Umbrella question

I did a few tests with two umbrellas and a pair of 580 flashes. Had the flashes zoomed out at 24 and the key light flash was at 1/2 power and the fill at about 1/4 power. Dialled in my L-358 to ISO 100 and 1/160 and got an F8 reading. Dialed In my camera in and took a few shots. My wife absolutely hates me taking here image so I have to work fast.

Anyway I did this at the cottage so I had no monitor. I had her hold up a white T shirt as well. Everything looked OK on the LCD but I knew I had to see it at home. To my surprise there was some shiny spots on my wife's face much like shooting direct flash. Not bad but far more than I had expected. Am I expecting too much out of these umbrellas? I just checked and the reflective surface is white shiny plastic. Not overly shiny but you can see it. Would that have something to do with it? Or if you are overexposed by even a 1/3 would it be enough to cause this. Just curious about how much latitude you get using an umbrella.

I don't know a lot about this as of yet. I know I can get better results bouncing off a wall or ceiling.

how about a pic of the actual shot? did you overlay them somehow in your post?
and by shiny spots you mean it was blown out?

How far away from the subject were the umbrellas?
The closer you get those umbrellas the softer the light is going to be.
Also, shiny skin is going to be shiny in just about any light.

Can't really say a whole lot specifically without seeing the pictures, as said above!

In addition to avoiding shiny skin and close distance, maybe you should use a bigger umbrella, a shot-thru or softlighter instead. Also, there is a technique which I believe is called featuring - aiming the light a bit away from the subject so that the brightest light is not falling on the body of the subject.

colormaniac wrote in post #12476027
In addition to avoiding shiny skin and close distance, maybe you should use a bigger umbrella, a shot-thru or softlighter instead. Also, there is a technique which I believe is called featuring - aiming the light a bit away from the subject so that the brightest light is not falling on the body of the subject.

Feathering - I use this, inadvertently, all the time in order to keep light off my background. I guess I would be lighting the subject with the edge of my modifier, closer to the falloff area.

Thanks for the correction! Feathering indeed.

scroller52 wrote in post #12475715
how about a pic of the actual shot? did you overlay them somehow in your post?
and by shiny spots you mean it was blown out?

I just can't post the shot. She makes most awful look when I take a shot of her. I know this does not help me but there is not much I can do. I would not call it blown out but more of a hot spot.

I did come across this.

http://forums.dpreview​.com …rum=1025&messag​e=38500449

Kechar wrote in post #12475845
How far away from the subject were the umbrellas?
The closer you get those umbrellas the softer the light is going to be.
Also, shiny skin is going to be shiny in just about any light.

Can't really say a whole lot specifically without seeing the pictures, as said above!

I was about 6 feet away. I'll see if I can do something to post a shot.

Looking around on the net I came across this. If you scroll down to the first portrait and look under the right eye. It is just more reflective than other images I have seen and the image was more reflective than expected when I shot my wife. The women in the portrait has smoother skin tones.

My wife has very light skin and she was out in the sun that day which resulted with some strong pink on her cheek. Her skin was pretty white below her eye the image. There is no loss of detail in that area.

Like Kechar said shiny skin will be shiny in any light so it could have been anything. Thanks for everyones input on what I know was a tough one due to no examples.

http://strobist.blogsp​ot.com …ghting-101-umbrellas.html