Making an Umbrella Work like a Beauty Dish!

[Kodiak]

This is following Olivier's lesson on how to use an umbrella vs a soft box,
their similarities and differences, and how to use their sweet spots, in
this case with three speed lights SB900 each mounted on its own Flex
TT5 for Nikon.

To illustrate his lesson, some shots of the different setups of the flashes
in the umbrellas (5 & 3 feet). The effects are describing an umbrella that
is rather very close to the subject.

10 sides - 5 foot umbrella:

1. No diffuser on flash heads, zoom at 35mm, deep in umbrella
Light pattern exhibits a triangular shape… worst scenario!




2. With diffuser on flash heads, zoom at 14mm, deep in umbrella
Circular spread with falloff • soft light with hard shadows.




3. With diffuser on flash heads, zoom at 14mm, shallow in umbrella
Circular spread with little falloff, soft light with soft shadows




8 sides - 3 foot umbrella:
4. With diffuser on flash heads, zoom at 14mm, deep in umbrella
Circular spread with falloff • soft light with hard shadows.




5. With diffuser on flash heads, zoom at 14mm, shallow in umbrella
Circular spread, no falloff… very sweet, soft light with very soft shadows!

One only has to direct the light sources around the bell and allow a falloff at
the centre to get the perfect effect.

[Shadowman]

Thanks for the setup information. Would one strobe work just as well?

[Kodiak]

Thanks for the setup information. Would one strobe work just as well?

Not quite I'm afraid!

Simply because the light sources MUST be evenly distributed around a centre
point and no speelite will permit that. It could be achieved, however, with a
flash head where the umbrella is fixed in through the centre of the flash tube.
An opaque circular flag should be used to blackout the centre of the umbrella.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for sharing! Am I correct that the difference between #3 and #5 is that the flash units are farther away from the umbrella?

[HaseebM]

Wouldn't buying a beauty dish with diffuser be much cheaper? Anyway your threads are interesting and makes me wonder why you don't write a book with illustrations and examples. I would buy one.

[Kodiak]

Thanks for sharing! Am I correct that the difference between #3 and #5 is that the flash units are farther away from the umbrella?

The two ways to control the reflection of the umbrella are
• to adjust its distance to the flash head,
• to use a small reflector that will control the spill,
when using a studio head or mono block.

The softlite effect may be obtained only, when using an umbrella, by means
of three light sources minimum! …the more the better in theory!

In practice, I would NOT recommend this method since a pro dish may cost +/-
300,00 € as the gear used for this thread is 4+ times more!

Wouldn't buying a beauty dish with diffuser be much cheaper?

Indeed… This lesson for my son (and for me!) was just to explore the
advantages of using the gear we have with an umbrella when shooting
off camera with the new 120° "3 flash" hot shoe I just bought.

As we were exploring I was baffled by this new possibility that is, once
again, a very expensive solution but has the advantage of being much
much lighter than a B1 pro head for example in a soft box or umbrella.

Anyway your threads are interesting and makes me wonder why you don't write a book with illustrations and examples. I would buy one.

Thanks for the comment… but I actually have a book on the market (see
GRAPE HARVEST Day 1 - Southern Styria | Sauvignon for more details).
I should sell that one and after consider the next.

[HaseebM]

Thanks for the comment… but I actually have a book on the market (see
GRAPE HARVEST Day 1 - Southern Styria | Sauvignon for more details).
I should sell that one and after consider the next.

I saw that book on your website. I was referring to something more practical for beginners or intermediates which shows set-up and outcome.

[Kodiak]

I was referring to something more practical for beginners or intermediates which shows set-up and outcome.

That's clear to me… but I can afford to publish only one such big book at the time.

[HaseebM]

That's clear to me… but I can afford to publish only one such big book at the time.

Well then I just have to wait till you publish your next one, hopefully one that shows how to shoot with controlled lighting such as your wine bottle and cars..in general objects.