First ever shoot + quick reflector question

[hitzatak]

Flickr: tombarrett's Photostream
Would love to know what u think!

Question: I am shooting outdoors at around sunset tomorrow and using only a reflector. Some of the locations are under heavily diffused light i.e. no direct sunlight. Would using the reflector help at all? I mean, is it even possible? I know it reflects SOME light... but would it be enough to get that oomfph?

Also, what do u find works better? gold or silver reflector? striped?

Cheers!

[CaptainNH]

As the sun fades, you'll find that you'll probably need sun directly on your reflector if you're going to get enough light on your subject to avoid a silouette, or underexposing your subject.

You might like to try to find another source of light to bounce onto your subject if you don't have a flash.

With sunset shots, I often bounce my flash off the gold side of my reflector to give a nice warmth to the light which matched that of the setting sun. The concept of a striped reflector always makes me laugh. I don't have one, but you might like to try it as the silver stripes will reflect more light than plain gold, but you'll still get the warmth.

Good luck, and don't forget to post up the results !

[hitzatak]

Thanks Neil!
What would you suggest I use as another light source to bounce on the subject? I can't get my hands on a flash quite yet, so it'll all be natural light and whatever idea I can come up with.

[Benji]

Do not use a gold reflector ever for anything (OK, use it for a sunscreen above the dashboard of your car!) Gold reflectors were invented to change flash from 5500 degrees K to about 3800K to match the setting sun's rays. Use a silver or white reflector only, depending on how bright the sun is because silver and white do not change the color temperature of the light like gold will. Gold will take the 3800K light and add it's gold tone to wherever it is reflecting and make the reflected light about 3000K.

Benji

[hitzatak]

Thank you Benji for your heads up!
What if i am shooting at sunset? is gold still a no-no? I feel like the answer is gonna be along the lines of "depends on what u want". Hehe.

Also, I'm new to using the Canon, and if you guys know of a great resource to to read about setting the light temperature, that'd be awesome! So far, I'm using the n00b settings. i.e. the sun/shade/cloudy icons.

[Benji]

Originally Posted by hitzatak

Thank you Benji for your heads up!
What if i am shooting at sunset? is gold still a no-no? I feel like the answer is gonna be along the lines of "depends on what u want". Hehe.

Also, I'm new to using the Canon, and if you guys know of a great resource to to read about setting the light temperature, that'd be awesome! So far, I'm using the n00b settings. i.e. the sun/shade/cloudy icons.

Yup, gold is still a no no. As I mentioned silver or white will work best depending on how bright the sun is. If the sun is bright a silver reflector will cause your subjects to squint. I would shoot in Raw and shoot an 18% grey card first, then in ACR click on the white balance eyedropper then onto the grey card and that will give you perfect white balance. When you click on Select All and Synchronize they will all be white balanced.

You will need to shoot quickly and take frequent meter readings and probably use ISO 400or more as the light at that time is weak and fades rapidly. I've enclosed a lighting diagram.You may also want to see my posting Using A Reflector

Benji