Size umbrella for outdoor portrait?

[mephetic436]

Im getting the Canon 430ex speedlite and Im wondering how to determine the size umbrella I need for doing outdoor portraits.

Or should the question be how far away should I put my umbrella if it is X size?

[canoflan]

All these things will help you determine the umbrella size:
1) Flash size (430ex isn't the most powerful, but if you are not too far away from your subject, you will be fine).
2) Color umbrella (there is white with black outer shell, silver lining, white on white for shooting through).
3) The smaller the umbrella, the tighter the light spread will be bouncing from the umbrella. I think the 42" sizes are good for these type flashes.
4) Distance from flash to umbrella (not much movement here, but some for tweaking the bounce.
5) Subject size (larger subject, larger umbrella, most likely).

The experts in here will have more details and better advice than me. I just started with this stuff and the simply way to great umbrella technique is experimentation.

Pat

[fi20100]

I would suppose it would be better with umbrellas with outer shells as you loose so much light if you use umbrellas you shoot through, since the 430EX isn't the most powerful flash.

I was just thinking of asking the same thing about the size of the umbrellas, as I'm thinking of getting a white and a silver one pretty soon.

[TMR Design]

Hi mephetic436,

Regardless of the size of the umbrella you want to place it as close as you can to the subject without it being in frame or making things "too close for comfort". You have a find a balance between having the subject comfortable and what you need to do for great looking, technically correct lighting.

The closer the source of illumiaton is to the subject the softer the light. This is the case for any light source. If you have a larger light source to begin with then you can have it further away to achieve the same quality of light as a smaller light source that is closer to the subject.

By firing a flash into a reflective umbrella you are forced to have the actual source of illumination (the umbrella, not the light) several feet away. Due to the fact that you can't have the actual umbrella 2 feet from the subject automaticlly means you can't create the softest light possible.This is not bad but it's not great.

On the other hand, if you have a shoot through umbrella and you fire through the white translucent material you are diffusing the light, which softens it and creates a much smoother shadow edge transfer between highlight and shadow. Additionally, you lower specularity and those oily or shiny spots are diminished greatly.

With Speedlites you have to deal with the power they have as well as what light may be lost buy using a modifer. This is also another reason to work with your umbrellas nice and close to the subject. It will maximize the power of your flash, diffuse and soften the light, soften the shadow edge transfer and reduce specular highlights.

So, in summary, if umbrellas are the modifier of choice I suggest that you get a large one (between 45" and 60") and rather than getting a white/silver get a translucent white one with a removable black backing. You can then use it as a reflective or shoot through umbrella, for main or fill, as you choose.

[Curtis N]

30" silver should be about right. You'll need to keep it fairly close to your subject because of power issues so that should be big enough. The bigger the umbrella, the more likely it will blow over in the wind. You could go a little larger but you'll want an assistant to hold it up.

[TMR Design]

I would suppose it would be better with umbrellas with outer shells as you loose so much light if you use umbrellas you shoot through, since the 430EX isn't the most powerful flash.

I was just thinking of asking the same thing about the size of the umbrellas, as I'm thinking of getting a white and a silver one pretty soon.

Stefan,

Part of the problem is that many people assume that the light should be 4 or 6 feet away from the subject. This makes no sense. By placing the light source as close as you can to the subject you are increasing the size of the light source as well as solving other problem at the same time.

A Speedlite shot through an umbrella is not the most effecient use of light or power but if you now take your setup and move it so the embrella is 20 or 24" from the subject you're maximizing efficiency and creating beautiful soft light.

[fi20100]

Stefan,

Part of the problem is that many people assume that the light should be 4 or 6 feet away from the subject. This makes no sense. By placing the light source as close as you can to the subject you are increasing the size of the light source as well as solving other problem at the same time.

A Speedlite shot through an umbrella is not the most effecient use of light or power but if you now take your setup and move it so the embrella is 20 or 24" from the subject you're maximizing efficiency and creating beautiful soft light.

Thanks :)

[canoflan]

Couple additional thoughts:

TMR Design pretty much made the case that if you plan to shoot one to three people, the best light sounds like it will come from shooting through a white umbrella as close to the subjects as possible, but out of frame. If you are shooting more than 3 and need to have the light source a bit further away and need better even coverage, the larger, silver reflector umbrellas may be the best bet because the further away light is from the source, the less it falls off for the same distance, so you would need a strong light source to evenly cover a larger group than say 5 or more people. Experimentation is the key.

Pat

[SkipD]

In my opinion, a shoot-through umbrella outdoors using a Speedlite would be much too wasteful of the relatively small amount of light available from the Speedlite.

I would choose a satin white umbrella with a black cover such as the Photogenic Eclipse series that I have several of. Keeping the umbrella close to the subject is, as described above, important for a soft lighting effect.

[TMR Design]

Absolutely Pat,

Another thing to consider is that once the umbrella is backed away from the subject(s) you can and probably should switch from a white reflective umbrella to a silver one. The silver is a much more efficient use of the power and at greater distances the higher specularity normally produced by silver reflective material is diminished.

If you are working close range then I do not suggest silver. A day of experimentation is a great thing when exploring the chracteristics of light modifers. Do some basic tests and you will see all the things happen right before your eyes. :D

[TMR Design]

In my opinion, a shoot-through umbrella outdoors using a Speedlite would be much too wasteful of the relatively small amount of light available from the Speedlite.

I would choose a satin white umbrella with a black cover such as the Photogenic Eclipse series that I have several of. Keeping the umbrella close to the subject is, as described above, important for a soft lighting effect.

Hi Skip,

I would tend to agree but if you were doing very close lighting for a single subject I don't think it would be all that wasteful and is worth the tradeoff for the quality of light obtained.

Certainly if you're working at any distance at all from the subject then the shoot through umbrella is not the best choice.