Rangefinder Magazine
November 2001/Columns

First Exposure: Bogen’s Lastolite Reflector System by Stan Sholik

Medium Skylite with silver fabric and optional floor bracket. (photo courtesy of Bogen)

Whether it’s natural, strobe or tungsten light, whether it’s in the studio or on location, photographers are always facing the challenge of precisely controlling whatever light might be available to them. There are various tools available to help a photographer do just that. One of the most creative ways to control light is through the use of reflectors.

In the studio, photographers have been using umbrella, Fomecore or card reflectors almost since the inception of strobe photography. On location, reflectors are used to soften harsh shadows and control contrast in sunlit photos, or to add punch to photographs that are backlit or taken in shadow that otherwise might be too flat. Unfortunately, the style and selection of reflectors available has been relatively limited.

The list of options has just gotten a little larger. Bogen Photo Corp. has recently started marketing a complete set of reflectors, the Skylite system of reflectors from Lastolite, which was designed to assist photographers in meeting the lighting challenge.

The Skylite system consists of heavy-duty but lightweight high-tensile aluminum frames in three sizes, which are grouped with a wide array of fabrics, individually tailored to fit each frame. Various accessories are available to hold the reflectors in position.

An optional Crossbar Handle is available for the small and medium frames.	The small and medium Skylites can be broken down with the fabric attached and packed in the optional bag for transporting. (photo courtesy of Bogen)	The heavy-duty elastic cord running through the aluminum frame speeds assembly and keeps the pieces together when broken down.

The three sizes that are available are small (3'6" x 3'6"), medium (3'6" x 6'6"), and large (6'6" x 6'6"). An elastic cord runs through the center of each aluminum tube, which has several benefits over systems that utilize PVC tube frames. For one thing, the tubes remain together as a set when disassembled. For another, assembly is faster and easier. The smaller frames can be broken down with the fabric attached, so packing and reassembly take even less time.

Six different fabrics are available for each frame. Four are two-sided: black/white, silver/gold, sunfire/white and chroma-key blue/green. The two remaining are translucent diffusing fabrics that give 3ž4-stop and 11ž4 stops light loss. The black, white and silver surfaces have no effect on the color temperature of the incident light. The gold surface lowers the color temperature by 1700° Kelvin for a warming effect. The sunfire surface consists of alternating thin stripes of gold and silver, which lowers the color temperature by 750° Kelvin for a subtle warming effect.

The fabrics have flaps covered with heavy-duty Velcro sewn to the edges that wrap around the frame and attach to a Velcro strip on the fabric edge. That makes it possible for the fabric to be stretched tightly, eliminating wrinkles that can cause strange reflections with gold and silver fabrics.

The Velcro attaching flaps are positioned two to each side with a space between them, exposing the aluminum frame. This provides a place for an assistant to grip the frame or to attach one of the optional accessories, such as a griphead or crossbar handle.

The Manfrotto Avenger griphead clamps onto the frame at any of the spaces between the Velcro flaps, although it must be almost completely loosened to open it up enough to fit around the frame. When mounted on a stand, it clamps securely, to hold the smallest frame in any position. It would have been nice to have just a little more clearance between the frame and the edge of the fabric. This would have let the griphead to be rotated around the frame more easily when switching sides of the fabric and repositioning the frame on the stand. As it is, it’s a tight fit.

The small white reflector sets up in minutes on location and can be easily hand-held, even in a moderate breeze.	A single small white reflector is sufficient to fill the shadows and light the tire tread in direct sunlight.

The optional crossbar handle clamps onto the frames of the small and medium Skylites. It provides a more comfortable and secure grip for assistants holding the reflector for long periods of time, particularly in the wind. In practice, it was just as easy to hold the frames by their sides. Holding them by the sides was also much quicker, since the crossbar took as long to assemble onto the frame as it took to put the frame together.

In the studio, the crossbar came in handy, but not just as an easy way for someone to hold the frame. With one end of the crossbar attached to the frame, the other end could be put on the floor and moved forward and back to adjust the angle of the reflector. That freed up the assistant for other duties.

Also available as an option for studio use is a floor bracket to hold a freestanding frame vertically. While most lightstand legs would not permit the frame to be held vertically when resting on the floor, attaching a griphead to the upper piece of the frame and to the lightstand offered a much more versatile arrangement, since it can be tilted at various angles.

The smallest frame is light and sturdy enough to be handheld from its sides, even on location in a good breeze, but the medium frame needs to rest on the ground and to be held securely by its sides or by the crossbar.

Lighting setup for the series of sidelit portraits with the main light in a softbox to camera right and reflector to camera left. Another softbox lights the seamless.	Small Silver	Toplit portrait—Lighting setup for the series of portraits with main light above model Amy Angelo. The small frame with different fabrics, held by a griphead attached to a light stand, was positioned below.	Small White

A carrying bag is available for location photography. It is large enough to hold the frame with a fabric attached, a couple of additional fabrics, a crossbar handle and a griphead. The same size bag holds all of the Skylite frames since even the largest breaks down into 21-inch sections.

Each size frame is also available in kit form consisting of frame, bag, griphead, sunfire/white reflector and 3ž4-stop diffuser. The medium kit also includes the crossbar. The large kit includes an additional grip head.

The first thing one notices when using the system is how well designed and constructed it is. The various parts feel like they could withstand the use and abuse professionals put their equipment through, particularly when working on location. The frames snap together tightly and the fabrics fit snuggly.

Working in the studio, the assistant had the frames assembled and fabric attached in minutes, even though he had never seen the Skylite system before. Changing fabrics to test the effect of each was quick enough that the model, Amy Angelo, didn’t get bored. Mounted on a stand with the griphead, the reflectors were a lot more versatile than a sheet of Fomecore clamped to a stand.

The range of fill light effects provided by the reflector system for portraiture and people photography was incredible. From subtractive effects with the black fabric to soft fill with the white, warm soft with the sunfire, warm hard with the gold to hard with the silver, just about any imaginable reflective effect was possible.

Two heads shooting through the large frame with 3ž4-stop diffuser provide a broad directional source. The medium frame with silver fabric provides fill.	Seated Final result	Two heads shooting through the large frame with 3ž4-stop diffuser provide a broad directional source. The medium frame with white fabric, positioned by assistant Roy Tippens holding the optional Crossbar Handle, provides fill.	Kneeling final result

For full-length shots, the 3ž4-stop diffuser with two Balcar heads mounted vertically and a silver reflector for fill gave a soft, directional light with plenty of fill in the shadows.

Taking the reflectors on location certainly simplified location photography. The medium frame was light and sturdy enough to be handheld from its sides, but the large frame needed to rest on the ground and be held securely by its sides or by the crossbar.

Since they can be disassembled and packed with the fabric attached, setup on location took just minutes. And, since the reflectors doesn’t have to be laid out to attach, there’s minimal chance of dirtying the fabric by laying it out. Packing it away is just as quick and easy.

Surprisingly, no cleaning information is given for the fabrics. That certainly should have been included. A damp sponge removed the dirt that accumulated on them during shooting, but there are times when more serious cleaning might be required.

Bogen’s Skylite system provides practically all of the control that a studio or location photographer would ever need over available or electronic light in a rugged yet lightweight package. MSRP of the Skylight frames are $96 for the small, $124 for the medium and $180 for the large. Fabrics for the small frame range in price from $69 to 134, for the medium from $101 to $219, and for the large from $180 to $248. MSRP for the kits is $325 for the small, $447 for the medium and $553 for the large. For more information, visit the Bogen web site: www.bogenphoto.com.

Stan Sholik is a contributing writer for NewsWatch Feature Service. He is also a commercial photographer with over 25 years of large format studio and location experience.