Bounce vs. Umbrella

Maybe a silly question..... If you have a good white ceiling to bounce off-camera flash, would you rather use that or an umbrella ? I was playing around comparing the two and honestly can't see much difference (the few subtle differences I noticed might be attributable to light placement for all I know.) I'm curious to hear some opinions from the experts.

Umbrella permits a more forward-directed light source, so there is less of the unlit areas like eye sockets and under chin caused by downward bounced lighting from the ceiling.

Walls are better than ceilings and will yield nice, soft light. Umbrellas allow for more precise light placement.

jcolman wrote in post #16154526
Walls are better than ceilings and will yield nice, soft light. Umbrellas allow for more precise light placement.

^^^ Jim said it before I could.
Use walls for bounce. It offers a better angle into the face of the subject. Which is the key to a good image.

Do you want to fill the entire room with light, or more precisely control how it hits your subject? Generally I use umbrellas, etc, with with posed portraiture, and bounce flash for non-posed event/family gathering type photography.

Direction of the light is most important.
What you use to control direction is based on the situation and its fluidity.

Umbrellas are nice and useful modifiers when you have time and control of a situation.
bounce, off a wall or wall/ceiling joint are available with some discrete planning and aiming of an on-camera flash in a fluid situation.

Which is better. That depends on the situation and the creativity of the photographer.

For example, I could have spend 5 minutes or more setting up an umbrella getting my subject into position and making several exposures to make sure I had it right. Or, I could bounce the flash into a wall/ceiling joint, used ETTL for exposure and have this result;

BTW, the bounced flash was for fill. The main light was from a sliding glass door to her balcony.

Be careful when you say "white" ceilings and walls. There are different shades of white which may impart an unintended color to your images which will result in more post processing. An advantage in using the same umbrella is that the color of the fabric will remain constant.

Short of being able to afford the elinchrom octa...You can go with a reflective umbrella and put a diffusion screen over it.