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Use natural reflectors

April 4, 2011 • Blog, Tech Tips

I recently finished another photography training video for Kelby Training, this one on winter sports. We had a blast with Scott, Matt and Adam before the video shoot, shooting straight through a huge blizzard and wallowing through snow drifts.  Check out Scott’s blog for more details.  One of the athletes we got to photograph was Eddie, and friend of Adam’s and an incredible snowboarder.  Stay tuned, the winter video should be out shortly.

I was up at the superpipe at Copper Mountain last week photographing Eddie.  I was traveling light, a few lenses and one body, and no flash in my bag.  It is almost impossible for me not to have a flash tucked away in a pocket, or more likely a truck loaded with lighting gear, when I am on a shoot.  But when you are skiing by yourself, and trying to keep up  with Eddie, you want to go as light as possible.

Luckily we had a sunny day, which greatly simplifies lighting.  In winter you have a great natural reflector in the snow.  Light bounces and reflects off all surfaces, and staying in tune with natural reflective surfaces on a photo shoot can solve (or create) lighting challenges.  Light will reflect the color of the surface it is bouncing off, so don’t bounce light off a green wall unless you want the ‘alien effect.’  If you shoot in snowy areas, let the snow fill in shadows and bounce light to your advantage.  The image above had lots of reflected light hitting Eddie’s face and goggles, no flash needed for fill on this shot.

Tech: Nikon D3, 14-24mm 2.8 lens, ISO 400, 1/4000 at F5.6.

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