Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I'm confused about reflectors. If I use umbrellas, the larger size I use, the bigger and softer the light is. However with reflectors, it seems the opposite is true, the larger the reflector is, the narrower is its beam.

I have 7.5" reflectors that I use on Einstein lights to light up venues. I tried them for bouncing the light off ceilings, but they weren't so efficient. Now I point them straight to the opposite wall. However, the dance floor itself stays a bit too dark and the light is also too specular for my taste. So I want to change my lighting setup with two lights pointing straight and another 2 lights to bounce off the ceiling to brighten the floor and lower area of the room as well as soften the light.

But I am confused as to which reflector I need. The larger the reflector, the more effecient in the output of light. However, I am afraid a tightened beam will narrow the width of the bounce on the dance floor. In the venues I shoot in, the ceilings are about 14' -20' high. I use 10' lightstands. Which reflector can you recommend if I want to efficiently bounce light, but still keep the bounced light pattern as wide as possible?

The same is true with reflectors, but this is generally meaningful within a certain distance ratio based on the modifier size. With umbrellas and softboxes being larger than reflectors, there is more softness at further distances. The change in intensity in a reflector has more to do with shape and surface than with size.



Yes, it is possible to choke the light down too much when bouncing, especially in larger rooms with lower ceilings. If you create too small of a spot on one side, the area below will have soft-ish light, but this will gradually get darker as you move away from the "ceiling-zero" point of the light.

I think the trick will be to feather the light across the ceiling so that it is evenly lighting the whole ceiling, and then flagging the light from falling onto the floor below. I would aim them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way across the room, but still hitting the ceiling. The 8.5HOR has a relatively wide spread, but would be more accurately aimed with less side spill. Otherwise you could use a 7" reflector with barn doors to prevent the spill.

If I want a wider beam spread to reflect off the ceiling consequently lighting a wider area of the room would you recommend I purchase the barndoor, flag the bottom, but keep the sides and top open or would you still reccomend the 8.5" reflector to prevent spill across the room? In other words, which would provide a nicer, evenly lit bounced light if I set up the light the way you reccomended?

I would be more inclined to use barndoors. If you have them, try them before buying more stuff. If you don't have them, you can use use cardboard or other opaque material to make a one sided barndoor to test with (keep the model lamps off).

Thank you so much! I will try out your recommendations.

If reflectors work as umbrellas until a certain distance, if I use an 8.5" reflector instead of a 7" reflector, will the 8.5" reflector have a wider lighting area until a certain distance as opposed to the 7" reflector?

The 8.5HOR reflectors will have a tighter beam spread, so at any point from light to subject, the light will be smaller (though it may be a negligible difference at times).