What is the reflector used for in photography? What's the role?

The reflector is made of tin powder paper, white cloth, white polyurethane foam board and other materials, and is an auxiliary tool for controlling light in photography.

Types and functions are as follows:

1. White reflector

The light reflected by the white reflector is very fine. Because its reflective performance is not very strong, the effect is soft and natural. If you need to add a little light, you can use this reflector to fill in the details in the shadow. This situation is often used when using window lighting to make the shadow part of the work more detailed.

2. Silver reflector

The silver reflector is bright and smooth as a mirror, which can emit brighter light. Silver reflector is also a kind of reflector commonly used by photographers, which "highlights" the eyes of the subject, and the effect of this reflector is easily reflected in the eyes of the subject, thus producing large and bright eye light. This kind of reflector is used in cloudy outdoor, and the light mainly comes from above the head of the subject. When in use, it can be placed directly under the subject's face, so that it is just out of the camera's field of vision and reflects the top light to the subject's face. Under cloudy light conditions, the white reflector does not have such a strong effect.

3. Golden mirror

Like a silver reflector, it reflects light like a smooth mirror, but in contrast to a cold-tuned silver reflector, it produces light with a warmer hue. The golden reflector is mainly used to supplement the light in the sun. This reflector has two functions: one is to obtain directional light that can shine on the face of the subject, and the other is to reduce the exposure difference from the background to the foreground without seriously overexposing the background.

4. Black reflector

Black reflector is a special reflector. Technically, it is not a reflector, but a "dimmer". The use of other reflectors works according to the brightening method to brighten the scene, while the use of black reflectors uses the dimming method to dim the light.

In outdoor portrait photography, reflectors are often used as supplementary light sources to fill the dark parts of characters. For example, in the case of side backlight, the contrast between light and dark is large, and the contrast between light and dark is reduced by supplementing light with reflector to improve the brightness of dark parts. It enriches the level of the dark part, strengthens the expressive force of the characters, and plays an important role in portraying the characters' personalities.

The special reflector can be folded, one side is gold and the other side is silver. It can not only eliminate the shadow on people's faces, but also make people's eyes look bright. When the subject's eyes stay on the reflector, they will reflect the light and shadow of the reflector, and the image left on the camera will give people a feeling of intense eyes. More often, the silver reflector can brighten the facial light of a person, which makes people feel that the face of a person is much whiter when shooting portraits, thus covering up some facial defects. When using the golden reflector, in some special lighting occasions, people's faces can look warmer and softer, and the tone of the whole photo will look antique.