Light Modifiers

There are lots of different types of light modifiers. Most are for studio photography, but there are some simple and relatively inexpensive modifiers that are useful in everyday photo situations. It’s nice to have these in your camera bag and once you have them, you’ll be surprised how much you use them.

Reflectors – Reflectors allow you to “open up” shadows by reflecting light into the shadows on your subject. Sometimes we want shadows in our photos but we don’t want quite as much shadow as the lighting conditions are giving us. White, silver, and gold reflectors bounce light into the shadows and can lighten up an area by as much as a complete stop. This is especially useful for outdoor or window light portraits.

Flash Attachments – There are a bunch of light-modifiers made to work with your off-camera flash. The first flash modifiers were index cards that photographers taped to their flashes to bounce and soften the effect of the flash. Now there are some sophisticated variations on those original index card reflectors. Flash modifiers come in two basic categories: the reflector and the softbox. A reflector is used with the flash tilted up and it does just what it sounds like it does. It reflects light off an attachment and onto the subject. Reflectors come in various sizes, and colors for different effects. The basic goal is to soften the flash and make the subject appear more natural.

The flash softbox also comes in different sizes and forms. At least one company makes an accessory that can work as both a reflector and a softbox. The softbox is a device that completely surrounds the flash head and has a diffuser to soften light from the flash. A softbox has more direct light than a reflector and eliminates nearly all shadows. With a flash bracket and softbox, a photographer can achieve very soft and nearly shadowless portraits anytime, anywhere.

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