Using a Prism
- Payton Bogatch
- Dec 3, 2017
- 2 min read
Hello again everyone! Lately I've seen a trend of photographers using prisms. The most posts using prisms have also involved their model posing next to a neon sign. To make the composition interesting, the photographers put the prism directly in front of their lens and to reflect the neon sign.
I tested this technique out myself on two separate occasions with and without a model. Both times, I used my 24-70mm f/2.8 lens because it was dark and I prefer the wide angle shot for these. The bigger lens also makes it easier to put a prism in front of it without blocking the entire shot with the prism. Also, when I took these pictures, I found it easiest to put my camera in shutter priority to make sure that I could hand hold the camera in the dark conditions.
Using a prism without a model: when I took these pictures, it was my first time using the prism, so I wanted to go out and have fun to see how I could manipulate these neon signs. I went to a couple locations so use different signs to get a variety of looks because eventually I got bored with looking at the same sign over and over. Eventually, I found that I ended up liking the pictures that I took that didn't look extremely busy and had black negative space to let the viewer's eyes have somewhere to rest from the bright colors. Lastly, I found that there were pictures where you can actually see the prism, and it bothered me personally. I suggest keep rotating the prism around and physically move around the signs to get different angles and reflections.
Using the prism with a model: Using the techniques and keeping in mind the idea of moving the prism around the frame, I went out with my friend Malak to have her model for me in front of the signs. The trick is to look for signs that are the same height, or just a little higher than your model. We took both head shots and full body pictures. When taking head shots, I liked when Malak was near the signs enough to let the light shine on to her face, or close enough to her head that she is back lit. Then, for the full body pictures, I struggled to get the reflection of the sign without also reflecting Malak's head and other things around the sign. Personally, I preferred the head shots to go along with taking these types of pictures, but it was funny to see Malak's warped head in some of the reflections.
Lastly, don't be frustrated if your pictures come out too dark or the light is shining too hard. A lot of the magic with these pictures came after I edited them and brought out the details in Camera Raw.
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