Nuffnang

Friday, April 20, 2012

The Umbrella


Here is another useful light shaping tools which is the umbrella. It is one of the most favourite light shaping tools used by all photographers. It can have many functions that will help enhance your light quality. Read more after the jump.





The umbrella is the most commonly used light shaping tool and is by far the most portable and versatile in any lighting setup. Other than effectively enlarging the light source, it can be used equally as an effective fill. Due to the rounded shape, it produces a pleasing catch- light for portraiture work. The only setback is the light spill caused but if used and positioned well, the spill can transit and blend well into the environment or other light sources. One of the creative usages of an umbrella is to add in a coloured gel filter.
The umbrella comes in three main varieties:

  • Reflective (white/ silver/ gold)
  • Translucent (shoot through)
  • Umbrella box

The above is just some of the types of umbrellas that you can find in the market. The top left is the reflective type, top right is shoot through and the one below is the umbrella box.
For the umbrella box, the studio light is being fitted inside the umbrella box . The light will be reflected on the umbrella's surface 1st before it goes through another layer of transparent material. Usually the light come out from the umbrella box is very soft as it might be 2 stops down and you might want to up the power of the light so you can get sufficient light.
The shoot through umbrella's purpose is to let light pass through the umbrella so that not so much light is being reflected back. As for the reflective surface umbrella, the light will be totally reflected of the surface and it is much more efficient.



This is how you use your umbrella with the studio lighting. The light is suppose to face the umbrella so that when the light is fired, the light will be spread out by the umbrella's surface and create a spill of light. The same setup can be used for the external flash.

No comments:

Post a Comment