Reflective Clothing

sixfootandstocky

sixfootandstocky

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Andy Brown
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Please can someone explain how to photograph reflective safety equipment and clothing in a photography studio AND obtain great looking images.

Jacket.jpg


Thanks.
 
Don't use flash. Natural light is the answer IMHO
 
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It doesn't matter what kind of light you use, but it has to be tightly controlled, so flash is much easier.

The trick is to control the direction of incidence, and therefore the direction of reflectance. It's easier if it's just lying flat because when it's on a model or a mannequin it will be crumpled as in your example shot, and light will reflect at all sort of unwanted angles... - so take the time you need to get it really flat.

Get the largest, most diffused light source you can (large softbox is ideal, place it at something like a 45 degree angle to the subject so that the light reflected from the reflective strips exits at an angle that goes nowhere near the lens. Put either a very similar softbox or a large white reflector in the opposite position so that it's lit from both sides.
 
Garry Edwards said:
It doesn't matter what kind of light you use, but it has to be tightly controlled, so flash is much easier.

The trick is to control the direction of incidence, and therefore the direction of reflectance. It's easier if it's just lying flat because when it's on a model or a mannequin it will be crumpled as in your example shot, and light will reflect at all sort of unwanted angles... - so take the time you need to get it really flat.

Get the largest, most diffused light source you can (large softbox is ideal, place it at something like a 45 degree angle to the subject so that the light reflected from the reflective strips exits at an angle that goes nowhere near the lens. Put either a very similar softbox or a large white reflector in the opposite position so that it's lit from both sides.
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any examples of this in practice or is it theory? only i looked into this in the past and was told on here no answer with flash :( hence my reply.
 
KIPAX said:
any examples of this in practice or is it theory? only i looked into this in the past and was told on here no answer with flash :( hence my reply.
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I probably haven't got an examples on my computer but trust me, I've done it many times and it works perfectly as I described it.

The trick is in getting the angles right, it's then a piece of cake. Reflective tabards are the easiest simply because they lay flat, full jackets are more difficult to get flat.
 
Right.. My original question was for general out and about not studio...So I just went by that when I replied........ SORRY :)

But still... daylight would work :)
 
Thanks for the replies thus far. What solutions, if any, exist to produce images of items that are not "flat"? For example a reflective jacket being worn by a policeman or an image of a police car, with its reflective stickers ?
 
sixfootandstocky said:
Thanks for the replies thus far. What solutions, if any, exist to produce images of items that are not "flat"? For example a reflective jacket being worn by a policeman or an image of a police car, with its reflective stickers ?
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In that situation you just have to run with whatever lighting you have - the ideal lighting is always going to be an overcast day, with no clear direction to the light and a massive light source (the sky) but you can't control that...

But it doesn't matter anywhere near as much as if you're photographing the clothing on it's own, because any reflections straight back to the lens (which you need to avoid in the studio) will only form a very small part of the overall shot, and if anything will add to it, not detract.
 
That's Scotchlite (or similar). It takes any light hitting it and hurls it back in the same direction. A lot.

So what Garry said - and actually just a more extreme version of any reflective surface. Make sure the lens is outside the family of angles of the light.

Outside on a moving subject......forget it ;) It's purpose designed to ruin any shot you try to light. Literally. It will reflect any light so much more than anything else in the scene that it will look ridiculous.
 
Outside on a moving subject......forget it It's purpose designed to ruin any shot you try to light. Literally. It will reflect any light so much more than anything else in the scene that it will look ridiculous.
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BUT quite often, even just having your flash on a TTL cable and held in your left hand, or just getting your flash balance right will stop it from being a terrible shot... Completely possible to take non- terrible pics of people in high vis with flash in many situations.

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police cars and no ambient light.... ugh, tough.
 
However these are cheaper reflective stripes, so it is much easier to photograph. In the summer I work at music festivals in various roles.

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I am pictured with a girl wearing a tabard with a higher grade reflective stripe which reflects an amazing amount of light. The above was shot on an overcast day as the sun was setting from a 15 meter tall tower and you can see how much these stripes reflect the ambient light.

In normal daylight it is not too bad but I can't get any marketing shots of anyone wearing these in the night as all my shots are blown out.
 
Yeah - the newer reflective stuff is crazy bright. If I was cycling at night my entire bike would be wrapped in that stuff.

Stick one on a desk in a dark room and get somebody to shine a torch on it from all angles. You need a lot of control on your light.
 
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