Reply To: you're not a real photographer because your camera is too small/ not full frame

[cameraclicker]

To be fair a shoot through umbrell does still bounce light. Not as efficiently as an actual bounc umbrella. But they can be used that way.

Not all umbrellas are created equal.  My Nikon umbrellas let some light through, even with the black/reflector cover in place.  My Bowens umbrellas let far less light through, and reflect much better because the black/reflector cover has a better silver reflector.    With any of them, removing the cover to configure shoot through mode, the expectation is that most of the light will pass through.  It’s a good thing the strobe can manage 640 WS!  It probably helps that the mall lights are pretty bright.