ambient light is controlled bybothshutter speed and f-stop, you have a great
deal of control; you can darken or lighten the background by raising or lower-
ing the shutter speed. Using this technique, you can let the background step up
to a high-key look, or you may want to darken a background that is burned up
by direct sunlight.
Reflectors.There are two problems with flash: you can’t see the exact effect
of your lighting on the subject, and you have to haul all that equipment. A bet-
ter choice for “simplified” outdoor lighting is the use of a reflector. In all my
books, 90 percent of the outdoor images are taken with the use of one reflec-
tor. There are times and locations when complex arrangements of reflectors,
gobos, and even mirrors are needed to produce the portrait I want, but the vast
majority of the images are created using one reflector (silver on one side, white
on the other).
Often, one reflector is all you need to cre-
ate a nice outdoor portrait.