The only problem you may encounter with shooting images with available light is that one side of your subject's face may be in deep shadow. This problem is exacerbated if you're relying solely on window light and the room in which you are photographing is dark. You could turn on a light, but then you're dealing with light sources with different color temperatures, and your camera may have a hard time getting the white balance correct. The solution is to reflect some light into the shadow areas of the scene. You can purchase a reflector from a local camera store, or you can build one yourself. If you purchase one from a camera store, you'll need a 42-inch round reflector if you're photographing the person from head to toe. If you're only photographing the person's head and shoulders, you can get by with a 22-inch reflector. Reflectors are white, silver, or gold in color. You can also create your own reflector by purchasing a large piece of white poster board or a piece of Styrofoam. The following illustration shows an assistant aiming a 42-inch reflector at the subject to be photographed. The reflector has white fabric on one side and gold on the other. The reflector fabric unzips and is reversible. The reverse fabric colors are black (which is used to deepen shadows) and silver. The reflector collapses and fits in a 16-inch diameter bag.
Fill Shadows with a Reflector
- Set your camera on a tripod and position your subject as outlined previously.
- Set the camera in auto-timer mode.
- Have a friend or family member hold the reflector and angle it so that the light is caught by the reflector and bounced back into the shadow side of your subject's face.
- View the scene through the viewfinder and tell your assistant which way to move the reflector. You'll be able to see the difference through the viewfinder.
- Press the shutter button halfway to focus the scene.
Press the shutter button fully and release. The camera counts down and records the picture. The following image was captured using available light under a tree. An assistant aimed a gold reflector at the model to bounce some light back into the heavy shadows on her face. The gold reflector also added warmth to the image, which was photographed on an overcast day.
