Scotchlite Problem

[Guest]

I asked about this in the past but did not get a definite answer. A friend told me he increased the out put of his flash and noted an improvement. Since I have been using only the on-camera flash, I decided to buy an external flash. It made a huge difference as you will see from the attached images.

[Guest]

There is a huge difference in the two photos. I usually shoot with flash on manual and depending on how close will shoot on 1/4, 1/2 or full power. The worst thing with the Scotchlite is the flaring you will get from the silver part. I have read theories about it, like it is caused by a filter on the front or something getting bounced through the lens. Don't know why it happens but it occasionally does. It does seem to happen more frequently with a zoom lens.

[agoulder]

What I have found is that if you get the flash off the top of the camera I don't get the reflection.   I use  a cord hooked to the hot shoe connected to the flash and hold the flash up at arms length and at a slight angle to what i'm shooting.  It takes some getting used to holding the camera in one hand and the flash in the other but its working for me.

[fyrfoto]

Remember the rule: Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection

 

Managing light is like playing pool. The angle that light hits a subject is the angle it will reflect. For instance, if a flash is mounted on the camera it will hit the subject in a straight line from the camera and bounce back at the camera. If a flash is off to the side at an angle it will hit the subject and bounce off the subject at the same angle and not back at the camera. Reflective striping  is a little more tricky than glass or chrome etc. but this rule will generally work with scotchlite as well.

[agoulder]

I learned about the angle of incidence doing portrait pics of people with glasses, so I tried it with my fire pics! 

[Guest]

Remember the rule: Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection

 

Managing light is like playing pool. The angle that light hits a subject is the angle it will reflect. For instance, if a flash is mounted on the camera it will hit the subject in a straight line from the camera and bounce back at the camera. If a flash is off to the side at an angle it will hit the subject and bounce off the subject at the same angle and not back at the camera. Reflective striping  is a little more tricky than glass or chrome etc. but this rule will generally work with scotchlite as well.

 

That sounds like a good method. Thanks.