DIY Reflector - Wear a White T-Shirt
Yesterday I was chatting to a photographer and the conversation got on to using reflectors to light portrait subjects.
While he uses reflectors he shared that at times when he’s shooting in locations where a reflector is not possible he’ll wear a white T-Shirt and use his body as a reflector.
The key is to position yourself close enough to your portrait and with the sun shining on you in such a way that the T-Shirt reflects light back up on your subject.
I must have looked a little doubtful as he told me this but he assured me that it actually works and has the added bonus of not having a large setup which can overwhelm your subject and make them feel uncomfortable.
Bonus White T-Shirt Tip: he went on to share with me another white T-shirt tip. When shooting with a flash and wanting to diffuse it’s impact he often bounces the flash off himself. This way the light is indirect upon his subject - but the light of the flash remains a white natural light - rather than bouncing it off a colored surface.
What would have known that a white T-Shirt could be such a useful photography accessory.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 8:49 am
Great ideas! Thanks for sharing!!!
January 3rd, 2008 at 9:17 am
Good ideas, but if you don’t have a flash that can be separated from your camera then you’re kind of outta luck. Any sample shots using this method?
January 3rd, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Great tip. Related tip: I was helping out on big shoot once and the DP asked me to hold his white-balance card so he can set his camera. It turned out that my new crisp white t-shirt was whiter than the card, so we tossed the cards and just used my shirt.
January 3rd, 2008 at 1:57 pm
now you just have to avoid coffee, ketchup, mustard,..,eating or drinking before a shoot. or lose all cred as a pro with a big stain on your shirt.
unless you wanted the light to be tinted some……
@T-WILL: you can use the sun for a light, and use the shirts reflection as a fill light.
January 3rd, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I often wear white trousers. Because my legs are considerably thinner than my torso, I haven’t used them for reflecting. However, they are great for white balancing!
January 3rd, 2008 at 7:01 pm
speaking of white legs - I think I could use my untanned legs (or chest) for a reflector :-)
January 3rd, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Quite an interesting tip. An extension of that perhaps would be to carry a white piece of cotton in your kit. It folds up small and is considerably cheaper than one of those ‘proper’ reflectors.
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:03 pm
interesting..
right now to get mrs unclewilco to show me how not to turn white t shirts pink when I do the wash…
January 4th, 2008 at 12:33 am
Interesting tip, but I can’t imagine getting that close to my subject would be conducive to a good portrait. I guess I’ll reserve judgement and try it first!
January 4th, 2008 at 3:03 am
Judo coat also works great, as can be seen in .
January 4th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Great idea, who would have thought clothing would become a lighting accessory!? LOL
I must agree with having a smaller setup to, recently I had the opportunity to have my photo taken for a magazine and I had never sat for photographs myself, not to mention I prefer landscapes to people. Anyway although it was a head shot it was a bit overwhelming with the lights and the camera and the fact you have to continue to smile endlessly it seems like.
I think a white t-shirt would also benefit in helping the subject feel a bit more relaxed, and at ease with the photographer. Keeping things casual in a sense.
January 4th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Nice idea! but I’m only wondering what happens when the photographer such as myself is shorter than the subject..reflections can only go so far upwards ;)
January 5th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Neat idea. I too wonder if I would be close enough to my subjects for this to work. i’ll have to try it though!
January 11th, 2008 at 5:27 am
The white t-shirt technique, and some variations, are actually discussed by photographer Erin Manning of HGTV and DIY tv networks in a Frommers.com podcast which you can find here:
http://www.frommers.com/podcast/article.cfm?articleid=4830&t=Frommers%2Ecom%20Podcast%3A%20How%20to%20Take%20Better%20Vacation%20Photos
Kind of interesting, most of it is pretty common sense, but it was kinda cool to see the white t-shirt theory discussed somewhere else, just after I saw it here.
January 26th, 2008 at 11:54 am
How cool! Will need to put this idea in a little book of gems!
January 30th, 2008 at 7:31 am
I also heard a story about a German sport photographer using his white baseball hat to bounce the flash light. Just his colleagues complain when he fires up his flash towards them :) But it works, really.
February 4th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
While the shirt thing may work I’ve found that wearing white can be a real curse as far as it being seen in any reflective surface in your shot. Anything from chrome on a custom car at a car show to the eyes of a model will pick it up.
March 1st, 2008 at 5:49 am
Note that any photographer clothes other than neutral white, black or grey can inflence the photo tonality by reflection. I dress black cause it is neutral and because it makes me look thinner (though I am not the subject, but still…) - idea with white is interesting. I’m going to try it for this purpose.