Thank you to everyone that participated in the "Reflected Light" assignment. The
guidelines for this assignment were to use a reflector to supplement the light on your subject. The assignment described how reflectors could be used to correct both high contrast light (by filling in the deep shadows) or flat, dull light (by adding a bit more directional light on the subject to provide soft shadows and improve the modeling or 3-dimensional rendering of the subject).
Jaime started off the assignment with his wonderful
Olympic Opening image. Not only did Jaime capture an interesting behavior of the ant, but as alluded to in his title, it reminds us of the olympic torch and the valiant struggles of the athletes. This is a wonderful capture Jaime, great job capturing the moment!
The Olympic OpeningPhotographed by Jaime Dorotan (girod)
MIchele's
Slice of Sunshine image was a great example of using a reflector to fill in what would otherwise have been dark shadows on the face of the backlit slice of orange. This was a beautiful image that presented a unique view of an orange, and highlighted the beauty of nature's design. I like that the lighting in this image was very unobtrusive, yet very effectively brought out the transparency and intricate detail of the orange, and provided very nice rim-light as well. Excellent job balancing the primary light source with reflected light to highlight the transparency while still showing detail and color in the opaque portions of the orange. This image tied for
People's Choice, and was awarded
Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit.
Slice of sunshineEditor's Choice for Artistic Merit, Tied for
People's ChoicePhotographed by Michele Bollhalder
The entire series of McKenzie photographing illustrated the use of a gold reflector to provide additional light and "warmth" for outdoor portraits. Rebecca and Rick did a great job of capturing McKenzie's expressions.
Hard working photographerPhotographed by Rebecca
Future PhotographerPhotographed by Rick Pepin (trvlrick)
Future Photographer IIPhotographed by Rick Pepin (trvlrick)
Sue also captured a great image of
Our instructor for the day, using a reflector to fill in the shadows on Evan's face. (This image is probably a tad bit overexposed, but still effective at capturing the "character" of our instructor.
Our instructor for the dayPhotographed by Sue Pepin
The Juniper tree provided an interesting subject for us to experiment with during our outing in Colorado Springs. The shadow side of the tree had several interesting features in the wood; however they were buried in the dark shadows. Several folks used the gold reflector to both open up the shadows and provide a bit more warmth to the subject.
Juniper treePhotographed by Rick Pepin (trvlrick)
Juniper Tree IIPhotographed by Rick Pepin (trvlrick)
Sue's
Juniper Tree 3 image was one of the most effective compositions, and captured the wild and whimsical character of the tree. The lighting from the reflector was unobtrusive, yet added enough light to open up the shadows, as well as just a bit of warmth to better balance the cool shadows with the sunlit portions of the scene. The angle of the light from the reflector also provided nice "modeling" on some of the features of the tree, and helped to bring out the features and textures. Very well done, and well deserving as
People's Choice for this assignment.
Juniper Tree 3Tied for
People's ChoicePhotographed by Sue Pepin
By the time Rick photographed his cactus image, the light was starting to get overcast and dull, and the catus were also in the shadows. The reflector helped to add a bit more interest to the dull light, and helped balance the light a bit so that the sunlit background didn't overpower the scene.
CactusPhotographed by Rick Pepin (trvlrick)
Although Marilyn noted that the impact of using a reflector for her
Story Teller image was "subtle," I thought the reflector provided soft, natural looking semi-directional light that resulted in very nice modeling of the figure's features. The subtle shadow transitions provide a visual cue so that we perceive the object as being 3-dimensional. Ether direct flash or the natural light from open shade would have provided a much flatter rendition of the subject, without the 3-dimensional look present in Marilyn's image. Very well done!
Story TellerPhotographed by Marilyn McKinney
I also enjoyed seeing Marilyn's image of her setup, and commend her ingenuity and perseverance (and success) in adapting the windshield reflector to create such beautiful lighting on her subject.
The Crazy SetupCreated by Marilyn McKinney
Dave Leiker took advantage of sunlight reflecting off the sidewalk to fill the shadows in his colorful
Super Cute image. Since we don't always carry a reflector around with us, it is important to pay attention to the light in our scene and be able to take advantage of natural (or man made) reflectors. Snow, sand, light colored rocks, water, white walls, and yes, even sidewalks, as well as a myriad of other surfaces can work well as natural reflectors. I loved the vibrant colors, great skin tones, nice modeling, interesting composition and wonderful expressions in this image and have awarded this image
Editor's Choice for Technical Merit.
Super CuteEditor's Choice for Technical MeritPhotographed by Dave Leiker (prairiedust)
Thank you to everyone that participated in this assignment. Viewers are encouraged to respond to this thread describing why you like a particular image, or think it was particularly successful at meeting the guidelines of the assignment.
Keith
