Anyone use reflectors much?

[Cranium]

OK, I'm not sure whether this belongs in this or the other forum, but I think it goes here.

I've never been great with lights (or flash in still work) so I've relied mostly on available lighting, which for the most part has worked pretty well for me. I'm interested in manipulating light now, and it seems to me reflected light would be a good place to start. Probably because I'm headed to Viva Las Vegas next month, and I'm looking to do some desert shots of my buddy and his '50 Ford. In my small mind, when I think desert I think Leone, so that's kinda where I'm at. Sun behind, light from the front (or reflect, as I'm thinking...)

Any ideas, tips suggestions?

[calgodot]

I've used reflectors in a lot of natural light photography. They are very versatile and a good thing to have around at all times. My favorite has a silver side and a gold side - I've used both sides to alter color temperature of existing sunlight in order to get a good fill on someone's face. I've also used small reflectors to focus a finer beam of light in a sort of ad-hoc pinpoint spot (works great to make jewelry glitter in sunlight). Get yourself a nice set of different sizes and you'll be a very happy desert shooter.

[Valtteri]

I'm also a "fan" of reflectors. I like to use them with sunlight and artificial light. I also use reflectrors with moving image and stillphotoraps. White reflectors are good to make the light softer.

[jean]

Reflectors are great, I have worked little with artificial light (cost money and ressources) and reflectors are a very easy way to even out lighting. Especially in sunlight!

[mattias]

i like to use mirrors to light the background and white styrofoam boards to light faces. and i always try to use the sun as backlight or crosslight. have a look at my film sisten i är en skit for example. it doesn't look lit, but if you consider that it was shot on a sunny day on k40 you'll understand how much fill i used to get rid of the excessive contrast you usually get in those conditions. mirrors to bring out foliage from the shade, large styrofoam boards for general fill, and smaller boards up close to bring back some 3d in the faces.

/matt

take an extra look at the image at 4 o'clock. we didn't have time to light that, and the difference is obvious. look at the contrast on the characters and the black background.

[nasq]

Reflectors are awesome, they cost nearly nothing, you can make your own and they give a lot of quite soft light. You can also bounce very hard light with silver/mirror/etc. reflectors. It's insane to try and compete with the sun, just use it to your advantage

[angelspushing]

mattias,
are those all actual stills from the k40 film? they look great. i know they might break up if blown up but look real good in theyre native size.
mike

[mattias]

yes, those are actual stills from the film. at full pal res they still have the same colors and all, so in that respect they look good, but they lose sharpness fast over around 384x288 and at pal res they're quite soft. i think this is mainly due to the ancient rank it was transferred on though. as usual with k40 it looks great projected.

/matt

[stoney]

You can make it easier to carry large foam board
reflectors by cutting the foam board into smaller squares
and then taping it together with a white colored tape.
You are then able to fold the reflector up so that it fits in a
case or bag.
Large reflectors are great for lighting difficult scenes such
as someone sitting under a tree.