Eine Frau im schwarzen Kleid posiert vor einem dunklen Hintergrund. Das Licht wirft Schatten an die Wand und verleiht der minimalistischen Komposition Tiefe.

Apr 9, 2025 / Sallyhateswing

How to Create Artistic Reflections

Tipps & Tricks

How to add stunning light effects to your photos and videos with a simple trick

Looking to give your photo or video production that extra creative touch – without fancy gear or complicated setups? Try this clever hack! All you need is one unexpected item: a basic emergency blanket.

How the Trick Works

Emergency blankets are made of reflective foil and have two distinct sides: one silver, one gold. Each side influences the mood of your lighting in a different way:

  • Silver side: Produces a cooler, more neutral reflection. Ideal for modern, clean, and high-contrast looks.

  • Gold side: Adds warmth and softness to the light. Great for creating a sunny, cozy, or atmospheric feel.

Person holding a reflective emergency blanket, silver on one side and gold on the other, displaying its crinkled texture.

The Right Light for Maximum Impact

To make this trick work at its best, you’ll need a hard, direct light source. In our example, we used a continuous light pointed at the emergency blanket — but a flash or even natural sunlight will do the job just as well. The important thing is that the light is strong and directional. This keeps the texture of the foil crisp and helps create striking, dynamic reflections.

Extra Dynamics in Your Shots

A special highlight of this trick: By gently panning your light source or slightly moving the emergency blanket, you’ll create a dynamic interplay of light and shadow. This simple motion adds depth and movement to your footage — resulting in a unique, almost magical visual effect that feels alive and engaging.

Four images of a woman in a black dress, each with different lighting: no light, reflection, softbox from above, and LED panel from the right.

Take a look at our video to see the effect in action – and give it a try yourself! With just a few simple tools, you can add creative, professional-looking reflections to your photo and video projects. It’s an easy way to level up your visuals — so have fun experimenting and let your creativity shine!

We need your consent to display this video

We use a third-party service to embed video content. This service may collect data about your activities. Please read the details and agree to the use of the service to watch this video.

About the author: Sallyhateswing

Sallyhateswing is the creative photography duo of Philipp Johann and Sarah Schmid from Cologne. Specializing in lifestyle and beauty photography, they’ve been working with TAMRON lenses for many years.

Learn more about the author at:

Share this article:


TAMRON products mentioned in this article

For full frame & APS-C (Di III)
Standard
Art, People
To the product

Central: +49 (0) 221 / 66 95 44-0

Service: +49 (0) 221 / 66 95 44-135

Fax: +49 (0) 221 / 66 95 44-404

We are available by phone Monday through Thursday from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm and Friday from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm.

Visit us on

Copyright 2025 - TAMRON Europe GmbH