Reflectors

ecently, I’ve begun to embrace and trust Nikon’s in-camera matrix metering system with a greater fervor than ever before. As you may have noticed, I shot many of the photographs in this book in Aperture Priority mode (for which the photographer picks the aperture and the camera/light meter picks the shutter speed). But even though my dependence on manual metering has lessened, I still find that it’s necessary to meter in manual exposure mode when I’m presented with “difficult” exposures.

Difficult exposures aren’t difficult because I can’t decide how much or how little depth of field I need or because I can’t decide if I should freeze or imply motion, but rather because of the light! Sometimes, despite Nikon’s famous matrix or Canon’s reliable five-point metering, the light meter will still be fooled and render an exposure that’s either too light or too dark. (When postprocessing my raw images, I can sometimes get the help I need when I really blow an exposure, but again, I have to ask myself, “Why not get it right in-camera rather than spend all the time needed to correct it in Photoshop?”)

A classic example of a difficult exposure is the backlit flower. Backlit flowers can produce some powerful and emotion-filled imagery—if you know where to take your meter reading, if you know where to “place the sun” compositionally speaking, and if you are willing to use a reflector. I say willing because reflectors are a necessary evil. Granted, they’re really lightweight and easy to attach to, and carry along with, your camera bag; but just like a tripod, a reflector is one more thing that you have to fiddle around with before you can take the image, and to the frustration of many first-time shooters, getting the once small and compact reflector back into its neat little pouch becomes a daunting task. (Get out the video camera and photograph one of your fellow photographers struggling to return the reflector to its compact size, and I’m confident you will win a top prize on America’s Funniest Home Videos!)

So, what exactly is a reflector? It’s a circular piece of highly reflective fabric stretched tightly over a collapsible metal ring. The fabric is either shiny gold, shiny silver, or a sheer white material. Sizes can range from 12 inches in diameter to up to 3 feet. When pointed toward the light source (the sun, in most outdoor cases), the reflector acts likes a dull mirror, reflecting back much of the ambient light onto the subject. Of the many reflectors on the market, my personal favorite, both for its size and functionality, is Adorama Camera’s Flashpoint 22″ 5-in-1 Collapsible Disc Reflector, which offers translucent, white, black, silver, and soft gold surfaces.

Some years ago, photographer Dewitt Jones came out with a book entitled What the Road Passes By. It inspired me in many ways, not the least of which was by showing me the riches that one could find in any number of roadside ditches. Whether it be the quiet ditch of a country road or the noisy and sometimes breezy ditch of an interstate highway, I have never been disappointed by the images I’ve made in a ditch with the aid of a macro lens. This is one such example, but it did require the use of a reflector.

The claim to fame of low-angled backlight is that it illuminates the flowers before you with a glow that only backlight can produce. It’s vital to stress the words low-angled here, since most shots like these are only possible shortly after sunrise or just before sunset—when the sun is low in the sky (and when most shooters prefer to be sleeping or eating dinner). But if you choose to head out and shoot at these times of day, not only will you come back with some dynamic images, but you won’t have to jockey for position since you’ll have the entire meadow or public garden to yourself!

    Backlight can lead to silhouetting, which might not always complement your subject. When I made these images, I mounted my Nikon D300 and 12–24mm lens on tripod, with things set to manual exposure mode. I chose an aperture of f/16 and adjusted the shutter speed until 1/500 sec. indicated a correct exposure. The first attempt was a fairly dynamic exposure of the backlit, translucent poppies and blue sky, with that portion of sun that I allowed to “sneak” into the shot by simply choosing a point of view that blocked most of the sun behind the main flower.

    The second attempt is the same exposure but is stronger due to the addition of the reflector. With it, I was able to add some fill light into the foreground and record an image in which both frontlight and backlight are present. The main flower still glows with backlighting, but it is not obstructed by silhouetting; and the color and all the interesting details in the surrounding flower stems are now visible.

Both photos: Nikon D300 and 12–24mm lens, f/16 for 1/500 sec.

Should you find yourself shooting close-ups of flora or fauna or even non-nature abstracts at or around midday on sunny days, you’ll be dealing with a lot of light and shadow, and sometimes, this contrast is not welcome. You’ll wish you could tone things down a bit, and you can with the aid of that 5-in-1 reflector. You would use the translucent surface, which will diffuse the light, softening the shadows and, in effect, mimicking the light of a bright overcast day. That’s what happened here. I placed the colored pencils on a table near a western-facing window and discovered that the midday light was somewhat harsh. When I positioned the translucent reflector directly overhead, thus blocking the sunlight, the light became much softer. Note that in addition to the reflector, I also used a tripod.

Left: Nikon D2X, Micro-Nikkor 105mm lens, f/22 for 1/60 sec.; right: Nikon D2X, Micro-Nikkor 105mm lens, f/22 for 1/20 sec.