David Hobby found a brand new type of umbrella from B2Pro lighting. I’m a big personal fan of 7 foot parabolic umbrella with a silver interior to bring out some wonderful specular highlights on a subject, but this umbrella is totally different. The interior consists of RGB photo sites which are said to work better with digital sensors. The description specifically states that it is designed for digital CCD sensors–and the only professional grade cameras with CCDs anymore are medium format.
While it does seem logical, I’m not sure that it is really viable. Anyone going for this umbrella will also probably spend time in Lightroom or Photoshop, and that can nullify nearly any major effects if you have a working knowledge of color theory. Additionally, personally like using umbrellas and Pocket Wizards with my X Pro 1–which has an X Trans Sensor that randomizes the RGB pattern.
We’d be interested in testing the unit overall though–but B2Pro has quite the mountain to climb against the likes of Westcott and others.
For years, Westcott has made some of the best modifiers out there. They’re well known for their Apollo softboxes designed for speedlites. However, they also make many umbrellas. I purchased a three umbrella package where I was able to obtain three 7-foot parabolic umbrellas for a very affordable price. And to date, my most used umbrella is the silver interior version due to the extra punch that silver gives to the specular highlights on an image.
But man, do you need some powerful lights to take advantage of the size.
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Lighting intimidates every person getting into photography. It is a whole other skill to be learned but once you get into it, it can become addicting because of all the creative possibilities you open yourself up to. Relying on natural light can be great if you can get the right light. But as artists, we can always create our own. And to shape the light to get exactly the look that we want, we need modifiers. It is best to imagine light as a stream coming out of a hose. If you change the shape of the head and the direction, the stream itself also changes accordingly.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at a bunch of light modifiers we recommend. For more, we recommend that you check out the Lighting Section of our Reviews Index.
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Impact is a brand that is relatively new to the photo industry, but has created some very interesting products since its inception. One of which, the Impact LiteTrek, is used by many photographers such as Kevin Kabuto. In fact, I did an entire shoot with one as well. When the company offered me a chance to test out its 60 inch convertible umbrella, I was a bit intrigued. Convertible Umbrellas are unique in that they offer all the functionality of a normal umbrella with reflective properties, but they can be converted into a shoot through umbrella with direct diffusion properties similar to a softbox as well. As with all light sources, larger units give off softer light in relation to the size of the subject.
And the 60 Inch Convertible Umbrella from Impact did not disappoint and has perhaps become my favorite light modifier to date.
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Not long ago, Profoto teased new light modifiers on their blog. And today, they’re announcing their new RFi softboxes. RF stands for recessed front while the “i” stands for improved; and the overall design of the boxes is designed to send the light forward vs to the sides. Lighting specialists call this directional quality; and if used right way, it sounds like these could potentially mimic the look of a real parabolic umbrella that allows you to adjust the light throw. Softboxes are already very directional and make very efficient use of light; so it will be interesting to see just how much more Profoto can hack the laws of physics. The softboxes can come with a soft strip, flat front diffuser, or soft grid. Another new addition is the fact that the speedrings are color coded for easier use and organization in the studio.
Lastly, every unit is hand-sewn. More information is after the jump.
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We love, love, love our lighting modifiers here at The Phoblographer. We also love hacks. The other day while on a gig, I was trying to figure out how to use a shoot through umbrella with my speedlite. Because I didn’t have the correct bracket with me, I needed to improvise.
Using a Rogue Flash Bender and a rubber band, I was able to develop a great setup to use a shoot through umbrella.
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