Improve your small-flash umbrella set-up

A lot of us have started using umbrellas for location portraits with small camera flashes. It's nice to have that big diffused light source to soften the shadows but unfortunately the umbrella adaptors hold the flash very high, so all of your light is firing into the top half of the umbrella. And as you can see I use an external battery pack which lifts the flash even higher.

Here's the solution. If you're carrying a light stand and umbrella with you then it's not much of a stretch to carry two light stands. Why not use one to hold your umbrella and the other to hold your flash? That way you can position the flash exactly where you want it.

In the comparison shots below, the image on the left shows light coverage with the flash on the umbrella adaptor. On the right is the light coverage with the flash on its own stand at the right height. Keep the flash a couple of feet behind the adaptor to avoid nasty shadows. Note that in the second image the flash looks higher but it's actually lower, it's just closer to where I was taking the picture from so the perspective is a bit misleading.

Alternatively you could just rubber-band / ball-bungee the flash to the stem of the umbrella. Hmm, wish I'd thought of that earlier.