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How to Use Light Reflectors in Photography
// August 30th, 2010 // No Comments » // digital photography
“Mr. Balani” captured by Shashwat Nagpal (Click Image to See More From Shashwat Nagpal)
The difference between a photographer and a snap-shooter is determined by the ability to consistency achieve the desired outcome through the use of tools, techniques, and artistic vision. Quite often, available light is not sufficient to fill your subject’s shadow areas, or the light may be too intense for your desired outcome.
The best way to compensate for light deficiencies is to add reflectors to your set. We can also explore a close cousin to the reflector; the diffuser. Diffusers are used to soften or change the character of available light. Reflectors and diffusers are relatively inexpensive, portable, and can often be fabricated with inexpensive materials. Let’s take a look at each and a few examples of how they can be employed on your next photo shoot.
Reflectors are commercially available in various sizes and forms from practically every photographic supply venue. Reflectors are commonly found as an umbrella, which needs to be attached to a clamp in front of a studio light, or as a hand-held device, which is more portable, but often requires an assistant. For the purpose of this article, we are going to concentrate on the portable, hand-held reflector and leave the umbrella for our studio lighting topic. The most common style of reflector is the collapsible reflector, which usually has a different color on each side; usually a combination of white, black, silver, and gold. Illustrated here are some portable reflectors found on the B&H Photography web site.
When shadows plague your shot, there are essentially two solutions; add more lights or redirect the light you already have available. Common areas that are effected by shadows in portraits may include the areas beneath a subject’s facial areas, such as beneath the eyes, nose and chin. Reflectors are used by bouncing the available light and filling the shadows with highlights. It is best to use an assistant to manipulate the reflector to bounce the light which is inversely proportional to the photographer’s position. In other words, if the photographer is shooting from a low angle, then the reflector should concentrate on reflecting the light down. If the photographer is shooting from eye-level or higher, then the reflector is often held from a lower perspective. Of course, there are no hard rules and the environment dictates the best perspective to use.
Diffusers are also commercially available from a variety of commercial vendors. Diffusers are used when the available light is too harsh for the subject and the subject has hard highlights that need to be softened. A diffusers is a piece of material mounted to a frame that reduces the light intensity through absorption. The diffuser is held between the subject and the light source by either an assistant or a frame stand.
“Girl on a Truck” captured by Vivek Agnihotri (Click Image to See More From Vivek Agnihotri)
The diffuser is usually made of white or gold rip-stop material, but may also be construction from screen materials. Diffusers can easily be constructed from PVC pipe and clamps by making a simple frame from 1/2 inch PVC with one or two cross-members added for support, depending upon the size of the frame. Once your frame is constructed, secure the material to the frame with plastic clamps, and viola, you have a simple diffuser for about the same price as a decent lunch.
Professional photographers usually have an entourage of assistants with a variety of reflectors and diffusers when shooting outdoors. The key to capturing professional photographs lies heavily with the photographer’s ability to use light to enhance the photograph and to overcome environmental obstacles. Start small and experiment with angles and reflector colors to achieve your desired effect and document the results for future reference.
About the author:
Pranav Bhasin is an avid photographer and provides photography learning tutorials on his blog. He also likes to design photo products on the lifeblob personalized photo gifting page.
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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips
Olympus Zuiko Digital 25mm f/2.8
// August 29th, 2010 // No Comments » // digital photography
Last updated (29 August’10):
- Review by Lenstip
The Olympus Zuiko Digital 25mm f/2.8 features 25mm at focal length with maximum aperture of f/2.8. The lens construction has 5 Elements in 4 Groups and has diagonal angle of view at 47 degrees. Closest focusing distance at 0.2m and has a filter size of 43mm. The Olympus Zuiko [...]
By Haryono
Pentax SMC DA* 55mm f/1.4 SDM
// August 28th, 2010 // No Comments » // digital photography
Last updated (28 August’10):
- Review by SLRGear
The Pentax SMC DA* 55mm f/1.4 SDM features 55mm at focal length with maximum aperture of f/4. The lens construction has 9 elements in 8 groups and has diagonal angle of view at 28.6 degrees. Closest focusing distance at 17.76 inches(0.45m) and has a filter size of 58mm. The [...]
By Haryono
Wedding Photography – A Guide To Photojournalism Book Review
// August 28th, 2010 // No Comments » // digital photography
Wedding Photojournalism Book Available Now
The photo-journalistic style of wedding photography is becoming more popular and heavily sought after by couples. Award-winning wedding photojournalist Kerry Morgan has put together an excellent book that seems to cover all the bases of the wedding photography. Not only is it a great read, it contains hundreds of excellent example photos to spur your creativity and guide you through a typical wedding day.
Documentary wedding photography is about capturing the day, as the events unfold with minimal interference or instruction from the photographer. This book is not about photographic techniques or equipment. It is about how exactly to shoot weddings in a story-telling style and come away with a set of images that will exceed your client’s expectations; pictures which will let them relive the day, as it actually happened.
Wedding Photography – A Guide To Photojournalism is now available for $23.95 from Oliver Camera Publishing. Click Here to Get the Book Now
Morgan writes, “When covering a wedding I shoot a narrative, so throughout the whole event I use the same technique as any journalist who is reporting a story. I’m gathering information and I’m asking and answering the following questions: who, what, where, when, why and how?
The task of news photojournalists and the teams around them should be to record and gather information and to present the result in a factual way. As documentary wedding photographers we do not always want the cold hard truth and facts. We want to feel the story, get emotionally involved with the images and savour the moments we have caught.
Having a recognizable style to your work is a huge benefit to you as a photographer. Not only does it give your work a consistent look, it also sets you apart from other photographers.
Somes Pages from Wedding Photography – A Guide to Photojournalism (Click to Learn More)
This 208 page book is organized into the following chapters:
- Introduction
- My Approach to Wedding Photography
- The Basics
- Preparing for the Shoot
- Pre-shoot Checklist
- Shooting the Preparations
- At the Ceremony
- Shooting Other Types of Ceremonies
- Drinks Reception or Cocktail Hour
- Understanding the Importance of Light
- Shooting the Couple Portraits
- Wedding Breakfast and Reception
- When Not to Shoot
- Shooting Destination Weddings
- Post-Wedding Considerations
- Developing Your Observational Skills
- Be Inspired
- A Complete Album
Page Layouts With Inspiring Example Photos (Click to Learn More)
Morgan writes, “In the following pages I will describe to you each section of the wedding day in detail and how I go about photographing it, what I look for and how to tell a story in pictures.”
How to Get a Copy:
Wedding Photography – A Guide To Photojournalism is now available for $23.95 from Oliver Camera Publishing. Click Here to Get the Book Now
Go to Full Article: Wedding Photography – A Guide To Photojournalism Book Review
Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips
May 25, Nikon D5000 digital slr camera review
// August 28th, 2010 // No Comments » // digital photography
This article provides a review of the latest Nikon D5000 digital SLR. If you want exceptional value in a digital SLR and impressice optics and performance, the Nikon D5000 is the way to go.
By basic-digital-photography.com
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