Beginner in photography, question about indoor lighting with light umbrellas? (photos, models)

[jeena1]

Hello,

Im looking into buying a studio light umbrella set, you can get the umbrella in black, silver or white. Is there a better colour to buy when shooting indoors with models?

[PA2UK]

Well black should only be the back of the umbrella and yes, I think ones with black backs are better. They block the light from going through the back of the umbrella and bouncing around the room. As for silver or white on the inside, silver will be more reflective but white will be softer.

[ImRandy]

Are you sure it's one of them and not a reversible? You mostly see them with a white umbrella that has a reversible black/silver cover. This allows you to shoot through the white umbrella for very diffuse lighting or put the cover on and bounce the light for varying degrees of specular light.

[WyoNewk]

I normally use white umbrellas backed up with black on the outside. I do have one white one without the black backing. As Randy suggested, I use it for flashing through (diffusion) rather than reflecting light.

What kind of lights are you getting?

[PA2UK]

I've never used one without a black back - I assumed you shoot through them but whenever I saw photos of them, they were not being used this way.

[ShepsMom]

I have 2 umbrellas, one with black cover, and one without. The one without can be used as a shoot-through or as a bouncer for your flash. I couldn't see much difference between regular umbrella and one with the black cover.

I prefer softbox to umbrellas for the main light.

[dasmarian]

For a beginner I'd skip the umbrellas and get a couple softboxes. Much more forgiving and easy to set up.

[ImRandy]

Originally Posted by dasmarian

For a beginner I'd skip the umbrellas and get a couple softboxes. Much more forgiving and easy to set up.

Ok, that doesn't make sense to me. How are they more forgiving and easier to setup?

[PA2UK]

Yeah, softboxes are a pain in the butt to assemble and break down again. Unless you're planning on leaving them set up all the time, umbrellas are definitely easier to setup. As for how forgiving they are, I think light quality is just as good with umbrella's if that's what you mean. Fact is, most beginner light sets come with umbrellas and while that's probably because they are usually cheaper, they would not supply them for beginners if they were not suitable for beginners. For a beginner, I suggest the less expensive route and go with umbrellas.

[dasmarian]

Sorry I should have been more specific. I was talking about continuous lighting in a softbox format for softening of the light. If you are taking your setup here and there it is easier to get going with continuous light but of course a lot of pros don't use it. They didn't used to use digital either. With the recent improvements in LED lights etc it is becoming a viable and easier to use solution, especially for those starting out. You can also get an umbrella setup for continuous use.