Day 181 – Caterpillar and Reflectors.

I took a tiny wooden caterpillar and my 100mm macro lens into the garden and experimented with my reflector.  I selected aperture priority, 100 ISO and a shallow depth of field as F2.8, I then let the camera decide on the shutter speed and I moved my reflector around and tried different ideas with it.

1/4000 sec. Direct sunlight

The sunlight causes a shadow on the underside of the caterpillar’s face.

1/800 sec – Reflector used to put the caterpillar in the shade

The shot in the shade is evenly toned and that are no harsh shadows as the whole image is taken in shade.

1/4000 sec, silver reflector angled to bounce light on to the caterpillar

The reflector lightens the shadow under the caterpillar’s face and there are more highlights visible.

1/1600 sec, diffusing light with the inside of the reflector

The caterpillar is in shadow again, but not such a deep shadow and therefore the shutter speed is higher.

1/3200 sec, Gold reflector to the left of the caterpillar

This reflector adds a warm glow to the caterpillar, and with it to the left it lightens up under the caterpillars face.

1/400o sec, gold reflector more to the front

Changing the angle of the reflector and the warm glow of the gold reflection moves too.

1/4000 sec, Silver reflector to the front (oops you can see it!)

The angle still means there are lots of shadows and it is not doing much in the above image…

1/4000 sec, Silver reflector

In the final try with the silver reflector I have managed to change the angle so that it reduces the shadows.

So I have to be more aware of light, the impact of light, how to enhance the available light and how different reflectors have different roles in creating my images.