How are reflectors used?

[jake337]

You would think of it as a light source, just like a flash. All the same rules may apply, and may be bended per situation. Just remember it can't stop motion like flash, as it is continuous lighting.

 

[dallasimagery]

Reflectors, IMHO, are a sign of a rank amateur who doesn't know much about lighting. I've work with many "real" pros, and they rarely use reflectors. Why woudl you?

ROFLMFAO.

Dude...come on...reflectors,scrims, panels,whatever you want to call them, are essential in many situations.

Can you teach me how to douggie, dallasimagery?

WHy are people putting words in my mouth? I ONLY spoke about reflectors, not any other modifier that you listed. Yes, I'd MUCH rather have another light I can control with pinpoint precision.

 

[o hey tyler]

I see much talk about using reflectors for outdoor portraits, but nothing about how to use them.

I don't like reflectors. I feel like, if I'm going to go toting around some huge reflector, I'd much rather have another light. It's much more versatile to have another light where you can use modifiers to control with pinpoint precision what you want to do, or even create crazing lighting shapes. Reflectors, IMHO, are a sign of a rank amateur who doesn't know much about lighting. I've work with many "real" pros, and they rarely use reflectors. Why woudl you? It's just a subsitute for another light.
.

Holy crap batman! The Douche-o-meter is going OFF THE CHART.

Not using reflectors, IMHO, is a sign of lack of general resourcefulness as a photographer who doesn't know much about lighting.

 

[MWG]

lawls

 

[Dao]

Reflectors works great with lights as well when it is under the control by the photographer.

 

[Aye-non Oh-non Imus]

...... Reflectors, IMHO, are a sign of a rank amateur who doesn't know much about lighting. I've work with many "real" pros, and they rarely use reflectors. Why woudl you? It's just a subsitute for another light.

I see much talk about using reflectors for outdoor portraits,

I wouldn't know, I haven't used one since I started in photography.

Precisley the reason to use one...... as a substitue for another light.

If you've never used one, how can you advise someone on the use of a reflector, much less the disuse of it.


OP, this is the reason you have to weed through the crap that is spewed on the internet.

 

[Dao]

I saw some examples that the model was instructed by the photographer to hold a smaller white reflector to at her waist level to bounce some defused light (lights from the strobes) upward. And I think it can be done by an additional small power light, but it will be much easier with a reflector.

And sometimes, I use the black side of the reflector to block some light. It really comes in handy sometimes.

 

[Mike_E]

One thing a reflector can do that a strobe can't is to give shade for subtractive lighting.. subtractive lighting techniques - Google Search

 

[VirtualPhotographyStudio]

Mike_E, You are correct there. A solid object can also be used as a subtractive lighting source. If you are next to a column and move your subject forward or backward into the shadow, you will see a huge difference in the quality of light.

 

[table1349]

Reflectors, IMHO, are a sign of a rank amateur who doesn't know much about lighting. I've work with many "real" pros, and they rarely use reflectors. Why woudl you?

ROFLMFAO.

Dude...come on...reflectors,scrims, panels,whatever you want to call them, are essential in many situations.

Can you teach me how to douggie, dallasimagery?

WHy are people putting words in my mouth? I ONLY spoke about reflectors, not any other modifier that you listed. Yes, I'd MUCH rather have another light I can control with pinpoint precision.

Perhaps you should check out some of Christopher Gray's books on lighting such as: Master Lighting Guide for Portrait ... - Google Ksi

He does a nice job of explaining the value and uses for reflectors. Some people seem to think that he knows what he is talking about when it comes to studio and portrait lighting.

 

[Derrel]

Reflectors, IMHO, are a sign of a rank amateur who doesn't know much about lighting. I've work with many "real" pros, and they rarely use reflectors. Why woudl you?

ROFLMFAO.

Dude...come on...reflectors,scrims, panels,whatever you want to call them, are essential in many situations.

Can you teach me how to douggie, dallasimagery?

WHy are people putting words in my mouth? I ONLY spoke about reflectors, not any other modifier that you listed. Yes, I'd MUCH rather have another light I can control with pinpoint precision.

Who is putting words in your mouth? Apparently you have been around photography not long enough to realize that a "reflector" is often referred to as a "panel". Dean Collins, my 1980's videotape "mentor" taught an entire generation of us to light using what he called LightForm "panels". A reflector can be called a reflector, a reflector panel, or simply a "panel". So, I was not putting words in your mouth...

A scrim can be made by placing a diffusion screen of silk, nylon, rayon, cotton, gauze, or Fibreglas (Trade Mark) screening onto a metal, PVC pipe, or wooden panel frame. So, a scrim is just a reflector panel, stripped of its reflecting material, and fitted with a diffusing material instead. Using two or three panels fitted with diffusion material is what used to be called "scrim lighting" in the 1940's and 1950's.

So....again...I was not putting words in your mouth.A reflector is a panel is a scrim...

See how that works? See how well another flash works at synching with sunlight with a medium format camera with a focal plane shutter. The majority of today's d-slr shutters will synchronize only up to 1/200 second, and many have base ISO levels of 200. In bright sunlight, that means that flash fill is always limited by the camera's top shutter speed. That is not an issue with a reflector--it can be used at ANY shutter speed, and the reflected light is a WYSIWYG, and can be metered and balanced using the camera's built-in light meter. Sorry, but saying that "another light" is in some way magically better than a reflector/panel/scrim is really not a very complete look at the situation from a real-world point of view.

 

[Kerbouchard]

Derrel, you obviously don't know what you are talking about. I read somewhere on the internet that anybody who uses reflectors is a rank amateur who doesn't know anything about lighting. I wish you would stop trying to fill people's heads with nonsense.

 

[Gaerek]

Derrel, you obviously don't know what you are talking about. I read somewhere on the internet that anybody who uses reflectors is a rank amateur who doesn't know anything about lighting. I wish you would stop trying to fill people's heads with nonsense.

I wish I could be a pro like Dallasimagery. I guess in the mean time, I'll have to be a rank amateur, like Derrel, and use my reflectors for lighting.

 

[camz]

Derrel, you obviously don't know what you are talking about. I read somewhere on the internet that anybody who uses reflectors is a rank amateur who doesn't know anything about lighting. I wish you would stop trying to fill people's heads with nonsense.

Don't buy that BS. I know a lot of photographers who shoot without one and photographers who shoot with the use of reflectors(including me).

Answer this question...there are tons of natural/ambient light photographers out there. How do you think they're pulling this off?

 

[Kerbouchard]

Derrel, you obviously don't know what you are talking about. I read somewhere on the internet that anybody who uses reflectors is a rank amateur who doesn't know anything about lighting. I wish you would stop trying to fill people's heads with nonsense.

Don't buy that BS. I know a lot of photographers who shoot without one and photographers who shoot with the use of reflectors(including me).

Answer this question...there are tons of natural/ambient light photographers out there. How do you think they're pulling this off?

Come back when you have actually read the thread.