A gold reflector bounces what kind of light

The best way to think of your reflector is as a fill light. It can also take a little practice to use a reflector. You need to make sure that the light is actually hitting the reflector. You can place them opposite your main light source to create a bounce effect or fill light.

Use the silver or white side of a small reflector and use the reflected light to catch the eyes. This will create highlights in the dark pupils. Do warn your subject not to gaze directly at the reflector though, as it will be bright! Reflectors are one of the least expensive accessories you can have in your kit and yet they are extremely versatile in both natural and artificial lighting situations.

Whenever a light source is available they will help focus and define your images. In my opinion, every photographer should carry one at all times! Jo Plumridge is a UK based photographer, writer and lecturer. She specializes in portrait, corporate and travel photography, and writes photography, travel and comedy pieces for magazines, websites and books.

You can see some of her work at her website , or follow her on Twitter. Change the color of that surface from silver to gold, and the fill light turns warm. This is a great way to add magic-hour-style warmth to portraits; just remember that a little goes a long way.

Bouncing a specular source—like a strobe with a parabolic reflector—off of a large white reflector effectively takes a small pinpoint source and turns it into a broad light source. Broad, diffuse sources are flattering, especially for portraits, because they wrap their light around a subject and produce less prominent shadows.

With them, you can bounce light and send it a very long way. This technique can be especially useful when working outdoors, to send sunlight over a long distance to act as a hair light or an edge light to add separation between a subject and background. As a backlight, though, that intensity is perfect.

So let's look at the various types of reflectors available to us. There are three main types of board reflectors — white, silver and gold. Each has its own properties, but they all basically serve the same purpose: providing you with a light boost. Today some board reflectors are actually made of a flexible fabric, which gives you even more versatility in how you shape and direct the reflected light on to your subject. The White Reflector gives you a neutral reflected light and in some cases it will desaturate the light that is cast back on the subject.

You want to use the white reflector in any case where you want just a little added light; for example the white bounce reflector is great for providing fill light, when you want to decrease the contrast ratio between the key light and the fill, thereby evening out the lighting on your subject.

When shooting portraits, the white bounce card allows for smoother looking skin. You can use a silver reflector as your fill in many situations to add that extra bit of oomph on one side of the face.