Which is the best size umbrella to use with nikon SB700 Speedlight for portraiture

[GaryMarsh]

I am interested in starting up a basic home studio with two Nikon SB-700 Speedlight's and I am not sure what is the best size of umbrella to go with them for use as a shoot through for portrait shots. I would be most grateful if any of you experts out there could give me some advice on this subject.

Regards
Gary

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Gary,

Yeah this got me wondering when I started out, now I'm just a little way ahead of you on the learning journey (I'm no expert!), I'll share my thoughts, but hope members with more portrait experience will also advise.

It depends, to an extent, on how big your home studio room is?

Please tell us, including height of ceiling (I note you are in UK, but you could be in a high ceiling Victorian or Georgian house, or something more modern and compact).

Also whether you're hoping to shoot full length (i.e. standing adult) poses or just sitting?
Another factor might be whether you're talking of just one subject, or small groups?

For a modifier to be effective at producing soft light on your subjects, you want it to be closer than twice its diameter when you light the subject.

You also want to be able to have it above your subjects, to avoid 'uplighting' them too much (from its lower edge). So depending on your room's ceiling height, that may be the deciding factor on diameter.

You'll note they are conflicting requirements

However, another thing to bear in mind is that depending upon the wall colour and proximity to subject, if you use shoot through umbrellas in a room with pale nearby surfaces, the light will bounce everywhere; off walls and ceiling and filling shadows when you might have hoped for a greater contrast. This is why, particularly if your space is small, soft boxes or reflective umbrellas will be a better choice.

I only bought cheapish, off Amazon UK.
Initially I bought one white shoot through, about 33 inch diameter, which I rarely use.
I now have two identical 40 inch reflective white/silver umbrellas for use as main and fill.
So far my subject has been a grand daughter, shot at floor level, so they've not hit the ceiling yet, but they would if I tried to shoot an adult standing.

I also have a 24" soft box, the problem is, only one and it's a bit of a pain to erect and dismantle, so it stays up, taking up lots of storage space!

I wish I had a cover to turn the reflective umbrellas in to a pseudo soft box and help eliminate the 'segmented' catch lights in eyes. I shoot so rarely I haven't sorted this yet.

I do recommend buying in pairs (of whatever), I will in future.

Hope that's helpful,
Dave

[GaryMarsh]

Hello Dave
Thank you for your in depth reply to my question regarding umbrellas I didn't realise how much you have to take into consideration when choosing one. I read that reflective umbrellas give of less reflected light than a white shoot thru umbrella and that the light is not as well controlled as a silver reflective one is that true?. I was thinking of using an umbrella more for head and shoulder shots rather than full length and more specifically for individual shots as opposed to group shots.

Kind regards
Gary

[Mike Buckley]

Consider renting different sizes and types of umbrellas to try them out before you commit to making a purchase.

[Manfred M]

Gary - the rule of thumb is that the umbrella should be placed about 2x the distance of the umbrella diameter from the subject and the diameter should be proportional to the size of the subject.

I have three umbrellas; two convertible shoot through units; a 42" that I use for general subjects and a 60" that I use for groups and a 38" silver that I use for male head shots. I tend to use my umbrellas in conjunction with a reflector, so rarely shoot with more than one light. They are my portable indoor lighting setup that I will throw into the back of the car when traveling. I usually shoot with soft boxes and studio flash at home and use a different battery powered studio light with softbox for outdoor work.

I prefer using the umbrellas in reflective mode; there is less light scatter that way and I can aim them better at my subjects, although I will use shoot through for groups. The silver one is used exclusively for male shots as the light is a lot harder and more suitable for them while the white ones are better for women and children as the light is a lot softer.

I generally use a silver reflector as my fill light when shooting the silver umbrella and a white one when I shoot the white umbrellas.

I use a mix of light sources; anything from my 640 W-s Paul C Buff Einstein units, my Godox Witsro 360 (nominally 360 W-s, but in fact probably closer to 300 - 320 W-s) or either of Nikon SB-600 or SB-900 lights, depending on my mood. I trigger all except the Godox with Pocket Wizard radios (they work on both the Speedlights and the Einsteins). The Godox has its own proprietary trigger and if I use it in conjunction with other lights, I run it in slave mode to get over the compatibility issues. I generally shoot flash in manual mode only when I use light modifiers as I get better (i.e. more consistent) results that way.

[rpcrowe]

I go along with Dave Humphries that soft boxes can be a bit of a PITA to setup and take down. Umbrellas are far easier to get into use.

There are two types of umbrellas which I don't think have been mentioned. Each one gives a lot of the control of the photo because there is no unwanted light bouncing around the studio.

First is the shoot through umbrella with a black covering over the open side of the umbrella. This prevents the light that is passed through the translucent front of the umbrella from bouncing back and lighting areas in which you don not want light. It is really not a lot more difficult to use than a regular shoot through umbrella.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Neewer-43-Di...oAAOSwh2xX-f54

I am using an umbrella like this (image left) along with two standard umbrellas in this setup. The dog was a stand-in so I could get the exposure correct.



The second type type is a reflective umbrella that incorporated a translucent diffusion baffle at the front of the umbrella which adds to the control and also provides a softer lightthan a sandard umbrella.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Neewer-2-x-4...MAAOSwhOVXeggp

Now, as an answer to your original question as to size umbrella you can use with a Nikon SB700. I really don't know since I always use umbrellas with studio flash. IMO, the size of the umbrella would be determined by the size of the flash reflector and the power of the flash. Obviously, the larger and the more powerful; the larger umbrella you could safely use. It is a matter of filling the umbrella with enough light. However, as Dave wrote, I think that you would be pretty safe in using 40-inch umbrellas.

The super sized umbrellas; some as as large as 72 inches or bigger might be overkill for a hotshoe flash.

Here is a comparison: The average hotshoe flash reflector is between 1-inch by 2-inches to 2-inches by 3-inches in size. This gives you a reflective area of between two and six square inches. My old "coffee can" reflectors seen in my photo have a round 7.5 inch reflector. This gives me a reflector area of over 44 square inches which is a greater area of light from the start.

[GaryMarsh]

Hi Manfred
I value your reply to my question on indoor flash and thanks for taking the time to get back to me.

Kind regards
Gary

[GaryMarsh]

Hi Richard
Thanks so much for your reply and your visual lighting set up image which looks great.
Much appreciated
Gary

[GaryMarsh]

Hi Mike
Thanks for your tip on renting out various sizes of umbrellas before committing to buying one or two, I will check it out.
Regards
Gary