DAY 77

FASHION & BEAUTY

Essential Light Modifiers

THE UMBRELLA

A photo umbrella is quick to set up and easy to use (see page 218). Incandescent hot lights or strobes can be used with umbrellas. There are two types—shoot-through and reflective—and they range from 32 to 72 inches in width. A shoot-through is made of a transparent nylon that enables the strobe light to flash through the umbrella, creating a large, soft lighting field. The interiors of reflective umbrellas are lined with either a white nylon or silver-reflective Mylar. The white creates a soft, low-contrast light and the silver a high-contrast sharp light. The umbrellas can be used in pair on each side of a model with a 2-to-1 lighting ratio. The fill umbrella light is set at half the power or intensity of the key-light umbrella.

A 60-inch reflective umbrella with a white interior was placed to the right side and 5 feet in front of this model. We raised it about 3 feet from the ground and aimed it slightly downward. A large silver reflector was placed on the opposite side of the light to fill the shadow with light to reduce the contrast of using one large key light. —MR

Photo © Matthew Roharik.