Playing Billiards With Light

You've all played billiards or pool, right? You must have - I've seen some of you and if those aren't signs of mis-spent youth I don't know what is... When you were sinking the balls in your local den of iniquity, you discovered that the game operated upon reflection. Specifically, the reflection of the ball as it hit the rubber cushion at the edge of the table. The ball approached the cushion and then rebounded at the same angle at which it struck. Well later on, you discovered that light did the same when it hit a reflective surface. If you shone a torch onto a mirror at 45º it came off at 45º...and the analogy carried on at all the other angles. Thus when the light from your studio flash head hit a surface it bounced off that surface and went somewhere else in the room. Depending upon what the surface was made of, it went with either much the same strength, or quite a bit less. But it went. This is really all the science we need with the photographic reflector. You flash, it bounces, and wherever it bounces is brighter.You just have to decide where it bounces...and how bright. Because the makers of the commercial reflectors have got you covered there. Just as the output from the flash tube in your studio strobe is concentrated, spread, sharpened, or diffused by the reflector bowls that mount on the head, so the reflector panel can be tuned by presenting a flat, broken, or matte surface. It can be clear white, silver, gold, or any other colour you decide upon. It can be tiny or huge. And the angle that it works at is all up to you. Wedding workers and outdoor shooters will be familiar with the fold-out reflectors that twist their way into and out of a bag. Most are circular, though you can get rectangular ones. There are all sorts of surfaces from dead black for flagging to pure white. Silvers, golds, half-mixtures as well. You can get them from hand-sized to way beyond good sense. And therein lies the problem for outdoor use: wind. Reflectors are like sails, and unless you are the master of the CUTTY SARK, you are going to be at the mercy of the winds. You'll have to figure out some way of propping, clamping, or holding the reflector so that it directs the light without taking off. Assistants are the best way, as they can make minute adjustments to the angles as you work. Just get your communications right before you start trying to direct the models as well. If you are in a studio, there are more options than just the commercial reflectors and even more ways of positioning them. There is also a lot more control of outside light inside. You can opt to make the place black even in the daytime by choosing low ISO and fast shutter speeds and then get your reflectors to act as the third or fourth light source. And it really does make a difference. Note: there are special reasons to use reflectors for studio work too. These can be; a. To limit the heat hitting the subject prior to making the exposure - babies, animal,s and dishes of ice cream are subjects that come to mind. b. The number of surfaces to be lit may be more than you can provide light sources for - and they may be too small to be able to control a flash tube. c. You can have just too much light on a set. d. People's expectations of the appearance of reflections off surfaces may be set by convention, and you might not be able to reproduce these reflections with a light source - whereas a reflector can replicate anything from a point source to a big open sky. e. Reflectors can be cheap. If you are cheap too, it will be a good match.