Comments on: Shoot Thru Umbrella and Bounce Umbrella – a Comparison

By: Smashbase

Smashbase — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:52:21 +0000

Great article! I love the light in the last shot.

By: Vancouver wedding photographer

Vancouver wedding photographer — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:52:55 +0000

I prefer the bounce approach. I hate using a shoot through umbrella. I find it inconsistent, but better direct light of course. Bounce is far easier to set up in my line of work and I can change the angles a lot easier.

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 15:11:43 +0000

Thanks so much for the demo and comments. I found them very helpful and a springboard to work from. Above all I\\\’m getting the advice from all sides – \\"there\\\’s no right or wrong lighting\\" and \\"practise, practise, practise.\\" Thanks again.

By: wizwow

wizwow — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:55:18 +0000

Dave.

Never see much of a power drain without the black. To me it is to help prevent flare. I use them religiously. For this exercise I used the same one so it would be apples to apples.

Thanks for visiting.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:44:11 +0000

Don,

Great article. I’ve mainly used my umbrellas in the shoot-through configuration, but looks like I’m going to have to try turning them around. I noticed that in these shots you don’t have the black backing on the umbrellas–do you find that having them on has any effect, other than I assume reflecting more of the light back requiring a little less power?

By: Tony

Tony — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 05:54:06 +0000

You are the man Don. I never wanted to shoot bounced but now I do. Will it look the same shoot thru with a reflector?

By: Theis

Theis — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:53:35 +0000

You are spot on that none is right or wrong. I use my umbrellas both ways also depending on what light I think is useful. A lot also depends on size and material so as you say go experiment

By: tsheets

tsheets — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:20:34 +0000

Great article! Thanks for the side by side, setup shots, and diagram explaining the light direction!!

Interesting you mention using a shoot through further away to make the hot spot larger. As a complete newb, and reading closer = larger = softer, I tried that with shoot through umbrellas, and found the hot spot overwhelming. I knew there must be something I wasn\’t getting, and you have not only confirmed what I was seeing, but explained it in a way even I can understand!

Thanks again!!!

By: wizwow

wizwow — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:44:51 +0000

Swet,

I have used large softboxes and large umbrellas to do this. I think that I love the larger boxes at the side for fitness models… sculpt the body instead of just lighting it. Then, the addition of a bright, snappy light from opposite back to add an edge could be very cool.

I have not used a shoot-thru for that kind of a shot, but I would think it would fall somewhat differently than either the box or the bounce. Give it a shot and be super critical. Then turn it around and make the best shot then.

I do tend to use the smaller umbrellas for shoot-thru, though I don’t have any real reason why. Just my little idiosyncrasy maybe… or the more focused light effect.

–don

By: Swet

Swet — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:49:53 +0000

Don –
This really is a great piece you put together here. The pros and cons of these two lighting methods have been debated in the strobist group on flickr, but you have really provided great sample photos with a graphical explanation of how the light is dispersed.

Question…If I was shooting a fitness model (where we want shadowing to show muscle definition) would it be best to use the “shoot through” method so I would have less wrap?