Softbox, lights and backdrop advice

[-aurorae-]

Hi, I'm more of a lurker (sorry ) and know that a lot of you guys here have invaluable advice so thought I'd ask, if that's okay.

I'm mainly an outside shooter but was recently asked to shoot a few new born baby snaps and it's peaked my interest! I've been looking around amazon and eBay and have nearly clicked buy now a few times but to be honest I'm mainly going on reviews. I'd prefer not to waste my money.

Budget is around £200. I think I'm looking for continous lights with softboxs and stands, and also a backdrop stand. My main interest is dog portraiture but my friends would like me to shoot their baby as she grows too. I'd mainly be using it at home to play around so don't have a lot of room, but could potentially need to travel with it in the future (but I could upgrade if needed).

Basically I don't want to spend a fortune, but enough that I can have a good play.

Thanks

 

[Garry Edwards]

Continuous lights won't have enough power to produce a workable shutter speed for dogs - unless they've been to the taxidermist first...
But, contradictory though this may seem, they are far too bright for use on newborn babies.
And the ones sold on Ebay and Amazon tend to be junk anyway, and produce awful colour rendition.

Your answer is a simple twin head flash kit. This is the one that we make, with one softbox and one umbrella, which is far more versalile than having either 2 softboxes or 2 umbrellas, others are of course available elsewhere

 

[-aurorae-]

I have a speedlite I could use as well which has worked well alone. But I sometimes struggle with focusing to start with in low lights. From what I've read so far it seemed umbrellas would give more of a beam in a set area, where as softboxes would light a larger area? And yes, I'm aware cheap won't be great but I'm not prepared to spend too much to then find out actually I'm not that interested in indoor photography at all :/

 

[Garry Edwards]

Well, speedlights can work very well in conjuncion with studio flash, but they become the weak link in the chain because of their relatively very slow recycling time, which can become a real problem when you need to take a lot of shots in quick succession.

Autofocus will only be a problem if you have a very slow lens, some kit lenses are pretty poor, but the modelling lamps from any decent flash head should allow easy autofocus.

There's a lot of written and video nonsense out there, some softboxes will spread light all over the place, some are better designed than that. Some umbrellas control the light reasonably well, others are far worse than softboxes. Both softboxes and umbrellas of various different types have both strengths and weaknesses.

Iff you're not sure about spending enough to buy decent kit, hang on to your money - which IMO is a much better option than wasting less money on junk.

 

[connersz]

I have a speedlite I could use as well which has worked well alone. But I sometimes struggle with focusing to start with in low lights. From what I've read so far it seemed umbrellas would give more of a beam in a set area, where as softboxes would light a larger area? And yes, I'm aware cheap won't be great but I'm not prepared to spend too much to then find out actually I'm not that interested in indoor photography at all :/

Why don't you get another speedlight and a couple of softboxes or umbrellas? That will satisfy your requirements until you can justify buying studio lights and it should come in well under budget.

 

[Phil V]

I have a speedlite I could use as well which has worked well alone. But I sometimes struggle with focusing to start with in low lights. From what I've read so far it seemed umbrellas would give more of a beam in a set area, where as softboxes would light a larger area? And yes, I'm aware cheap won't be great but I'm not prepared to spend too much to then find out actually I'm not that interested in indoor photography at all :/

Firstly, that's the wrong way round. As a generalisation, softboxes control light better than umbrellas.

It's easy if you think about it, given a few simple rules that all light sources follow:

• light travels in straight lines,
• the angle of reflection is equal to the ingle of incidence (light bounces off a reflective surface at the same angle it hits it - like a snooker ball off a cushion)
• The inverse square law tells us that if we double the distance between a light source and a subject, you need 2 stops more power for the same amount of light falling on the subject,
• The 'relative' size of a light source determines how it affects your subject, the sun is massive, but on a clear day it acts as a point light source because it's a long way away.

So now we're onto technical differences between light sources -
Continuous fluorescent lights, cheap, but not very bright and they often have a discontinuous colour spectrum, so adjusting white balance won't ever give you natural colours. But the lack of power means they're unsuitable for lighting large objects that move (people)

Continuous fluorescent or LED lights, cheap, but not very bright and particularly with LED they have a discontinuous colour spectrum, so adjusting white balance won't ever give you natural colours, really expensive ones overcome the above, but at a higher price than flash

Speedlights, loads more power than continuous lights, but they produce a consistent output both in power and colour. The downsides are that they're not WYSIWYG (so they're more difficult to position) and the recycle times are long if used at higher power, and to get a lot of power from them is expensive (though oddly they're seen as cheap by many), particularly if you want to buy ones with a full range of features. They don't fill modifiers as well as studio heads because they have a tiny built in reflector.

Studio lights, powerful, inexpensive (on a £ per amount of light level), modelling lights make placing easier, short recycle times, and a mount that makes it easier to fit a whole range of different modifiers. The downside is a lack of portability, though you can buy portable studio lights, but they couldn't be called cheap.

Only you can decide what fits your needs best, within your budget. But I'd recommend a single studio head and decent softbox to go with your speedlight and build from there.

You can do great things with one light.

Just to add about speedlights; there is some awesome work done just with speedlights, but that's done by people who are already experts, not by people learning where to position lights.

 

[-aurorae-]

Firstly, that's the wrong way round. As a generalisation, softboxes control light better than umbrellas.

It's easy if you think about it, given a few simple rules that all light sources follow:

• light travels in straight lines,
• the angle of reflection is equal to the ingle of incidence (light bounces off a reflective surface at the same angle it hits it - like a snooker ball off a cushion)
• The inverse square law tells us that if we double the distance between a light source and a subject, you need 2 stops more power for the same amount of light falling on the subject,
• The 'relative' size of a light source determines how it affects your subject, the sun is massive, but on a clear day it acts as a point light source because it's a long way away.

So now we're onto technical differences between light sources -
Continuous fluorescent lights, cheap, but not very bright and they often have a discontinuous colour spectrum, so adjusting white balance won't ever give you natural colours. But the lack of power means they're unsuitable for lighting large objects that move (people)

Continuous fluorescent or LED lights, cheap, but not very bright and particularly with LED they have a discontinuous colour spectrum, so adjusting white balance won't ever give you natural colours, really expensive ones overcome the above, but at a higher price than flash

Speedlights, loads more power than continuous lights, but they produce a consistent output both in power and colour. The downsides are that they're not WYSIWYG (so they're more difficult to position) and the recycle times are long if used at higher power, and to get a lot of power from them is expensive (though oddly they're seen as cheap by many), particularly if you want to buy ones with a full range of features. They don't fill modifiers as well as studio heads because they have a tiny built in reflector.

Studio lights, powerful, inexpensive (on a £ per amount of light level), modelling lights make placing easier, short recycle times, and a mount that makes it easier to fit a whole range of different modifiers. The downside is a lack of portability, though you can buy portable studio lights, but they couldn't be called cheap.

Only you can decide what fits your needs best, within your budget. But I'd recommend a single studio head and decent softbox to go with your speedlight and build from there.

You can do great things with one light.

Just to add about speedlights; there is some awesome work done just with speedlights, but that's done by people who are already experts, not by people learning where to position lights.

Thank you, amazingly detailed reply which I will take on board. Funnily enough I was thinking last night maybe I could get away with one good one. I'll have to have a look around later.

And regarding the wrong way round, practically every article I read yesterday said the same thing - but tbf, there's a lot of rubbish on the Internet too.

 

[Phil V]

Thank you, amazingly detailed reply which I will take on board. Funnily enough I was thinking last night maybe I could get away with one good one. I'll have to have a look around later.

And regarding the wrong way round, practically every article I read yesterday said the same thing - but tbf, there's a lot of rubbish on the Internet too.

Seriously just think about it, particularly with a shoot through umbrella, it passes about 60% of the light, the other 40% bounces back, from the brolly, and hits the walls floor and ceiling, from there some of it will bounce back at the subject.

All of the light inside a softbox comes out of the front creating a uniform cone of light, the different beams of which are somewhat randomly scattered creating a soft light source.

The first sources I found...

Softbox vs umbrella

Softbox vs umbrella

Softbox vs umbrella

 

[-aurorae-]

Seriously just think about it, particularly with a shoot through umbrella, it passes about 60% of the light, the other 40% bounces back, from the brolly, and hits the walls floor and ceiling, from there some of it will bounce back at the subject.

All of the light inside a softbox comes out of the front creating a uniform cone of light, the different beams of which are somewhat randomly scattered creating a soft light source.

The first sources I found...

Softbox vs umbrella

Softbox vs umbrella

Softbox vs umbrella

I agree. It makes perfect sense! I'm sure I'm not going mad, but I'm just about to head out. I'll have a read of your links when I get back and hope the ones I read are in my history (was on my phone) so I can show you what I was reading and why I came to my original thinking on lighting. It's all new to me, I only bought my speedlite before Christmas and still learning everything I can do with that. My house is quite dark, and one of my dogs black, and occasionally my focus would have trouble locking on to his eye. I didn't want buy ambient lamps as I know that's not going to help in the long run.

Thank you

 

[Tunbridge]

There are a pair of Lencarta Smashflash 200's for sale in the classifieds for less than £100. Get them, spend another £100 on a couple of stands and umbrellas or even a soft box if you can pick one up second hand and that will be a very capable set up to learn on.
Worst case you don't stick and it and you'll be able to sell it in for very little loss, and if you do stick at it you have good solid capable heads to use and add to.

 

[-aurorae-]

Seriously just think about it, particularly with a shoot through umbrella, it passes about 60% of the light, the other 40% bounces back, from the brolly, and hits the walls floor and ceiling, from there some of it will bounce back at the subject.

All of the light inside a softbox comes out of the front creating a uniform cone of light, the different beams of which are somewhat randomly scattered creating a soft light source.

The first sources I found...

Softbox vs umbrella

Softbox vs umbrella

Softbox vs umbrella

Okay, I hold my hands up, I'm an idiot and did indeed get them round the wrong way after looking back at a few articles I read :/

There are a pair of Lencarta Smashflash 200's for sale in the classifieds for less than £100. Get them, spend another £100 on a couple of stands and umbrellas or even a soft box if you can pick one up second hand and that will be a very capable set up to learn on.
Worst case you don't stick and it and you'll be able to sell it in for very little loss, and if you do stick at it you have good solid capable heads to use and add to.

Thanks, that's a good idea but I'm not sure I can buy from classifieds as I don't post very often. Will have a look, thanks for drawing my attention to them

 

[Kevjones]

Hi,
I used to shoot babies for a franchise a few years ago, and it was almost always at the clients home. I shoot Nikon so I used one SB800 triggered by Nikon CLS with a shoot through umbrella. Background wise I had a large furry rug that I'd drape on the sofa and put the subject on that. Sounds quite crappy these days but it worked really well at the time. I did invest in a pop up lastolite background (the black & white one) for shots with the parents.
One speedlight meant no rim or hair lights but with a shoot through umbrella I had more than enough light to get plenty of saleable photos and lighting a cramped living room with one speedlight is quite doable.
If I was doing it these days I'd use a couple of Yongnuo or Godox speedlights for the same price as a SB800 and probably not such a furry rug if I was shooting pets!
And I will just say that there's an awful lot of architects out there that don't understand the concept of living room....I've seen bigger wardrobes!!!

 

[Tunbridge]

Thanks, that's a good idea but I'm not sure I can buy from classifieds as I don't post very often. Will have a look, thanks for drawing my attention to them

Well you've been a member long enough, another good reason to join in!

 

[-aurorae-]

Hi,
I used to shoot babies for a franchise a few years ago, and it was almost always at the clients home. I shoot Nikon so I used one SB800 triggered by Nikon CLS with a shoot through umbrella. Background wise I had a large furry rug that I'd drape on the sofa and put the subject on that. Sounds quite crappy these days but it worked really well at the time. I did invest in a pop up lastolite background (the black & white one) for shots with the parents.
One speedlight meant no rim or hair lights but with a shoot through umbrella I had more than enough light to get plenty of saleable photos and lighting a cramped living room with one speedlight is quite doable.
If I was doing it these days I'd use a couple of Yongnuo or Godox speedlights for the same price as a SB800 and probably not such a furry rug if I was shooting pets!
And I will just say that there's an awful lot of architects out there that don't understand the concept of living room....I've seen bigger wardrobes!!!

Interesting post, thanks! I have a yongnuo now, I've only played with it briefly but think it's a slave and need to get a master for off camera. Though to be fair I gave up on the manual. Only used it to bounce light off of the ceiling but it gave far better results than the on camera flash would have. I'd just like to improve lighting and maybe play around with a few props. Your suggested set up sounds good in terms of portability in the future too.

 

[Kevjones]

When you're travelling to other peoples houses you generally don't want to be carting too much kit in and out of the car. I've got a couple of the manfrotto nano light stands which are just right for a speedlight and umbrella, doesnt weigh too much and doesn't have a massive footprint. And in most living rooms there's rarely more than 3-4 ft between light and subject so a single speedlight is more than powerful enough and the umbrella knocks out light in every direction to give you fill off any surface it can bounce off.
I found that babies have the benefit of not moving all that much like toddlers do, but the downside is that they're pretty ropey models and just won't follow any directions ;-) And they usually puke on your rug lol
With the Yongnuo I'd just get a radio trigger for the camera hotshoe, from what I've read most of them have a built in receiver and usually the transmitters give you control over the light so you can alter the power remotely. And they don't cost a fortune. The Lighting Rumours website has a good explanation of the various Yongnuo set ups.
Other than the pop up background you should easily be able to set yourself up for well under £200, and there's probably a cheap version of my lastolite background knocking around on ebay.

 

[-aurorae-]

When you're travelling to other peoples houses you generally don't want to be carting too much kit in and out of the car. I've got a couple of the manfrotto nano light stands which are just right for a speedlight and umbrella, doesnt weigh too much and doesn't have a massive footprint. And in most living rooms there's rarely more than 3-4 ft between light and subject so a single speedlight is more than powerful enough and the umbrella knocks out light in every direction to give you fill off any surface it can bounce off.
I found that babies have the benefit of not moving all that much like toddlers do, but the downside is that they're pretty ropey models and just won't follow any directions ;-) And they usually puke on your rug lol
With the Yongnuo I'd just get a radio trigger for the camera hotshoe, from what I've read most of them have a built in receiver and usually the transmitters give you control over the light so you can alter the power remotely. And they don't cost a fortune. The Lighting Rumours website has a good explanation of the various Yongnuo set ups.
Other than the pop up background you should easily be able to set yourself up for well under £200, and there's probably a cheap version of my lastolite background knocking around on ebay.

The more I think about it the more I think that's the way to go. There's nothing to stop me upgrading in the future if needed and it's a cheap enough option I can have a play around. Thanks for the mention of the lighting website too. I've already ordered a backdrop as it caught my eye, but not a stand. That will be used at home while I bribe one of my dogs with peanut butter lol
I ended up taking candid shots of the baby as I've never really done it before and didn't feel confident moving her into position, even though I was given permission. That said she didn't move very much for the brief period we layed her on a nice fluffy blanket. Luckily no pressure as friends and they were very happy with the few shots I gave them. But I enjoyed it so started researching ideas ever since

 

[-aurorae-]

Just want to say thank you for all the advice I was given! Today is the first day I've had off since making this so I get to have a proper play. I can't believe how much it throws the light around I ended up getting the following to go with my yn565...

YongNuo YN-622N Wireless TTL Flash Trigger for Nikon https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CSFCDKK/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_ONkRwbB7EBW3H

Photography Light Stand for professional photo studio photolamps https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0011363NS/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_mOkRwb0YF259J

Manfrotto 026 Lite Tite Swivel + Umbrella Adaptor https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000JLO6OG/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_MOkRwbFKA6NK7

Westcott 2021 60 inch Optical White Satin with Removable Cover Umbrella - Black https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0000A4F05/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_ePkRwbK9KRZ3J

Looks really good quality though the umbrella is bigger than I thought

 

[Diving Pete]

I'm not convinced that a 5ft umbrella lit with 1 speed light is the way to go.......

 

[Phil V]

I'm not convinced that a 5ft umbrella lit with 1 speed light is the way to go.......

Me too, either with the actual spread or the power.

 

[-aurorae-]

Well I've had fun playing around today, and it's teaching me a lot, so it can't be that bad... Can it? I didn't get an awful lot of replies to the thread - well not enough that there was an obvious 'winner' and the replies I did get were varied so I bought what was practical for the space I had with the view of buying another speedlight when I feel I've improved with one.

 

[ChrisHeathcote]

Love the second shot

 

[Phil V]

Love those shots, which proves that imagination and skill is much more important than gear.

But just to back up what Pete and I said above, if you examine those catch lights you can see that the speedlight isn't 'filling' that brolly.

 

[sep9001]

Love the second shot

+1 [emoji23]

 

[-aurorae-]

Love those shots, which proves that imagination and skill is much more important than gear.

But just to back up what Pete and I said above, if you examine those catch lights you can see that the speedlight isn't 'filling' that brolly.

Thanks I do see what both of you are saying, and also noticed the catch lights looking odd (editing skills not up to it yet). It was never going to be a final set up tough, the speedlight moreso - that gave me the most trouble yesterday until I changed to manual and it ate so many batteries (ran out as I was just getting into it!). If I continue to enjoy taking similar shots I'll definitely invest in better lights and save the Yongnuo for carrying about outside.

 

[Diving Pete]

Love those shots, which proves that imagination and skill is much more important than gear.

dont missunderstand what we are saying...

a 33inch umbrella will suit you better, allow you to position it closer, & be far more practical, very cheap to replace, makes the whole setup quick, light weight, & easy to setup.

Using a 5ft umbrella outside on a skimpy stand without the aid of a 'VAL' will end in tears.
Inside in a small room the light will bounce everywhere & controlling the light (the whole point of using different modifiers) will be for want of a proper word problematic.

 

[ChrisHeathcote]

Thanks I do see what both of you are saying, and also noticed the catch lights looking odd (editing skills not up to it yet). It was never going to be a final set up tough, the speedlight moreso - that gave me the most trouble yesterday until I changed to manual and it ate so many batteries (ran out as I was just getting into it!). If I continue to enjoy taking similar shots I'll definitely invest in better lights and save the Yongnuo for carrying about outside.

Improving editing skills, won't help I'm afraid. Catch lights are something we want to capture, the issue is that if you zoom in on them you can see reflection of the unlit umbrella. The downside of speed lights are that they are designed to have a directional light, so have a narrow spread of light. Bare bulbs work best as there isn't a reflector to point the light forwards. As has been said already a smaller umbrella would help, you could always add a stofen diffuser to help spread the light out a bit more

 

[Phil V]

Thanks I do see what both of you are saying, and also noticed the catch lights looking odd (editing skills not up to it yet). It was never going to be a final set up tough, the speedlight moreso - that gave me the most trouble yesterday until I changed to manual and it ate so many batteries (ran out as I was just getting into it!). If I continue to enjoy taking similar shots I'll definitely invest in better lights and save the Yongnuo for carrying about outside.

There's some bargains in the classifieds atm

 

[-aurorae-]

dont missunderstand what we are saying...

a 33inch umbrella will suit you better, allow you to position it closer, & be far more practical, very cheap to replace, makes the whole setup quick, light weight, & easy to setup.

Using a 5ft umbrella outside on a skimpy stand without the aid of a 'VAL' will end in tears.
Inside in a small room the light will bounce everywhere & controlling the light (the whole point of using different modifiers) will be for want of a proper word problematic.

Do you think I'd be better off doing that then rather than swapping the speedlight for an actual light? I must admit I was getting a little fed up with the batteries running out as quickly as they did! Also, I've no idea what a VAL is

Improving editing skills, won't help I'm afraid. Catch lights are something we want to capture, the issue is that if you zoom in on them you can see reflection of the unlit umbrella. The downside of speed lights are that they are designed to have a directional light, so have a narrow spread of light. Bare bulbs work best as there isn't a reflector to point the light forwards. As has been said already a smaller umbrella would help, you could always add a stofen diffuser to help spread the light out a bit more

Yes the umbrella shaped catch lights were the first thing I noticed! I was only thinking of editing to improve those particular photos for myself, it's not something I'd contemplated doing as a 'fix' Although I do need to learn editing to get rid of his winkle showing in the full sized portrait :/

Maybe I'll order a smaller umbrella then just for now. Though I do think eventually I'd like to move away from the speedlight as the main source.

 

[HoppyUK]

I recently bought two of these 33in umbrellas - two for a tenner inc p&p! And decent quality, you really can't go wrong. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00YCIYYMQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

They're wrongly described, and are in fact white in effect (not black/silver) with a shoot-through inner and a silver outer. The outer is fixed at the top, so can't be detached to use as a shoot-through. Shaft is 8mm, which is standard, and not 7mm (Elinchrom only).

To get the most from an umbrella and a speedlite, do some quick tests. Setting the zoom to the widest angle produces most brightness (don't use the wide panel - that will lose you a stop!) and then take some test shots with the flash at different distances along the shaft. Put the umbrella square up against a wall and take pictures of it, with blinkies enabled. It will be very bright - turn the power down and use high f/number. Optimum setting is when the umbrella is decently filled, with minimal spill on the wall. This will give you max softness, brightest exposure, and minimal spill around the sides. People often complain about all the spill you get with umbrellas and the loss of control, but a lot of that is just poor set up.

Umbrellas are underrated these days. Used carefully, the light is very similar to a softbox (some spill is inevitable) and they're so quick and easy to set up. They also take a up lot less space than softboxes and can be positioned right up against walls or ceiling. I also use them for even lighting of backgrounds, one each side, when their broad coverage works to advantage.

Edit: a proper studio head will always be better than a speedlite, if you have mains power. Lots of threads on this. You can also mix them together with speedlites.
A VAL is a Voice Activated Light, ie an assistant

 

[-aurorae-]

I recently bought two of these 33in umbrellas - two for a tenner inc p&p! And decent quality, you really can't go wrong. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00YCIYYMQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

They're wrongly described, and are in fact white in effect (not black/silver) with a shoot-through inner and a silver outer. Shaft is 8mm, which is standard, and not 7mm (Elinchrom only).

To get the most from an umbrella and a speedlite, do some quick tests. Setting the zoom to the widest angle produces most brightness (don't use the wide panel - that will lose you a stop!) and then take some test shots with the flash at different distances along the shaft. Put the umbrella square up against a wall and take pictures of it, with blinkies enabled. It will be very bright - turn the power down and use high f/number. Optimum setting is when the umbrella is decently filled, with minimal spill on the wall. This will give you max softness, brightest exposure, and minimal spill around the sides. People often complain about all the spill you get with umbrellas and the loss of control, but a lot of that is just poor set up.

Umbrellas are underrated these days. Used carefully, the light is very similar to a softbox (some spill is inevitable) and they're so quick and easy to set up. They also take a up lot less space than softboxes and can be positioned right up against walls or ceiling. I also use them for even lighting of backgrounds, one each side, when their broad coverage works to advantage.

Edit: a proper studio head will always be better than a speedlite, if you have mains power. You can also mix them together with speedlites.
A VAL is a Voice Activated Light, ie an assistant

Very helpful, thank you! Wall test is a great idea. I started having problems with the flash not firing each time and put it down to the ttl setting not working correctly. So I used it on manual, changing the brightness, but completely forgot to adjust the zoom. Then I figured out it was actually the batteries running out.

 

[HoppyUK]

Very helpful, thank you! Wall test is a great idea. I started having problems with the flash not firing each time and put it down to the ttl setting not working correctly. So I used it on manual, changing the brightness, but completely forgot to adjust the zoom. Then I figured out it was actually the batteries running out.

These are the best batteries - Eneloop Pro http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-2...TF8&qid=1454247805&sr=1-3&keywords=eneloop+aa

But in a studio environment, speedlites with AAs are not liberating, but a curse. Maybe get an external battery pack, if your flash can use one, but a studio head is the better way by far - fast recycle, no batteries, modelling lamp, more power when you need it. Lencarta Smartflash-2 is the short answer - £110 http://www.lencarta.com/studio-lighting/flash-heads/smartflash-200-studio-flash.

 

[sk66]

The biggest issue I see with the catchlights is that the speedlight is not in the center of the umbrella. That's very common with the speedlight mounts that have the flash vertical and the umbrella hole much lower. S type mounts are a bit better, or you can get a little ball-head/cold-shoe combo to allow tilting the flash down father (still not ideal).

 

[cargo]

Hi there. I just seen your post and a good read it was too. I have took a few dog portraits over the past year. All with a speedlight but with a softbox plus a reflector. I do have a brolly but to be honest I am a bit intimidated by it. This is because I started with a softbox and got good results so my mind set is not to fix what ain't broke. I am sure i'm missing a trick though. From the above images you will soon be there, great start !

ps:
I have a Canon 580 ex with those batteries Hoppy quotes. I do have a Youngnou flash too. I use Duracel AA's in that. It as never run out whilst usig in one shoot. What does happen though is, if your turn it off and leave the batteries in overnight lets say. They will be flat next time you come to it. Have no idea why that happens it just does.

Gaz

 

[juggler]

Love those shots, which proves that imagination and skill is much more important than gear.

But just to back up what Pete and I said above, if you examine those catch lights you can see that the speedlight isn't 'filling' that brolly.

The biggest issue I see with the catchlights is that the speedlight is not in the center of the umbrella. That's very common with the speedlight mounts that have the flash vertical and the umbrella hole much lower. S type mounts are a bit better, or you can get a little ball-head/cold-shoe combo to allow tilting the flash down father (still not ideal).

I did some tests... I know I need 3 speedlites to fill my 60" brolly in shoot through mode - but can get away with two. With just one, centrally mounted, it may as well be a rather smaller brolly even if backed right down the shaft. One works surprisingly well in reflective mode.

 

[sk66]

One works surprisingly well in reflective mode.

It still might as well be a smaller brolly... but with the speedlight centrally placed there's less drawbacks to it being oversized.

 

[juggler]

It still might as well be a smaller brolly... but with the speedlight centrally placed there's less drawbacks to it being oversized.

No, a single speedlite with diffuser filled the large reflector brolly pretty evenly, if not terribly brightly. I don't have the reference shot to hand unfortunately.

 

[-aurorae-]

So much to think about, take in and decide. Thank you everyone for replying and apologies for late reply, life (work) takes over. I keep going back to thinking studio lights, but I have to be realistic and want to make sure it's something I'd actually use rather than being dusted off once a year (because of the price). For now I've bought a smaller umbrella that's silver, rather than the white I have now - it was too cheap not to have a try! But I'm going to mull it over and reread this thread a few times to decide which way to go