If the light is just not very good, such as on a very overcast day, you’ll see lots of dark shadows around people’s eyes. Sometimes I’ll even have them sit on it, as in the second photo of Mallory below. In the first image of Mia, I leaned the top of the reflector on my legs and had the bottom touching her feet. In this situation, I’ll put a large reflector in front of them on the ground or at an angle and make sure it’s as close to them as possible. This can lead to dark shadows under their eyes. This typically happens with a black parking lot or grass. Sometimes the light I’m working in is beautiful, but my subject has something dark underneath them that’s not reflecting any light back into their face. For my backlit shots, whether it’s mid-day or the golden hour, I typically hold a white reflector right next to my face so it fills my subject with light that’s coming from almost directly in front of them. Once I started using reflectors I discovered I could start bringing a bit of the background back into my shots by decreasing the difference in exposure for my subject and background. Before I started using reflectors, I just blew out the background and was happy. The majority of my photos consist of backlighting. I encourage everyone to experiment with different reflector materials and lighting situations to find out what works best for you. 3) Natural LightĮveryone will have their own preferences for how and when to use a reflector with natural light, but I’m going to tell you a few of the situations where I prefer to use one. Many times a branch or even your subject will be casting a shadow on the reflector, greatly reducing how much light is being reflected. The change might be subtle, but you’ll be able to find the right angle for your reflector with a little practice.Īlthough it sounds obvious, if you’re having a hard time finding the reflected light on your subject, make sure that light is actually hitting the reflector. The best method I have found for using a white reflector is to move it back and forth and watch the light on your subject. When you’re using a white reflector it’s a little bit harder. Seeing where the light is landing when you’re using a gold or silver reflector is easy.
THE REFLECTOR FULL
If you’re using a silver or gold side, do not let your subject look directly at it, especially in full sun! The last thing you want to do is temporarily blind them. If there’s not a lot of light to work with and I have to use the silver side, I’ll move the reflector farther from my subject so the light doesn’t overpower the natural light and still just acts as a fill.Ī reflector does just what it says: it reflects light. I prefer to use reflectors to provide a soft fill light, so I usually use the white or white/silver side and try to get them as close to my subject as possible. You’ll usually pay a premium and have fewer options if you choose a reflector that has a handle or a frame, but the added ease of use might just make it worth the extra money.Īs with any light source, the larger it is relative to your subject, the softer the light is going to be. You’ll also find reflectors that don’t have any fancy features. You’ll find reflectors that have handles, brackets or frames. Once you know the general size you’re looking for, you can start looking at different brands and shapes. A 42″ reflector is a pretty common size that is a nice combination of ease of use and nice light. Of course, a larger reflector will generally produce a larger area of softer light, but larger reflectors are also more difficult to handle, so there is a compromise to be made.
If you’re mainly shooting individual portraits, a smaller reflector might work better for you than a larger one. One of the first things you’ll want to decide on is the size of reflector you’ll need.
There are white, gold and silver reflectors, as well as combinations of these three colors with names like Sunfire, SoftSilver, Zebra and Sparkling Sun. There are round, rectangular and triangular reflectors. If you have never purchased a reflector before, the options that you find once you start looking might be overwhelming.
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