If you’ve ever done a photo shoot with pop-up reflectors you’ve probably dealt with this incredibly frustrating issue folding it back. In today’s tips photographer David Bergman is going to show how to tame these things and get them back down.
“Pop-up reflectors can be extremely useful on a photo shoot. They come in all different shapes sizes and colors. They all generally work the same way, and that they come in a really small bag. But when you open them up they automatically pop, open to three or four times their original size. That’s the easy part. After the shoot you might find getting it back into the bag can be a challenge.”
“You can push and shove this thing all day long and it’s just not going to work. So how do you get that big reflector back into the little bag? I’m going to show you how! The first thing you want to do is hold the reflector out in front of you with both hands.”
“Then take one hand and flip it over so that your knuckles are facing back towards your body.”
“Then pull that hand up towards you so it twists a reflector into a figure eight shape. Now flip your other hand the opposite direction and you’ll find that the whole thing curls up in on itself.”
“All you have to do then is simply adjust the pieces so they’re roughly the same size. Once you have this general motion embedded in your memory you’ll find there are a number of other products that use the same twisting motion.”
“For example , Lastolite makes a soft box that opens up really big but folds up the same way into a tight little bag. The only minor change is with things like these giant backdrops – because it’s not in the shape of a perfect circle, what you want to do is fold it in half away from you first.”
“And then you do that same twisting motion to fold it in on itself and you’re done. Get this technique down and you’ll have no problem folding these things up at the end of your next photo shoot.”
For more information, visit AdoramaTV YT page, and of course you can keep up with David on Instagram and Twitter @DavidBergman. LATEST UPDATE: David opened up new IGTV episodes where you can ask him questions live! Find out more at: http://www.AskDavidBergman.com
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Watch the full episode with David Bergman and Adorama TV: