The Joys of New Equipment

I have been in such a photography slump, its really sad.  Last month I ordered reflectors to add to my portrait photography equipment.  I have never used them, and was super excited to give them a try.  I got a simple round 5 in 1 kit.  Sadly, I have not had a chance to try them out due to moving until today.

I braved the wind and chilly air to see the wonders of reflectors.  And boy, am I in love!  Down fall is that the type and size I have is fairly hard to use by myself in fairly strong winds with a never sitting still toddler as a subject.

The photo above is my very first attempt.  The only editing I did was cleaning up some dirt from her face - yeah, I know! I'm a bad mom, I didn't wipe her face from the meal she had just had.  And I increased the contrast just a little bit.  Even though her face is not fully visible, I still think its a great photo.

I was just amazed when I took the above photo, along with all the others I was able to take during this short shooting period.  I took her across the street from our house, sat on the concrete, and asked her to sit right in front of the tree - and she actually did!  Even stayed there long enough for me to get a few frames.  For a 2 year old that is a miracle!  Her treat was ice cream before dinner, shhh don't tell her dad!

These were taken in the late afternoon and the sun was directly behind her and right in my eyes.  I used the reflector to bounce that light back into her face to avoid having her face in total shadow.  And it worked beautifully!