Umbrellas/Soft boxes?

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konastab01

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Im looking at getting into a lot more portrait photography.
Im gonna uses speedlights(SB800 And a 900) for it as they are light and easy to carry along with all my other gear.
I am firing them with pocketwizards.

Im looking for soft boxes or Umbrellas with reflectors.
But Im not too sure what I will need?

Would I be better buying a umbrella and use my other flash on a tripod to light up the back?
Or should I just buy 2 brollys?

Cheers
 
what effect are you going for? white seamless? colour backdrops? are you firing onto a backdrop, or what?
 
to be honest if you're shooting outside id go for umbrellas because they're cheaper and quicker to set up. although they're not as controllable as softboxes its unlikely there'll be anything for the light to bounce around off outside.

thats my personal opinion, either would be good and would depend on the type of light you want.
 
Get one of each and build yourself some spot grids and snoots aswell. Then you'll have the ability to really control fall off.
 
For outdoor location, the lights bit is easy I think. Such as a folding softbox like a Lastolite Ezybox http://www.lastolite.com/softboxes-for-battery-flash.php FlashInThePan sells a lot of useful stuff for bargain prices - check the advertisers' forum here http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=157807

The most difficult bit is getting the light where you want it, and keeping it there in a breeze. Best answer there is a small army of helpers, or some bags of cement to weight things down. I think that's one reason why a lot of location shooters seem to use smaller reflectors, plus they are more efficient. You'll also get a bit more light out of a softbox than a brolly, plus they are slightly more aerodynamic ;)

I think a good book for you is Joe McNally's The Hot Shoe Diaries. He uses Nikon too, and does most things with iTTL rather than Pocket Wizards. Great book, great pics, lots of inspiration, practical advice and a top read. But apart from that, it's rubbish! Amazon here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hot-Shoe-Di...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264508548&sr=8-1
 
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