What Umbrella\Stand To Get???

Alright... I have decided on using my current 430EX off camera via cables\cords! I have chosen a nice 9.5' light stand ($39) that is air cushioned and from the reviews, it is great (The 8' stand reviews said that it was very wobbly when fully extended, and for $4 more they recommended the 9.5').
But I have a few questions, as always!

- Is 9.5' too much overkill? Will a 6' stand do? Or something in between? If so, please link to some stands on B&H. Thanks.
- What size umbrella? Some say 32" others suggest 43"! What should I get? Does it depend on the size of the stand??
- What color umbrella? White? White Translucent? Black? White w\ Black Cover? Which one should I go for??

I will be shooting portraits on location. No studio style\shots! Any suggestions?? I want this one strobe to be enough to give nice lighting throughout the subjects face. I don't want to go with an umbrella\setup that will cause some shadows on the face of my subject. I saw a post of a guy with a setup that I want (I do not know what color umbrella he used) and his shots came out nicely with just the one strobe\umbrella...

Anyway... I will take all the help I can get! Thanks!!

Tag

Curious to see some answers for this.

Eric

Right now I am leaning towards a 6' stand... 9.5' seems too tall... I might look into a 7' stand.. I am also considering this umbrella: http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …tails&Q=&sku=42​523&is=REG

Any comments or other suggestions??


EDIT: With a 7' stand, I may go with a 45" umbrella (same model as the one linked to above, just bigger). The setup I saw had a 7' stand with 42" umbrella... The stand I am currently looking at is 7' 6" so I would say a 45" umbrella to go along with it? Or will a 32" umbrella still be fine on a 7' 6" tripod?? (Size of tripod, I know, doesn't matter but it seems like if I can get a larger umbrella, why not! Haha)

9.5' does seem kind of tall but it's not like it has to be at it's max height to be used. You can always make it shorter but you can't make the 6-7' stands taller.

As far as the umbrella I read the reviews of the 43 inch and someone mentioned even that size won't give complete wrap around lighting so I would guess the 32" would offer even less coverage.

Then again I'm new to all of this so it makes sense in my mind but in use it might be something way different.

Eric

I made this jump a couple months ago and can give some input
the taller the stand the better... but also look for its weight capacity, you don't want anything that is rated for under like 6lbs
I have a 13 foot heavy duty stand from alien bees...and that was 70....Im not THAT impressed it does the job...
I highly doubt a 39 dollar air cushioned stand will be good...but again who knows...my 70 dollar one isn't great...most heavy duty stands are aided by sand bags and counter weights, wind does awful things to these stands...even the slightest breeze

onto umbrellas..remember, smaller the umbrella, the more harsh direct light it will give...the larger, the softer wider beam of light it will give...
but since your shooting with a canon speedlight, you don't have enough power to afford a huge umbrella(not shooting with a dedicated strobe)

I shoot with a sigma and the 42 inch does the job well...
start off with a shoot through umbrella that can also be used as a bounce(black backing)
then move onto silver or gold if youd like, they are rather cheap...


always start off with one light, and this is a good start....oh and a reflector to balance out the shadows on the other side, which could be as simple as a white foam core board or an actual 5 in 1 reflector, remember bigger the better because it will spread more light....

I hope I answered some of your questions...

Thanks for the post... It did answer a few of my questions!!

The 7' 6" stand I found has a max load of 7.5 pounds... Not the best, but my strobe only weighs about 2 pounds, umbrella...I'm not sure, B&H doesn't say.... But I am sure 7.5 pounds is enough...

I will probably go for the 45" white w\ black cover umbrella...

Thanks again for the extra comments\suggestions!

I use this 6' stand, but here's an 8' stand if you want bigger. You'll also want a cold shoe for each light stand - don't get metal ones, anything that conducts stops the flash firing (I found that out the hard way). You'll also need an umbrella bracket.

What does the cold shoe do?? Is it basically This?

Thanks for the stand... I am looking at the 8' stand now...
But first... How do you like the 6'? Do you feel limited?? If I will be using the flash to either side of me, will I need it any taller than 6'??
BTW... This is going to be a wired setup, not wireless (not sure if I covered that yet)

A cold shoe is just a piece of plastic your flash will slot into. It's for using radio slaves. The one with the sync cord is fine too. How are you triggering your flashes?

I shoot weddings, I use the stands at receptions to light the room, either bounced or direct. 6' is fine. I have 13' stands if I want to go higher, but I wanted something small and lightweight for the Sunpaks.

The picture below shows 2 sets of umb/stand I have, both umbrella are 43" Westcott. At the right is a regular 9' stand and the typical 43" convertible umbrella. The left is the Strobist style compact kit, consists of the Manfrotto 001B Nano 6' stand and collapsible umbrella. Both kit will hold the 430EX with no problem, but the Strobist kit goes with me where ever I go because of it's size. Hope that helps.

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Yep. I have two of those Nano stands and collapsible 43' Westcott umbrellas, and they go with me wherever I go. Less gear in the car and to lug around on foot, but a great and versatile kit!

What kind of a car do you have that will hold a 43 foot umbrella?!!!

I feel your pain - there is so much out there it is hard to choose. I think the taller the better but not if you sacrifice portability or sturdiness.

The Nano stands are awesome for their portability, you can't go wrong by getting at least one. If you decide it's too unstable or not tall enough do like Lotto and make your second stand a beefier one. It's unlikely that you wont be glad you have the stand at one time or another for it's small size.

The Westcot double fold umbrellas match the Nano stands small size well.

The is basically the same recommendation the DH makes on his website, so you may want to go there and check out the stand and umbrella lessons in strobist 101.

http://www.strobist.co​m

Adorama has a 7.5 foot Westcott that has springs in it for $30.00, They ship it for free and it comes FAST... I love mine, just ordered two more