Daylight Only. Can you manipulate God's light?

Weedinner

Lets start a thread that all pictures are taken only on daylight. No extra strobes/lights etc just reflectors. Lets see how creative you can be. I'll start you off with a simple portrait of Alexandra Burke (she won Xfactor over here in the UK a few years ago). This was shot today

divamum

(Mitchell, this one's for you!!!! )

NICE. Can you post a pullback at some point? From what you've said, you have a "tunnel" and the dark sides look like maybe you pull the dark curtains down on either side to get that catchlight effect?

In an entrance hall, doorway (open) to camera right; reflector camera left.

Bilsen

OH BOYY, my thing. I'll scrub in.

Open shade method, no flash, no reflectors, no nuttin' but a camera, a gray card and a Light meter

Foques

i'll play.
I got a-plenty

Qarik

mine

Weedinner

Qarik wrote: »

mine

Sorry Qarik. Not allowed. The picture has to be shot wholly on daylight. No extra light sources

Qarik

Weedinner wrote: »

Sorry Qarik. Not allowed. The picture has to be shot wholly on daylight. No extra light sources

this is window light only

Weedinner

SOrry Qarik. Made a mistake. I saw sb900 under the picture and made an assumption. Was about to delete the post.
Beautifully lit shot. Thanks for showing.

Weedinner

Here's another shot outside my old studio. The highlight is created by direct sunlight. She is standing next to a black curtain which masks any spill from the sunlight.

Mitchell

Scrim over a large window on the right with a small reflector on the left.

D'Buggs

Q; Not to be a balloon popper but a reflector IS a light source.
So exactly what is the diff if that 2nd source was electronic and limited in usage as fill only?

Just curious.....

ian408

D'Buggs wrote: »

Q; Not to be a balloon popper but a reflector IS a light source.
So exactly what is the diff if that 2nd source was electronic and limited in usage as fill only?

Just curious.....

The OP suggested only natural light and reflectors. No flash/strobes.

divamum

Also, I'd submit that a reflector merely changes the direction of the light that is already there, naturally - it doesn't actually *add* any light as such. And I think we can all agree that it takes a lot of technical skill to make sunlight look like strobes, and strobes look like sunlight - it can be done, of course (and many of us spend a lot of time trying to figure out how, so that we can create either "look" at will, on demand!), but it is different than using one or the other.

anonymouscuban

I agree with Diva. And I'll add that using reflectors to redirect sunlight is not as easy at one may think. I think I'm not all that bad at strobe work and more specifically, mixing flash with sunlight. However, the few times I've tried to ditch my flash and use a reflector instead, I've failed miserably. I'm sure with practice, I could get better at it but its not that simple. A lot of credit goes to the OP for the work he's shown thus far, particularly, that last shot of the blonde in this thread. WOW. Some other great shots posted in this thread.

Not sure I'm ready to ditch my flashes all together but this thread has certainly inspired me to try to better my skills at natural light shooting.

Weedinner

I created this thread because I think we can get a bit to much gear orientated and not use and manipulate the greatest light source we have for whatever photography we are in to. If you don't understand how to use daylight then I think this seriously limits you in the way that you 'see' light. And if you can't see quality of light then you are pretty much dead in the water when it comes to most forms of photography.

Totally agree with Diva and anonymouscuban, a reflector BTW is not a source of light. It simply modifies the source of the light.

Here is another backlit sunlight shot. The secret is to position the camera so there is no flare. You may have to use screens and black gobos to get what you want

PS I am new here. What is an OP?

Dreadnote

Weedinner wrote: »

PS I am new here. What is an OP?

"Opening Post / Original Post"...you'll see it next to your avatar when you start a thread like this one,

Weedinner

Here is another. Check out the amount of subtle light changes on the face and the highlight coming in over her shoulder. This is shot with a reflector under her chin, a black gobo to the right and another above her head. The highlight is created by the daylight at the other end of the 'tunnel'

divamum

Weedinner wrote: »

I created this thread because I think we can get a bit to much gear orientated and not use and manipulate the greatest light source we have for whatever photography we are in to. If you don't understand how to use daylight then I think this seriously limits you in the way that you 'see' light. And if you can't see quality of light then you are pretty much dead in the water when it comes to most forms of photography.

I will say that as somebody who often has no assistant, it's sometimes EASIER to use fill flash (securely on a stand) than a reflector..... even though I actually prefer the *look* of the reflector. I always use reflected light when I can, because I love it so much. It does ridiculously nice things for skin......

Here is another backlit sunlight shot. The secret is to position the camera so there is no flare. You may have to use screens and black gobos to get what you want

Really like this one.

Dreadnote

Is it just me going bleary eyed, or do almost all of these look OOF? Perhaps a posting/hosting issue?

Weedinner

divamum wrote: »

I will say that as somebody who often has no assistant, it's sometimes EASIER to use fill flash (securely on a stand) than a reflector..... even though I actually prefer the *look* of the reflector. I always use reflected light when I can, because I love it so much. It does ridiculously nice things for skin......



Really like this one.

I don't have an assistant...

Weedinner

Dreadnote wrote: »

Is it just me going bleary eyed, or do almost all of these look OOF? Perhaps a posting/hosting issue?

Whats an OOF?

Weedinner

Dreadnote wrote: »

Is it just me going bleary eyed, or do almost all of these look OOF? Perhaps a posting/hosting issue?

whats an OOF...sorry new here

puzzledpaul

out of focus

(great to have another Brit around, btw)

pp

anonymouscuban

I think they're out of focus due to compression because he's uploading the photos rather than hosting them.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2

Dreadnote

Weedinner, do you use one of the many (sometimes free like Flickr) hosting services? If you do, and you post here using a link rather than uploading, your pics, which are very well lit will also be crisp and clean. As it is they are appearing here a bit soft. Im not sure if that is an issue specific to Dgrin or not, but for whatever that is worth, there it is.

Weedinner

Ok. I'll upload a test image from Flickr


20130226-21_KAIT_4286-2.jpg by John_Clark , on Flickr


Is that better?

BTW still all daylight

divamum

Weedinner wrote: »

I don't have an assistant...

So how are you positioning the reflectors? It's fine when I'm indoors or it's not windy, but on my own on a blowy day is more like a comedy routine than photography! (even with weights etc)

Weedinner

Just small ones. either on a stand or the client holds the reflector.

Weedinner

puzzledpaul wrote: »

out of focus

(great to have another brit around, btw)

pp

lol

Hackbone

I'm late to the game but I agree with D'Buggs that a reflector is a light source, yet it can change direction but it is a light source. This guy, http://www.duenkel.com/, is know for his use of reflectors. And I mean he will put the reflector outside of your house to redirect the sun into your house to become a light source.

VayCayMom

I'll play, using daylight is easier for me than flash etc.