using Reflectors...

[precious]

Have you tryed to take photos in a sunny day? you might think sun is good but to be honest sun can be the warst enimy for a photographer. You can turn the flash on your camera but then you loose soft shades ... the best way to when you are outside or close to the window or open door is your natural light. Sun can be very harsh for that metter. Thats when its time to buy a reflector. Of course you are not going to take it with you all the time. I am just saying use it when you most need it...
Also, good ideas is to use reflecotr when you take a photo of a newborn...turn off your flash and give a chance for natural light do its magic. Derect the reflecotor towards the baby for more natural light. You will be amazed what the difference it will make.

Here is the example.. i was taking pics of my friends one day...for one photo my reflector just felt down and you will see a difference. See the differnce in the face? Wihtout reflecotr the face and overall photo is underexposed...thats normal for taking pics in the sun... but when you use reflector yoru photos are back to life again!I have 48 inches silver reflector that i use all the time. I got a set of reflectors (5 colors) and spent like $40 for all of them...If you get a single color ( i would recomend silver) then it will be even less money. Its a great investment! You can easily fold it to small shape too!!!

[rainjam]

Wow, that is a huge difference. I have thought about getting one, this sure convinces me to finally do it!

[ScrapShana]

Great suggestion! I have heard that one of those fold up silver foil sun shades for the car works really well too. What do you think? What else would you suggest using as a reflector, for those of us cheapos. LOL

[alfenner]

White foamcore also works great (and is cheap!) :)

[tweederbug]

Windshiels reflectors do work well. So does cardboard pieces with aluminum foil. The only problem with that is they don't have a stand so you must have someone else helping you or somthing to lean it up against....per Precious !

[GardenGirl05]

I have been trying to take some pictures of very small items (ribbons, buttons, etc.) with a softer light than the harsh flash light on my camera (Nikon D70). What is the best to make it softer - a reflector or a removeable flash? My dad has a removeable flash and it seems pretty cool, but I don't really know how to use one. And they are very expensive! I tried making this "light box" in this tutorial, but it didn't work very well at all. I also found this tutorial, but I'm hesitant to put this much effort into anything since the last one was such a bummer. I think I just needed the removeable flash. Do you think a reflector would help in this situation? How would I do it? TIA!