Umbrella/Strobist advice

Looking to try some strobist photography,I just need some advice on umbrella choice.Also, Some brackets don't seem to allow the gun to fire toward the central part of the umbrella, bracket choice seems a minefield!!the manfrotto one looks good but will the flash fire within the centre of the brolly?
What would be the best size? and of course there is the big choice of colours. Not sure whether I need a shoot through or bounce.
Some basic guidance would be appreciated.
Regards
Chris

You can make a large umbrella smaller when it comes to light by simply moving the umbrella closer to the flash.

As for brackets non of them really aim the flash at the centre but that isn't a huge problem.
You have brackets that are plates with velcro, you lie down the flash and secure them that way. No strain on the hotshoe and it's closer to the centre.

The manfrotto umbrella holder does the job for me (when I can actually be bothered setting up a brolly)

I think my brolly is 63cm it's a westcott and is reversible (ie; shoot through or bounce/reflect) which is useful

Just get the cheap ones from ebay Chris. You can always get bigger ones in the future if you feel you need it. I've been using the white shoot through types, but opinion is split as to whether the silver 'reflector types' are best.

The umbrellas I ordered came with brackets for attaching to a light stand. The flashes aren't really central to the umbrella, especially with the radio triggers attached via the shoe. But it works OK. I jerry rigged my own umbrella attachment which velcros directly to the flash, which works, but it doesn't make a vast difference.

They say buy cheap, buy twice - but I'd be wary of spending too much on equipment initially until you get an idea of what works best for you. Especially since a lot of the stuff on ebay is so cheap.

I use these, same as the Manfrotto ones but usually about 40% cheaper.

http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/eng/product/calumet_swivel_umbrella_adapter/mf6830
http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/eng/product/calumet_umbrella_adapter_with_hot_shoe/mf6829

The hole for the umbrella is angled to help align the brolly with the flash head.

Be aware of the eBay ones, most of the copies are made from ABS (plastic) and are pretty usless IMO.

Thank you all for the advise.
It is helpful, I'm just trying to avoid "buying twice".
Regards
Chris

I do think the plastic brackets are adequate (and cost nothing) but if you do find one that actually lets you line up the brolly with the flash - please report back, I'd be interested.

OTOH I'm not sure that it makes much difference to the quality of light with the shoot through umbrellas.

Test shot:

There are some real differnces, mainly with the "fall" off of the light.
Light work with the square law so the first few centimeters the flash light really goes down in power a lot but at a great distance the fall off becomes less.

with a shoot through you place the umbrella relative close to the subject so you can see the light intensitie getting less over the face.
Not a big deal and maybe even disered.
When you want to photographer more persons thought then shoot through is not that handy or great so reflective is better then.
I'm also thinking about the limited flash power of the flash here, you don;t want it to run at full power either for the waiting time and battery life.

As I said, opinion is split... Strobist blog recommends shoot through as a simple and easy initial way to get started.

http://strobist.blogspot.co.uk/2006/03/lighting-101-traveling-light.html?m=1

Having the beam of light strike the centre of the brolly seems to be an important aspect of the strobist set-up. Having a brolly set up on a separate stand seems to be the way to go. This begs the question- why doesn't somebody design a bracket that would overcome this problem-there could well be a gap in the market!
Regards
Chris

If you're thinking of portraits perhaps the "beauty dish" would be worth a look?

I know... you kind of want a flexible arm that clamps to the stand at one end, with an umbrella holder at the other - allowing you more flexibility in how you position the umbrella.

I wonder if this sort of thing would work?

If you assume that its totally irrelevant (within reason) where the beam strikes the brolly then your question is answered "why doesn't somebody design a bracket that would overcome this problem"

There is no problem to solve.

Punch through brollies makes no odds whatsoever providing the beam hits the middle 1/3 , as you'll have the flash set to

Did you fall asleep before you finished that sentence?

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