bounce light

American  

[bouns lahyt] / ˈbaʊns ˌlaɪt /

noun

Photography.

1. Also bounce lighting. light that is bounced off a reflective surface onto the subject in order to achieve a softer lighting effect.

2. any arrangement of a light source and reflective surface used to provide such light.

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Example Sentences

The floor reflection angles up to the right, as if to bounce light back into an enclosed, atmospheric space.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 14, 2023

Mirrors used in a creative way can help bounce light and also visually make a studio space seem larger.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 11, 2023

Later, the telescope unfolded a 21-foot-wide array of 18 gold-plated mirrors that will help bounce light from the cosmos into its ultrasensitive infrared sensors.

From New York Times • Jan. 24, 2022

And then there’s the less-heralded “secondary mirror,” which has to protrude properly to bounce light from the telescope’s main mirror down through the center of the telescope.

From Washington Post • Dec. 25, 2021

These stills, many of which capture passersby in a fleeting light source—a single sunbeam, an ideal bounce light from beach sand—are a testament to Lubezki’s innate visual instincts.

From Slate • Feb. 21, 2014