So you ask what is a reflector and why do you need one? Well they’re probably the simplest and smartest tool you can have in your camera bag, I keep mine in the studio at all times, and whenever I’m out on a location shoot for Fashion or Portraits they come with me. If you shoot weddings this is an invaluable tool to have with you at all of your shoots.
Probably one of the most versatile ones you can own is the 5 in 1 kit, with reflector bracket, to hold it on a stand. This has at least 5 different combinations that you can use, and the bracket and stand will allow you to position this and act as your personal assistant. Make sure if you’re using this setup outside, that you put some weight on the stand so the wind will not blow it over, I usually hang my camera bag off of the stand to weight it down.
- Diffuser
- Silver
- Gold
- Soft Gold
- White
They provide you with a quick way to add “fill light” to your photos/Videos. You can also use one to re direct light outside. Lets say that you’re photographing someone in the shade, and you want to add some light, you can setup your reflector to catch the sunlight, and reflect the light back at your subject standing in the shaded area.
Below is an example of how to use the reflector inside the studio to add an additional 1 stop of fill light on my subject. In our first shot below, you will see that we have the main strobe with a soft box setup to camera left, which is leaving our subject to have allot of shadow on her face.
In the 2nd shot below, I’ve now added in the Silver Reflector to Camera Right, and we’ve now filled in our subjects face with 1 additional stop of light.
In order to really see what the reflector is doing I’ve enlarged my subjects left eye which is closest to the reflector, so you can see the main light and the fill light in her eyes.
Here is a diagram of the setup!
Don’t forget that the Illumi reflectors all come with their very own high quality storage case, and have double stitched seems for years of durable use. They’re available in many sizes, including a 1X1.5M reflector.