working with reflectors?

Elaine

No shots here...just some questions!

I took some family shots for a friend the other day and brought along a piece of white tile board (about 3'x4') thinking I could use it as a reflector if needed. I placed them in the shade and was going to have my son hold the reflector in a place where it could catch the sun and throw it into the shade. The problem was that it made a very bright blob that was unsightly and blinded them. I decided I didn't need it anyway as they were on their front porch out of the direct sun but with plenty of open sky in front of them. But it made me curious...how does one use a reflector outdoors properly and effectively? Was my reflector material not a good choice? Was it just a case of not needing a reflector and over doing it, and if I had indeed needed a reflector (on a more dull day perhaps) I might not have ended up with a blinding blob of light? Is this sort of reflector situation just not ideal for small groups? I've set up a white foam core board as a reflector while using a flash/umbrella, but that was quite different than this natural, outdoor setting. Just wondering how others use this technique.

Nikolai

Elaine wrote: »

No shots here...just some questions!

I took some family shots for a friend the other day and brought along a piece of white tile board (about 3'x4') thinking I could use it as a reflector if needed. I placed them in the shade and was going to have my son hold the reflector in a place where it could catch the sun and throw it into the shade. The problem was that it made a very bright blob that was unsightly and blinded them. I decided I didn't need it anyway as they were on their front porch out of the direct sun but with plenty of open sky in front of them. But it made me curious...how does one use a reflector outdoors properly and effectively? Was my reflector material not a good choice? Was it just a case of not needing a reflector and over doing it, and if I had indeed needed a reflector (on a more dull day perhaps) I might not have ended up with a blinding blob of light? Is this sort of reflector situation just not ideal for small groups? I've set up a white foam core board as a reflector while using a flash/umbrella, but that was quite different than this natural, outdoor setting. Just wondering how others use this technique.

Elaine,
one common mistake most novices make (I fell into the same trap when I just started) is using silver/gold surface during bright cloudless midday shooting. Switch to the white fabric and you'll be fine.
The metallic surfaces are OK to use:
a) when couldy (albeit why would you use refelctor to begin with?;-)
b) at sunrise/sunset
c) in studio environment
HTH

Icebear

The white reflector diffuses the light before it reflects it. Sure, you get a lot less light, but it's nice light. OTOH, in an extreme case, a metallic reflector can be seen as reflecting the same infinitely small point of light as the sun provides. HARSH. If you want more light, but still diffuse, place a white scrim over a metallic reflector and that will help.

Elaine

Nikolai wrote: »

Elaine,
one common mistake most novices make (I fell into the same trap when I just started) is using silver/gold surface during bright cloudless midday shooting. Switch to the white fabric and you'll be fine.
The metallic surfaces are OK to use:
a) when couldy (albeit why would you use refelctor to begin with?;-)
b) at sunrise/sunset
c) in studio environment
HTH

Thanks, Nikolai! Could you expound on "white fabric"? Any white fabric? Should I cover a shiny reflector in white fabric? I wasn't using anything silver/gold, but it was white and shiny (the same material as what is useful for a floor in a white seamless application). It was a bright day around 3 pm (fairly dark by 4) and I thought they might be in a dark spot, but it ended up being great.

Elaine

Icebear wrote: »

The white reflector diffuses the light before it reflects it. Sure, you get a lot less light, but it's nice light. OTOH, in an extreme case, a metallic reflector can be seen as reflecting the same infinitely small point of light as the sun provides. HARSH. If you want more light, but still diffuse, place a white scrim over a metallic reflector and that will help.

So, it sounds like removing the shiny from a reflector would be helpful, such as a matte white fabric? The bigger the reflector/fabric, the larger the diffuse area of light to spread around a group?

adbsgicom

Also, the sweet light is generally not dead center. Feather the light off in front some so it is more diffuse....

Icebear

In a word, yes. One thing you need to remember though is that light falls off inversely as a square of the distance (or something like that.) The sun is infinitely far away for our purposes, but as soon as you reflect it, the reflector becomes the source for that light. So . . . lets say you arranged a group with the sun shining at their right ears, and wanted to use a reflector as fill from their left. The sun's light would be dead equal on their right ears, even if the group was ten feet wide. I mean, really. What's ten feet to ninety-three million miles. The amount of light from your reflector however would fall off quite a bit by the time you got back to the far end. So, you'd be best served with a huge reflector, placed at a distance from the end of the group. Yes, you'd get less light overall, but it would be more even across the group. You'd be better served probably with a couple of smaller reflectors at angles in front of the group.

ivar

Elaine wrote: »

So, it sounds like removing the shiny from a reflector would be helpful, such as a matte white fabric? The bigger the reflector/fabric, the larger the diffuse area of light to spread around a group?

Reflectors come in a lot of varieties; You can also get them with one side white. I have a few of those, and I think I use the white sides the most, tbh

divamum

Use your foamboard, Elaine, rather than the shiny tileboard - cheap, ole, flat, boring foamboard. It works!

PS The Chinese 5-in-1 reflectors on ebay - about $11 including shipping - are GREAT. Highly recommended as a cheap and very versatile addition to the gear bag! They include white - as well as a sheer diffuser - which is really helpful when shooting out of doors. One piece of gear covering all eventualities...

codiac2600

Here is a video from a portrait class I taught at Japanese Anderson Gardens. If you forward to the 5 minute mark it shows a good technique for using reflectors and diffusers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzeOQV_zUbY

Elaine

Thanks for the help, everyone! Now I have more to work with next time I need a reflector.