Umbrella size for portrait/fullbody

[TimBrandt]

Is there an optimal size for umbrellas for portraiture and fullbody photography? I have 2 Nikon SB-24, and a 43inch/110cm translucent umbrella. I need to get another umbrella, and was wondering if I should get another one the same size, or a bigger or a smaller one?

 

[JimTech]

I guess it depends on what you are trying for as "a look." Evenly distributed lighting down the full body length requires more lighting spread and a fade on the lighting as it goes to the feet requires much less lighting spread.
--
Don't think outside the box; assume there is no box.

 

[Gene L.]

For anything up to 3/4 portrait I find my 45" umbrellas are great. When used for full length I get some falloff at the bottom unless I pull them back, which of course creates a harder light.

For groups the lights tend to be back a bit more anyway, so I haven't had a problem there, but for a single subject full length portrait I would prefer a 60" umbrella or perhaps the 60" Softliter. I'm not sure if the SB-24 is up to the task of filling something that large. If not, then you might need tandem flashes or a monolight.

-Gene L.
http://ttl-biz.com

 

[Fantasy Photo]

The rule of thumb for portraiture is that the diameter of an umbrella should be at least one third the distance between the light and the subject. (This applies only to the main light since the fill light can be as small as you want provided that you keep your camera close to the fill light.) For full length work, you should try to have the light as tall as the subject if you want truely even lighting, but something half that size should work fairly well.

I use a softbox that's 5.5 x 4 feet in size and is about 5 feet from my subject. It gives very soft and even lighting for both portraiture and full length shots.
--
http://www.fantasy-photo.com

 

[TimBrandt]

I guess it depends on what you are trying for as "a look." Evenly
distributed lighting down the full body length requires more lighting
spread and a fade on the lighting as it goes to the feet requires
much less lighting spread.
--
Don't think outside the box; assume there is no box.

Well I'm still new to this, so I'm not sure what look I'm trying to get, but I figure an evenly lit person is a good start. I think I'm gonna go for a bigger one

 

[TimBrandt]

For anything up to 3/4 portrait I find my 45" umbrellas are great.
When used for full length I get some falloff at the bottom unless I
pull them back, which of course creates a harder light.

For groups the lights tend to be back a bit more anyway, so I haven't
had a problem there, but for a single subject full length portrait I
would prefer a 60" umbrella or perhaps the 60" Softliter. I'm not
sure if the SB-24 is up to the task of filling something that large.
If not, then you might need tandem flashes or a monolight.

-Gene L.
http://ttl-biz.com

Well I do have 2 SB-24, so that might do the trick. I think a bigger one is the way to go.

 

[TimBrandt]

The rule of thumb for portraiture is that the diameter of an umbrella
should be at least one third the distance between the light and the
subject. (This applies only to the main light since the fill light
can be as small as you want provided that you keep your camera close
to the fill light.) For full length work, you should try to have the
light as tall as the subject if you want truely even lighting, but
something half that size should work fairly well.

I use a softbox that's 5.5 x 4 feet in size and is about 5 feet from
my subject. It gives very soft and even lighting for both
portraiture and full length shots.
--
http://www.fantasy-photo.com

I'm going for the bigger on I think... the smaller one seemes useless, and I already have one 'in the middle' so a bigger one seems the best bet

 

[TimBrandt]

What if I wanna light a background, so it blows out in all white? Is it best to light it without an umbrella and just the bare flash, or is there another option that's best?

 

[Fantasy Photo]

An umbrella has too much spill light. You need something more directional. You'll need at least two lights for the background, one on each side. In my sudio I use two strip dome softboxes. They are maybe 30 to 36 inches high (I'm guessing at the dimensions) and maybe 8 or 10 inches wide. When I travel, it takes too much time to set up strip domes, so I use a pair of 20-inch diameter metal bowl reflectors. With proper adjustment, they work very well. Make sure you keep your subject far enough away from the background and that no light from the background lights falls directly on the subject.

http://www.fantasy-photo.com

 

[TimBrandt]

An umbrella has too much spill light. You need something more
directional. You'll need at least two lights for the background, one
on each side. In my sudio I use two strip dome softboxes. They are
maybe 30 to 36 inches high (I'm guessing at the dimensions) and maybe
8 or 10 inches wide. When I travel, it takes too much time to set up
strip domes, so I use a pair of 20-inch diameter metal bowl
reflectors. With proper adjustment, they work very well. Make sure
you keep your subject far enough away from the background and that no
light from the background lights falls directly on the subject.

Sounds like the reflectors might be the best idea. What about a silver reflective umbrella? Still to much spill?

 

[Fantasy Photo]

All umbrellas have a lot of spill, way too much to use for background lighting in the typical studio. With a white background that you want to "blow out" so that it goes pure white, you'll have to set your background lights nearly 2 stops brighter than your main+fill lights. Any spill light from the background lights can cause problems. So, use background lights that restrict the spill light and keep as much light as possible on the background. When I use my 20-inch metal bowl reflectors, I turn on the modeling light and then look at the floor where the model will be standing. I can actually see shadows being cast on the floor by the edges of the bowl reflectors. I adjust them so that the shadow edge is well behind the model. That insures that no direct light from the background lights will fall on the model. You can also stand where the model will be standing, face the background, and then look up at the background lights. If you can see any part of the inside of the bowl reflector, then it means that direct light from the background light will hit the model and you need to adjust the background lights to prevent that. With an umbrella, you'd find it very difficult to keep that direct light from hitting the model and, in addition, you'd have too much spill light bouncing around the studio. If you had a really large studio and could keep the model a long way (20 feet?) from the background, then you could probably get by with using umbrellas for the background lights. Otherwise, use something that concentrates the light onto the background with more control.

An umbrella has too much spill light. You need something more
directional. You'll need at least two lights for the background, one
on each side. In my sudio I use two strip dome softboxes. They are
maybe 30 to 36 inches high (I'm guessing at the dimensions) and maybe
8 or 10 inches wide. When I travel, it takes too much time to set up
strip domes, so I use a pair of 20-inch diameter metal bowl
reflectors. With proper adjustment, they work very well. Make sure
you keep your subject far enough away from the background and that no
light from the background lights falls directly on the subject.

Sounds like the reflectors might be the best idea. What about a
silver reflective umbrella? Still to much spill?

--
http://www.fantasy-photo.com

 

[Hendrik van der Veen]

White is white if you light is properly. It's a misconception that the background needs overexposure, especially 2 stops.

Just use 2 standard reflectives pointed to the background. Measure the light and set the strobeoutput to the same value as the camera settings. You can overexpose 0.5 stop to make sure. If you overexpose too much, too much light is reflected back to the model. If this is not what you want (mostly not), you should not overexpose.

Remember, that white is very white. It's not always the most beautiful background. A very light grey gives the printer something to print and gives enough seperation.