Cloudy, outdoor and a reflector

Sometimes, being a photographer can be this simple. An author, a tree, a silver reflector and a cloudy day. And a Nikon D700 and a 85mm/1.4 lens.

Normally, overcast skies are not my number one choice of weather for portraits, but if you add just a silver reflector it can be just fantastic. It is something with the saturation of colours and the softness of the light that works very well with faces.

Take away the reflector and it often gets quite ugly with dark eye sockets and boring contrast, in my opinion. It might be even better with a combination of white and silver in the reflector, but if the effect of the silver one is too strong, just place it a bit further away or hang a bit of black clothing on it to make it less like a mirror.