed as close to the subject as you like (can't do that with a reflective one). This means that it's capable of producing soft light if required, but no light is bouncing back where it isn't wanted.

If lighting the background with 2 softboxes (or with 2 reflective umbrellas) the trick is to angle them so that each is lighting the opposite side, this produces even lighting with minimal risk of spill onto the subject - although of course there is still a need for a reasonable distance between subject and background.

I've put a couple of videos on Youtube on this, part 1
Part 2

 

[joel222]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but on the subject of your videos garry, I was just wondering about using the umbrellas to light the background. I have been using bare speedlights with white background. Is it a vast improvement using the brollies?

 

[Garry Edwards]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but on the subject of your videos garry, I was just wondering about using the umbrellas to light the background. I have been using bare speedlights with white background. Is it a vast improvement using the brollies?

If lighting a large area, yes. Speedlights output low energy, so have tiny but harsh reflectors to maximise the effect of their low output. The results in uneven lighting

 

[Flashman]

...If lighting the background with 2 softboxes (or with 2 reflective umbrellas) the trick is to angle them so that each is lighting the opposite side, this produces even lighting with minimal risk of spill onto the subject - although of course there is still a need for a reasonable distance between subject and background.

What about one or two of your 'Lencarta Background Reflectors' for the OP Garry? Given his space issue, they'd do a fair job of solving his problem of spill onto the subjects wouldn't they?

 

[Garry Edwards]

Yes, they would be a very good choice - but more expensive at £50 each

 

[Hodders]

If you are shooting in a small space light control becomes just about the most important thing. Shoot throughs and reflective brollies are appalling at that. The light just goes everywhere.

I agree with Garry that softboxes are a much better idea - especially ones with decent grids.

The hilight is a mixed blessing - as long as you light it evenly and don't overdo it it wont be too bad.

Main thing is to experiment and post results up for people to comment on as it's a great way to learn.