One of the biggest problems I have with natural light shooters is in my opinion, they over compensate by using things such as the “strobist” scam stuff.
I’m of the opinion that shooting with natural light needs to be addressed the same as shooting indoors with strobes. The biggest problem? Lots of people who are “strobists” can’t shoot with mono heads so they resort to hot shoe flashes and call them “strobes” I see them talk all the time about how their flash heads cost a “fraction of what a full strobe costs” while paying 300.00+ for a flash gun. Umm hello, unless you live under a bus, you can get a 320ws strobe for the SAME price!
The same rules apply when shooting with natural light;
- Direction of light.
- Quality of light
- Tools to support the light?
I like to keep it simple;
And bring one reflector. My reflector of choice is anything that is tall, larger and SILVER! When using it to light the face you have to be careful as that can be a bad thing on their eyes. If I’m lighting their face it’s working as a fill so it’s at a pretty safe distance away from them. When I’m shooting in a room I typically use the reflector as a rim light and light the backside or total side of the client.
The images above were shot at a workshop of mine. The first two the reflector were at the back throwing light in to fill. The third one it was on camera right filling in the darker side of the image. All images taken with the Canon EOS 40D