White styrofoam panels

Use them to block or reflect light

White styrofoam sheets perform several helpful functions in the studio and on the road. The material is relatively inexpensive, available at home building supply outlets everywhere (make sure to hand pick the cleanest sheet), light-weight and pure white - all characteristics that make it useful in photography.

BOUNCE FLASH REFLECTOR

Carry a small sheet with you to use as a surface for bounce flash when shooting a wedding or family group, or even a small object that needs soft, uniform lighting. An 18" square, 1" thick panel is sturdy, small enough to handle easily, but provides a large-enough reflective surface when held close to your flash head. Its uneven surface acts as a diffuser, providing soft, even illumination.

Just angle your flash head up while you or an assistant hold the styrofoam sheet overhead. The light from the flash will deflect off the styrofoam sheet towards the group or object you are shooting. You will be amazed at how nicely-diffused and complete the light coverage is. It beats bouncing your flash off the ceiling, and is effective in reducing red-eye.

SOFT DAYLIGHT REFLECTOR

When shooting a portrait using sunlight, fill flash or studio lighting, a white styrofoam panel as small as two-feet by three-feet in size makes an effective soft reflector to fill in the shadow side of your subject's face. A larger panel will help to illuminate a subject's entire body. A yellow or copper-colored gel tacked or taped to the styrofoam reflector will add warmth to the shadow side.

LIGHT BLOCKER

Need a makeshift light blocker (known as a "gobo" in the studio)? It’s styrofoam to the rescue. Inch-thick styrofoam blocks the light while being lightweight enough for you to clamp it easily but sturdily to a support. Its light weight permits it to be moved into any position with minimum danger of toppling. (Poster board can also be an effective light blocker.)

HANDY IN THE STUDIO

Larger sheets of white styrofoam (like 4-feet by 8-feet by 2-inches thick - available at most lumber yards and building supply outlets) can be used in the same way in the studio, either as an excellent white reflector for a large subject, to block light or even as a backdrop or shooting surface.

CAN BE CUT INTO SHAPES & PAINTED

Styrofoam can also be cut into shapes or letters and spray-painted for use as props. Styrofoam cut-out letters can make an excellent sign when glued to a sturdy background. Great for trade shows where you have a booth and need your name to be large and professional-looking.

DISPLAY PANEL

You can even use it as a display panel for prints or a sign when you have forgotten the fancier one at home. Versatile, cheap and useful, styrofoam has many uses in photography.

When photographing a head and shoulders portrait, a small piece of white styrofoam makes an excellent reflector for bringing out detail in shadow areas, however it must be positioned quite close to the subject to be effective, since light falls off rapidly with distance.

Holding it too far away from the subject will not provide the desired result. Shadow areas will remain too dark, and the lighting ratio will be unsatisfactory.

It helps to have an assistant to hold the panel and to move it closer or further from the subject while you gauge the results.

Moving the reflector closer to your subject will increase the illumination it provides. When held at the distance shown in the image at right, which is approximately half the distance from the subject as shown in the image above, the effect becomes more noticeable. Bringing it even closer would provide an even greater amount of secondary reflected light to bring out shadow detail.