Hey Chris, nicely done. I gave up umbrellas for portraits, because I hate the catchlights they give.(posted 8443 days ago)Try a softbox (can you rent?) and put a bunch of stuff in front of it, between the front panel and your subject... flags (cardboard at angles), branches (with and /or without leaves) torn strips of bkgrnd paper, old t-shirts (washed!), cheese cloth, plastic bags... whatever. This means you need a pretty big box. 3x4 ft is about the minimum, so you can keep it fairly close, and still fit the stuff in between without pokin' your subject in the eye or getting wierd shit in the picture.
hmmm, wierd shit in the picture... there's an interesting idea, huh, Jeff?... see ya... t