I wasn't struck by any great inspiration on the 13th. I was stuck at home as someone (actually two people in separate incidents) crashed into my car in the ice. Rather than posting a photo taken for the insurance company of my car crushed against a stone wall I decided to have a play with looking at hard and soft light.
Both photos taken using the Sigma 530 DG Super on a light stand. The first used a shoot through umbrella and the second was a bare flash. Things to note are the shadows, particularly the transition from shadow to light, and the
specular highlights along the edge of the blocks and on the little blue driver.
Another thing I noted was the drop in power when using the shoot through. I probably loose about two stops of light with the umbrella. It's also worth thinking about where all that extra light goes. Not a problem if I was shooting outside or in a big studio, but in my front room that light is just bouncing off the walls, softening the shot even further.
That's a great illustration of hard & soft light. Clearly you compensated for the 2 stop loss with the umbrella by changing aperture not boosting the flash power as there's a marked difference in depth of field.
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