Manipulating natural light for wildflowers

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In the last post I describe the difference between spectacular and diffuse light and gave some examples of how spectacular light can be used to make the flower subject standout.  In this post I will demonstrate a simple technique that you can use to manipulate natural spectacular or diffuse light to make a subject standout and provide you with options for what lighting you think is best.  The technique I am discussing is nothing more than bouncing light with a reflector or some other shiny object and controlling the background with the use of shade, which can be created with a reflector as well.  Lets use the pink lady slipper orchid as the subject.  The first shot is with diffuse light and a large reflector was used to keep light off the background to darken it about 2 to 3 stops.

Note the even illumination and excellent color saturation of the flower and leaves.  This is a typical response when shooting under these conditions.  The use of the reflector shading the background helps the subject standout.

Now in the next image, a reflector was used after the sun came out from behind the clouds (early in the morning soft light) and illuminated the entire subject.  But how on earth did the flower get illuminated with spectacular light on the opposite side where the light came from?  A reflector was used to bounce the light back onto the flower.

In this case you will notice the good color saturation but the background, even though still darkened with a reflector hasn't gone completely dark and the subject is evenly illuminated with very faint shadows. You notice the sun is coming from the right side of the flower and lets see what it looks like when the spectacular light is placed behind the subject (and in this case a more close-up of just the flower).

The next image for comparison was taken with backlighting and the use of a reflector (and just a little different angle) which shows a more even illumination of the subject.

The final image was taken with just standard diffuse light and no use of reflectors at all.

Obviously all the images of the same flower or plant are quite different with respect to lighting and no one is better than the other.  Each person will respond differently to each different image.  They were obviously taken and posted (not in exact order taken) as when I first got to the site the flowers still had dew on them but by the time I left several hours later, the dew had evaporated but I still had nice early morning light.  As you go out to photograph wildflowers this spring keep this little tip in the back of your mind.  A reflector doesn't have to be an expensive piece of fabric from the photo store (I carry one that is translucent - usually for shading) and then a small one with a gold and a silver side for reflection to bounce the type of light I am looking for which gives me the option of gold, silver, or white with those reflectors) it can be a piece of aluminum foil, a beer can in the woods, a small mirror, or even something like a bright piece of paper.  Be creative and have fun.