Reflective Umbrella

The simplest (and cheapest) is probably the umbrella. This is a reflective umbrella, the light from the flash bounces into it and then bounces back on to the subject. Reflective umbrellas come in various “flavors”—some have white interiors, some silver, some gold and there are even some with Zebra stripes of alternating white and silver. White umbrellas produce the softest light and silver ones produce a harder, more specular light. The striped ones produce a combination of white and silver, and gold umbrellas produce a quality of light similar to the silver ones but with a ‘warmer’ tone that produces an instant fake suntan. This can be useful when combined with light from white sources, and especially when used as a hair light, which we’ll get to later.

The advantage of reflective umbrellas is that the light is reasonably well controlled and doesn’t bounce around everywhere. The disadvantage is that the design forces the flash head to be between the subject and the umbrella, which means that it can’t be placed close to the subject so it can’t produce very soft light.

We get soft light by using a large light (the reflective surface of the umbrella becomes the light source) but size is relative, and even a large light source becomes small, in relative terms, if it isn’t close to the subject. Getting it closer to the subject makes it bigger in relative terms, so the light becomes softer.

Shoot-through Umbrella

Photo.net Editorial - Shoot-through Umbrella
Shoot-through Umbrella

If we want softer light from an umbrella, we need the shoot through type, which can be placed as close as we like to the subject.

Not that shoot through umbrellas are perfect either, because generally only about 60% of the light actually passes through it, the rest bounces back and, in a small studio, will bounce off of the ceiling, walls, etc. This creates pretty uncontrolled lighting and if the light also bounces towards your camera lens it can cause flare too.

And then there are the combination umbrellas, they have a black back which is removable. With the back in place, they are reflective umbrellas, and with the back removed they become shoot through umbrellas.

Umbrellas are cheap, they’re effective with all types of flash and they are the only really effective soft lighting accessory when used with hotshoe flashes so it’s not surprising that they’re very popular.

But the problems of unwanted light spill, especially when used in small rooms, can lead to disappointing results, so it’s not surprising that people try to avoid these problems by using a softbox, which combines the benefits of both reflective and shoot through umbrellas.