There are several types and styles of umbrellas available on the market and the quality can vary widely.

For this lesson, we will look at the products offered by Photoflex:

• RUD, a white generally used for shoot through
• ADW, an adjustable white umbrella
• ADH, a adjustable silver-lined umbrella

When we take the measurement from the light to the subject, we must take into account where the light source is. As far as the subject is concerned, the light source is the umbrella so this is where we take our measurement (figure 3).

With the light in place, we used the light meter to establish the starting point for exposure (1/60 @ f/8.0). We set the camera according to the meter and made our first shot.

In the result shots, we see the effects of the ADW on the subject (figures 4 and 5). We are getting soft, broad highlights on the subject yet the contrast level is greater than that we get with a soft box. This is to say we see detail and color in the highlights but we are losing the detail in the shadows.

The goal of the next step was to help control our contrast and try to open up the shadows.

To do this we removed the ADW umbrella and installed a RUD umbrella. The RUD is a shoot-through umbrella, so we will need to re-set the light by moving it out from the set and spinning it around.

Once we had installed the RUD, we set the light on the same line and height as our first shot and set the distance to 30 inches from the umbrella to the subject (figures 6, 7, and 8).

Because we made changes to the lighting, we needed to take another reading to check exposure (1/60 @ f/11). We gained one stop of exposure because we were transmitting the light, not bouncing it, and the light was closer to the subject. Once we had reset the camera, we shot the next set of images (figures 9 and 10).

In figures 11 and 12, we can compare our results so far. We see in figure 12 how the RUD has reduced the contrast and opened up the detail in the shadows without sacrificing the look of the highlights. Again, this is an illustration of how diffusion is the friend of contrast reduction.

The next step was to increase the contrast of the shot by adding the ADH (silver) umbrella. Silver reflective surfaces will result in higher contrast light output than white reflective surfaces.

To accomplish this, we removed the RUD umbrella and reset the light into the original position from our first shot. Once we had the light reset in position, we installed the ADH umbrella, and set the light back to 48 inches from the subject (figures 13, 14, and 15).

Again, since we have made changes to the lighting we took another meter reading to check the exposure levels (1/60 @ f/16). We are back where we started so we reset the camera and took some shots (figures 16 and 17).

In our results, we see the increased contrast produced by the ADH umbrella. Our highlights have a harder edge to them and detail has been lost in the shadows, they are blocked up with little or no detail at all.

In figures 18 and 19, we compare the RUD umbrella (shoot thru) with the ADH umbrella (bounce silver). These examples show the “soft” vs. “hard” effect. In figure 18, the diffusion has softened all the aspects of the shot and in figure 19, the hard silver surface of the ADH has increased the contrast and the overall look of the image.

In figure 20, we show a comparison of each of our results side by side so you can see the effects of each.

This lesson has explained how umbrellas work and shown the type of light certain styles of umbrellas produce.