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shoot through or bounce?

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alfred ferolino

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hi im a newbie in the field of lighting or strobist.

i want to clear up my mind of which thing is better, using a shoot trough umbrella or with a siver bounce umbrella?

can you please give me some comparisons? or much better if there is a comparison shots.
thanks.
 
You will get closer to the subject with a shoot thru, thats one of the reasons more light will hit the subject.

See images of my wall/ceiling . First is shoot thru. Next is bouncing with shoot thru . And last is Bouncing with silver umbrella of the same size. Stand with flash was at the same place on all shots.

I of course shot in manual with the same settings. Silver umbrella gave some different color.



--
-Pelle Piano
http://www.pellepiano.com
Gallery at http://www.studiobild.com
 
Keep this in mind:

Shooting through an umbrella will give you direct (transmitted) diffused light. It will give more specular highlights.

Bouncing off a white umbrella (soft fabric) will give you diffused reflected light, which is softer than shoot thru light.

Bouncing of a silver lined umbrella, will increase the contrast of the light and will not be as soft as the light reflected off the soft white fabric.

You should always do a custom white balance, since the color will shift because of the shooting thru the fabric of bouncing off the different colored fabrics. Also, you may have to compensate your exposure. Note the different exposures and colors in the three images in the previous posting
 
When in doubt, use bounce umbrellas as that gives you predictable conventional results. A shoot-through umbrella sends a tremendous amount of light out the back which then bounces off the walls of the room. That can illuminate an entire room and may even give you softer light, though wall colors can change the color of the light. If you need to light an entire room, the shoot-through would be a good choice but you need to pick a good location for it and watch what the light will be bouncing off of from the back of the umbrella.
--
http://www.fantasy-photo.com
 
I read somewhere that silver umbrellas are preferable for men/male pics, as they upped contrast - is this so? .. many variables I guess.
--
Rudi - freelancer
 
say, im planning to shoot a prenuptial.

my setting is somewhat sunset where the sky is turning into red/orange as the darkness covers the environment. My background will be a lighthouse.

i want to light the couple like an angelic lighting from heaven and illuminating the lighthouse.

what will be my set up? bare flash? shoot through umbrella? or bounce umbrella?

please give me some advice.

thanks
 
--to me this means a beam of light so a snoot would be better than an umbrella and for fill light colored gels to get different lighting effects. try several

I only own one umbrella it is a shoot through with a black cover. I shoot through most fof the time for soft broad light With the cover on close to the subject it is a harder light
 
I've found:

A shoot-thru gives soft light, with some stronger (yet soft) shadows. Better roll off, imho.

Turn it around and make it a bounce, you get less shadows, but the ones that are there are 'harsher'... I feel this gives a 'flatter' image. same amount of power.

A reflected bounce umbrella gives you the same 'look' (a little more speculars) as the above bounce... but you get more power and the room itself is lit less (no lights spilling out the back)

FWIW.
--
JOE FEDERER
Websites: http://www.joefederer.com
 
Joe Peoples writes:

...I do a test and see for myself. What makes you think you can replicate an experienced photographer's results without working it through yourself? The only one who can tell you which is "better" is you.
alfred ferolino said:
hi im a newbie in the field of lighting or strobist.
i want to clear up my mind of which thing is better, using a shoot
trough umbrella or with a siver bounce umbrella?
can you please give me some comparisons? or much better if there is a
comparison shots.
thanks.
Click to expand...
 
... you want to know what kind of effect you'll get BEFORE you buy your items.

People don't always have all the requisite equipment to test things.

For example, a while back, I knew I needed a little more 'power' from my flashes... I had just been using shoot-thru's ... I knew I was losing power that way... but how much compared to a reflective?

The only way for me to 'test' would have been to buy a reflective and try it... or I could ask around and learn and research and find that I gain about 1 stop (which is what one would expect) ... that was enough, so I went and bought the needed equipment.
--
JOE FEDERER
Websites: http://www.joefederer.com
 
Joe Federer said:
The only way for me to 'test' would have been to buy a reflective and
try it... or I could ask around and learn and research and find that
I gain about 1 stop (which is what one would expect) ... that was
enough, so I went and bought the needed equipment.
--
JOE FEDERER
Websites: http://www.joefederer.com
Click to expand...
In my test you actually lose one stop with the reflective IF , you have the flash at the same distance. This beacuse a shoot thru can be a lot closer to the subject than a reflective, as the light has to travel first i the opposite direction and then take a longer way to the subject ( than a shoot thru ).

I think a comparison like this has to mean that the Flash reamins at the same position for both umbrellas.
--
-Pelle Piano
http://www.pellepiano.com
Gallery at http://www.studiobild.com
 
When using them at distance, say, lighting a large group, so that the falloff across the subject isn't crazy... the 'extra distance' the light needs to travel in reflective umbrella setup matters very little.

If you are talking about lighting a single subject, with the umbrella so close that it actually matters that it might 'poke' them... then, I agree... However, that's not the way I'm using them.

--
JOE FEDERER
Websites: http://www.joefederer.com
 
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