Understanding which reflector to use.

By Eugene Struthers

The studio Kit.

Which Reflector should you use?

If you plan on achieving great results and would like to capture images just like the professionals. You will need to purchase a few reflectors. Reflectors come in a variety of colours (gold, black, silver, whilte). And they each have their own specific function.

Gold:- This reflector is designed specifically for outdoor photography "Portraits" to match the available warm colour of the sunlight. They will not work in a studio because when the white light from your studio strobe lights hits the gold reflector, it casts a yellow shadow reflection and you will find that the model will appear yellow from one side whilst the other will be studio white.
White:- These reflectors don't bounce nearly as much light. But they are ideal for portrait photography and function to achieve great results indoors and outdoors. This type of reflector is mostly used for product and commercial photography.
Black:- This type of reflector is used to absorb light. It's main function is to cut reflections when shooting in an environment with any light that will reflect i.e. light, like jewelry, glass, persplex, metal etc.
Silver:- This type of reflector, reflects the most amount of light and it doesn't change the colour of the studio light bouncing off it. This type of reflector is mainly used by professional photographers who specialise in portraits.

So you want to try and purchase either a reflector which has one side white and the other side silver, or just two separate reflectors.

Which type of reflector to use.

If you decide to purchase a colour conbination reflector. One in which, one side is gold and the other is silver. Please note this before you go out doors or book a studio. The gold side of are flector is used for out door shoots. The light that will bounce off this reflector will be warm and resemble that of natural sunlight. The silver side to a reflector is used when you shoot in doors or in a studio. As the light in a studio is white balanced, we don't want to mix colour reflections. The result would be negative. As a model would have a golden glow light appearance on one side of her face while the other side would just be white.

Where do you position a Reflector.

The key to a successful studio setup lies in your use of a reflector. It will keep you from having to use a second light. And to be honest they are very inexpensive at about £12 to £22 for all four colour reflector types. An invaluable tool to manipulate light and create artistic clear results. Once you have purchased a reflector. Where do you put it? The main rule is that there is no corrct place to position your reflector. But we must understand why we purchased it, in the the first place. Its main function is to bounce light from your studio strobe softbox lighting unit into the shadow area's surronding your model. So it is of no use if it is only doing thirty percent of what is actually required. You will need to position the reflector to maximize its full potential. Firstly we need to remember that the relector should be placed a short distance from your model, so that the light is allowed enough room to bounce back into the area required. A method most professionals use, is to place the reflector directly beside the model and on the opposite side to your strobe softbox. So that it catches and then bounces the light back into the areas where there are shadows. In most portrait photography studio setups. The reflector will be placed beneath or below the model so that light is reflected up and into the face. This is used to cover the shadow area below the chin given off by the over head strobe soft box lighting. The light must hit the reflector directly for the full potential of the reflector to be utilised. This is key to achieving a successful studio setup.