I Have Seen The Light!

No, I'm not getting the band back together.... But I've still seen the light!  One of the things I struggle with when I'm photographing the girls outside and I'm trying to get portraits is the light.  Either they are in direct sunlight, and are thus squinting in 9 out of 10 photos, or they are in shadow, and even tweaking the aperture and the ISO, I have to hope that they stay really still so I can get sharp photos.  It usually works out okay, especially once the 'post-processing' is done.   But I was reading an article that suggested using a portable reflector for outdoor photos.  Now this concept isn't new to me, but since I lack a third arm to position and hold the reflector, I didn't really think much of it.  Until the article suggested a very small reflector: 12 inches.  Small enough to fold up into a pocket, cheap ($10), and also small enough to not require a small army to position/hold.  For $10, I thought I'd give it a try.

One thing with a 12" reflector (as opposed to a 32" reflector, which is what I have inside) is that the reflected light is a small beam, rather than a broad one.  Yes, I know that sort of goes without saying.  But it took me a little time to figure out how to hold the reflector to catch the light and reflect it back on to the dog in question without shining the light completely in the dog's eyes.  Let's just say I'm still working on that part of things.

However, the small reflector is Really Nifty!

This first photo was without the reflector.  Lightening the shadows and taking the edge of the highlights in Lightroom  made for a perfectly respectable photo.

But there's a huge difference with the reflector (once I got it positioned properly).  Fi just 'pops' out of the picture in comparison to the last photo.

And one of the things I have been trying to do is get photos in shade where the girls don't just blend into the scenery.  True, Abby is not in complete shade, but this photo actually brings light to her face, when the sun was actually behind her.

And she's got that pretty catchlight (aka 'sparkle) in her eyes!

Here Abby is very bright - almost like I used a flash, but no, it was the little reflector.  Again, very nifty, in my opinion!

Fi is a little bright here - one of the issues with a reflector is that there is no way to dim it.  Other than use the white 'bounce' side.  Which didn't occur to me until I looked at the photos.

Here the reflector was reflecting onto the top of head, rather than directly on her face - it wasn't intentional, but it still worked out well.

The reflector really does fold up into my pocket (it comes with a small carry case that has a surface area about the size of the base of a large coffee cup), and I will spent more time playing around with it - especially since we are reaching the time of year where the days are getting shorter again, and enhancing the natural light will become more important outside.

In totally unrelated new, Fall is in full swing here.  Here are a few photos for those of you who might not yet have fall colors (or who don't really get fall...).

This photo, BTW, was taken before I started playing around with the reflector.  Fi's face could have been more evenly lit with the reflector.

Yep, the colors really are that bright.  No Photoshop enhancement here.

Day 249/365.