folding reflectors

[Bruce Watson]

Looking for some experience and recommendations for portable reflectors to be used in natural window light situations, or filling in some shade without going to flash.

Any thoughts on brand, type, color (gold on one side, white on the to other, or maybe silver)?

I have seen disk type, are they effective or should I just get myself a big square of reflective material that can be rolled up?

TIA.

[jbradc]

I use the Lastolite because it is easy to hold and is a nice size, here is a link to it on B&H
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=270871&is=REG

[Nightcrawler]

I just bought a 42" collapsable reflector last night. It had silver on one side, with white on the other.

[robertwgross]

The five-in-one disks are pretty good.

One side is gold, one side is silver, one cover is black, one is white, and the inside is sort of a translucent.

That covers the gamut for me. That folds up and goes into the wildflower photography kit for me.

---Bob Gross---

[scottbergerphoto]

I have a set of Photoflex 42" collapseable Litediscs and one diffuser. They are made well and come with their own case.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=search&Q=&ci=6194
Scott

[RJSorensen]

We use the Photoflex as well and have been very happy. Our first was white and gold. We use both sides more so than we thought. You will like them.

[Maureen Souza]

Don't laugh at me but I use the sun shades from the car....we have agold one and a silver one........They work great and they are always in the car:)

[Nightcrawler]

Hey, if it gets the job done.

[RJSorensen]

LOL, Maureen . . . one would suppose those would work just fine. I had not thought of that one.

[cowboyupphotos]

Saw a couple neat tricks this past weekend in Texas by a natural light portrait artist - he used a large 4x8 sheet of reflective insulation foam (1/4" thick) from Lowe's or Home Depot - the one that has a shiny reflective film on it (not white or blue or pink type). He painted one side all white and left the other with the reflective film. He built two simple frames from thin wood 4'x4' and put the insulation on top. makes a nice big reflector for outdoor use to pump up more light coming into the windows of a home... was neat!

The other is the reflective car window shades - the one that fold up like an accordian - I guess they spray glued some gator foam on the back in strips, so thatyou can still fold the darn thing back up... they use that on-location to pump some light into scenes.

Guess its time to hit Lowe's.

[Mike Panic]

had great results from lastolite brand - biggest thing you want to consider when getting gold is the color and tone - there are a ton of variations of gold out there- get the one that will fit your needs

[Bruce Watson]

Don't laugh at me but I use the sun shades from the car....we have agold one and a silver one........They work great and they are always in the car:)

Maureen,

I certainly won't laugh at you, that is a great idea. I will take a look at the local and ubiquitous Canadian Tire (iconic Cdn retailer, sort of a cultural thing, like Wal-mart further south)and see what they have.

Might have the advantage of always being in the car along with double duty.

All the links to B&H are also appreciated, the next time I put an order in, some of these will be on my wish list.

Great suggestions so far, thanks!

[iwatkins]

Lastolite do a good range and they fold up nicely.

If you are shooting people in natural light, defo go for the Lastolite but get at least one side of the reflector in "Sunfire". This is a mix of gold and silver (tiny alternate lines of gold and silver). This works really well as it reflects well but also warms skin tones nicely without over doing it like a pure gold one can do.

Cheers

Ian

[chtgrubbs]

I am partial to Monte's Illluminator by Westcott. They have a gold and white blend which seems to give the most neutral color reflectance. I also use Lightform panels in 3x3, 3x6, and 6x6 foot sizes, plus various homemade panels in the studio.

[Marshall]

Don't laugh but the polystyrene bases under in some pizza packaging, are useful for fill in portrait use, hand held by the model & will fit in most large camera cases .

[mjordan]

I find a 4'x8' sheet of flat cardboard (white on one side, cardboard color on the other) works even better than the foam panels you get at the hardware store. It's light, it folds easily and it doesn't flake little white chunks all over the place. You can get them at places that sell bulk cardboard or box making places. They only cost a few dollars each... or at least they did a few years ago when I bought mine.

Also, another idea, if you buy the car sun shade that is on the metal flex band that folds up and you don't like the material that is on it, you can take the material off, buy some good sport nylon or other translucent or reflective material and sew it on the frame. I've been looking for a source of the flex frame spring steel but haven't found one yet. But the car sun shades are cheap.

Mike

[Bruce Watson]

I find a 4'x8' sheet of flat cardboard (white on one side, cardboard color on the other) works even better than the foam panels .....

Also, another idea, if you buy the car sun shade that is on the metal flex band that folds up and you don't like the material that is on it, you can take the material off, buy some good sport nylon or other translucent or reflect
ive material and sew it on the frame. I've been looking for a source of the flex frame spring steel but haven't found one yet. But the car sun shades are cheap.

Mike

Thanks Mike, I just bought a car sun shade the other day and it seems to be a cheap and effective tool to do what I want. I may order a proper folding reflector at some point in the future when I have an order going into B&H, but this doing the trick for now.

I see by your avatar that you have bouviers? I have two now myself and have owned nothing else for 20 or so years, wonderful animals. As my vet says, they are such doggy dogs, sort of the uber canine companion.

[CanonUser]

I use one of this and it has been an invaluable tool for my 20D. I set the proper exposure and WB in one shot. The rest of the tool works just like every other brand.
http://www.photovisionvideo.com/target.html

Regards,
Alan

[dsze]

....like Robert said. I love my 5in1 kit. I use it all the time for portraits inside (window light) and outside. For $50 I don't think it can be beat. Its made by SP Studio Systems.

-daniel

[mjordan]

I see by your avatar that you have bouviers? I have two now myself and have owned nothing else for 20 or so years, wonderful animals. As my vet says, they are such doggy dogs, sort of the uber canine companion.

Hi Bruce, yes, we have 6 Bouviers. We got our first one back around 1994. They are a great dog, not for everyone, but for those that are accepted by a Bouvier, there lives are forever changed. :D

Bouviers are what got me back into photography... trying to learn to photograph our long haired black dogs so they didn't look like a big black blob. I think they found it very humorous that I had to try so many times to get it figured out... of course they also enjoyed the fact that they were well treated during the photo sessions. :D

One of our first litter pups (he's almost 8 now) went to a home in the Toronto area. Good to hear from another Bouvier person. I don't run across very many of them in the photography forums.

Mike

[drisley]

I always wondered about those foldable car windshield reflectors :)