Translucent or not?
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Garry Edwards
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Both, or preferably both plus a white reflective one - they all do different jobs.
The shoot through (translucent) umbrella can produce much softer light, mainly because it can be placed as close as you like to the subject, and partly because the light bounces everywhere, making the light source effectively much larger.
Reflective umbrellas bounce the light off of the umbrella instead of sending the light through it. Because the flash head is placed between the umbrella and the subject and because the actual light source is the umbrella (not the flash head) the light source can't be very close to the subject, so can't be very soft. But, unlike the shoot through umbrella, the light is reasonably well controlled.
The shoot through (translucent) umbrella can produce much softer light, mainly because it can be placed as close as you like to the subject, and partly because the light bounces everywhere, making the light source effectively much larger.
Reflective umbrellas bounce the light off of the umbrella instead of sending the light through it. Because the flash head is placed between the umbrella and the subject and because the actual light source is the umbrella (not the flash head) the light source can't be very close to the subject, so can't be very soft. But, unlike the shoot through umbrella, the light is reasonably well controlled.
HoppyUK
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As Garry said 
I know softboxes are very fashionable, and they're very nice too, but you can do so much with white, silver and transluscent shoot-through brollies. They're cheap as chips, put up in seconds, and give three very different effects.
Another thing I like is they're relatively compact compared to a similar size softbox, at least a foot or more from end of brolly to end of head, and give more room for manoeuvre in a smallish domestic environment.
I know softboxes are very fashionable, and they're very nice too, but you can do so much with white, silver and transluscent shoot-through brollies. They're cheap as chips, put up in seconds, and give three very different effects.Another thing I like is they're relatively compact compared to a similar size softbox, at least a foot or more from end of brolly to end of head, and give more room for manoeuvre in a smallish domestic environment.
Michael Sewell
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And smaller again, if you can find a westcott folder (NOT cheap as chips!) or a Chinese clone, of which there have been one or two on the bay recently.