May 2014 – Page 6 – Different Isn't Wrong, It's Just Different

Last Friday my post was about using a 5-in-1 reflector and how it enhanced my images using the gold reflector. My 5-in-1 reflector has 4 different reflectors (gold, white, silver and silver/gold) and a diffuser making it a 5-in-1.

gardenia flower

For this week I wanted to show how each side of the reflector changes the image. Mygardenia has been blooming for about a week or so and early one morning I made some images. It was in full shade making the light perfectly even. Once again, the image seemed flat to me.

Using my reflector, I started with the gold side that casts a warm glow. The image looked too yellow to me on my LCD screen.

I then chose to try the white reflector to see how much light it would bounce into the image without the yellow cast. At this point I decided it was the perfect opportunity to use each reflector on the same composition to show how each reflector changes the image.

Next, I unzipped the reflector, turned it to the other two colors (silver/gold and silver) to make images with those sides. This image is with the silver/gold reflector which is more neutral than the solid gold reflector.

My final image is using the solid silver reflector. A few months ago I read a blog post where the photographer used a silver reflector for a white flower. I was anxious to see how the image would look using the silver reflector. This is not a color I have used before as it casts such a cool light into an image.

Which reflector is the right one to use? That depends on the story you are wanting to tell. My favorite is the last image using the silver reflector. I like how the flower is pure white and there are shadows creating the look of 3D and the background is dark making the flower pop even more.

Leave me a comment and let me know which image you like best!

Here is a gallery so you can click on each image to see it in a larger format.

They opened! My night blooming cactus bloomed last night much to my surprise. I thought it would be another day or two, but I decided to go out and check about 9 p.m. and three had started to open. So much for trying time-lapse, I was too late. But with four more blooms to open, another chance would be possible, so I thought. I immediately went in and brought my camera and tripod to make a few images. Thinking they would open rather quickly, I left camera outside while I was working on another project inside.

Every so often I would go back out and check on the progress. This second image was taken almost an hour later than the first image. They were opening much slower than expected. But the biggest surprise was when I checked on them at about 10:30 or 11:00 and noticed that the other four blooms had started to open. The possibility of trying time-lapse was now gone. At least for now. I finally decided to call it a night about midnight and set my alarm for 5:25 a.m.

This morning my alarm went off and I had little trouble getting up even though it had been a short night or was it a very long nap? I pulled on a lightweight sweatshirt and grabbed my camera and tripod. A sweatshirt? Yes, we are having three days of high temps in the 80’s making the early morning temps down into the hight 50’s or low 60’s. A great break from the 100’s we had over the weekend.

I started out shooting just before sunrise and the light was very cool. Not my favorite light for macro, but started shooting anyway. I made several images and then decided to move the container to where it would be in the warm sunlight once the sun was high enough to be over our block wall. This image as well as the next image were taken before I moved the container.

For some reason the four blooms that started to open very late, did not fully open. I was quite disappointed when seeing they were only open halfway. Strange how nature works sometimes.

Once the sun was high enough there were a few clouds in the way. One of the few times I wasn’t happy with clouds. I waited for the sun to rise above the clouds and started shooting away. Even though I was able to place the container in any direction to manipulate the light, I still used my reflector. I just can’t get enough of the warm light you can bring into an image with a gold reflector. I had to work fast as the sun was quickly rising.