Shoot thru umbrella

<p>I was at one of those "Picture People" studios recently and I noticed that they were using a shoot through umbrella with some type of diffusion material over the front end of the umbrella. What are these diffusers called?</p>

<p>Many umbrellas nowadays are white inside with black laid over. With the two together, the umbrella functions as a normal white umbrella. When the black layer is removed, the translucent white inside cloth is used for shoot-thru. If you want one for exclusive use as shoot-thru, look for a Translucent Umbrella. I use Photogenic Eclipse umbrellas, and their Umbrella with Removable Black Cover - White is exactly what you'd want.</p>

<p>Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

<p>As always there are pros and cons for shooting though umbrella or as reflected.</p>

<p>One of possible reasons to shoot through umbrellas is when using Nikon CLS remote multiple flash system, but only if normal setup causes problems, or the setup is outside of any surrounding walls, e.g. outside in a park, etc.</p>

<p>In this case flashes can be mounted outside umbrellas or umbrella positioned with flash visible from camera, and made directly visible from the on-camera CLS commander, thus adding to reliability.</p>

<p>Needless to say, that in a studio relatively small room environment, this may not be necessary, as normal (flashes inside umbrellas) setup works OK for SU-800 commander.</p>

<p>Why do people act like an umbrella is so horrible to use? Umbrella's have and always will be an excellent light modifier.</p>

<p>Was the diffuser white or black? If it was black it's to control stray light. If the whole thing is white then I don't have a clue.</p>

<p>Check out "Soft Boxes and Umbrellas" at <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com">www.bhphotovideo.com</a>. I think you'll see something familiar there.</p>

<p>Westcott, Bowens and others make umbrella style soft boxes. The "umbrella" part is translucent, and the back has an opaque tent with a white or foil reflector. This style prevents the gross light spill of ordinary umbrellas, especially shoot-through umbrellas, and works much the same as a soft box.</p>

<p>A conventional soft box has a flat diffuser, and controls light spill better than the umbrella style, but take a lot longer to set up. I have a 54" Westcott, which uses the umbrella adapter for my flash and Velcro strips to fasten the hood around the reflector. It takes all of 15 seconds to set up, making it great for location work.</p>

<p>Paul Buff markets a similar device which uses a flat diffuser on a collapsible frame. It has good light control but is a PITA to set up - a large one (72") takes two men and a fat kid to erect.</p>