Confirmation Group Shot

[RGolfJ]

Shooting a confirmation class next Tuesday. 30 Kids. I am going to use one of my Alien Bees. Just not sure if I want to use shoot through umbrellas or bounce umbrellas. What do you recommend?

[Tigershark]

I would go with 2 ABs and bounce umbrellas

[RGolfJ]

One seems to do the trick....with two I have to worry about shadows.

[tnicol]

I'm FAR from an expert, but a couple recent experiments and a group photo yesterday have me convinced that shoot-through is best for me. I use Vivitar 285HVs in them. I thought shoot-through would not be as light-efficient, but it seems the opposite. Not by much, but a little. This is two shoot-through umbrellas with two 285HVs on 1/2 power.
http://tnicol.net/potn/IMG_2806.jpg

[Familiaphoto]

Take a look at the below. David Hobby at Strobist has a good discussion on choosing an umbrella.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2009/01/back-to-basics-how-to-choose-umbrella.html

[Curtis N]

From the distance you'll be shooting, it really doesn't matter if you go shoot-through or bounce.

For individual portraits, the advantage of shoot-through is you can get it really close to your subject without the umbrella shaft getting in the frame.

I agree that for group shots, one light above the camera is best. For huge groups I may use two just for the power, but I keep them real close to the camera on either side. The more you separate them, the more problems you'll have with shadows.

[RGolfJ]

Thanks for the info guys.