Michael, it is not a question of which is better but the type of portraits you will be shooting. They both are good and each produce a different type of light.
The translucent shoot though umbrella will give you more of a difused light and is excellent for softer portraits. I use a shoot through umbrella most of the time when I shoot head shots or close in portraits. I place it slightly above and just outside of camera view at a 45 degree angle as close to the subject as I can get it. It provides a nice soft wrap around light with a perfect catchlight in the eye. This would be the main light. The one I use is 43 inches in diameter.
Reflective or bounce umbrellas will give you a more of a focused light that is more directional and a little harsher then a shoot through umbrella. The gold, silver, gold silver mixed and white will each cause a different looking specular highlight on the subject, gold and silver being the harshest with white being the least noticable. Typically when using a bounce type umbrella light, it will be farther away from the subject meaning its apparent size in relation to the subject will be smaller so you will have a harsher more contrasty light with deeper shadows.
So you can see it really depends on the type of shots you are taking and the look you want. They are all cheap enough. Go on Ebay, look up Amvona as the seller and bid on 1 of each type. They are good quality, cheap and will give you many options to play with. I would recommend getting at least a 40 inch size, the 30 inch is just a bit to small for most things.
Phil
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