Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I just recently purchased some lighting gear from PCB, and LOVE all of it!! The incredible power (as compared to speedlights), adjustability (640ws to 2.5ws), modifiers,.... I have so many more options now. I also got a shovel reflector. Now what to do with this thing? I want to love it, and put it to use, but maybe I just don't get it?
What is the pattern of light supposed to look like?
Any images with it?
Do you like it better than a gridded reflector?
Does it just collect dust?
Thanks,
--Rick

It's meant for illuminating a backdrop. You would normally place it on a small light stand right behind your subject. It feathers the light such that if it's directly behind a person with the flash pointed straight up, it will create a kind of oval-shaped halo behind them that fades as you move farther away. You can also place it to side and out of frame and create a gradient of light across the backdrop - perhaps from the top corner down and diagonal, straight across from the side, or up at a diagonal from the bottom corner, etc.

The main point of it is that sometimes you don't have enough room to the sides to place your flashes so they'll illuminate the backdrop but not cause lens flare. This reflector can help by allowing you to place a light right behind the subject.

I must be doing it wrong. The pattern that I got looks a little like a fan with a hard edge on the bottom.

I tried it with the Einstein pointing straight up, and about 3' off of the ground, about 3' away from the bg. I played with it for an hr at least, and could not find anything pleasing. with the head pointing down about 30 degrees, and the shovel on the bottom pointing up, it'll give almost a radial gradient.

How far away from the bg?
Do you usually have it at an angle or perpendicular to the floor?
How high off of the floor?

The main thing for its intended use would be keeping the open half parallel to the background i.e. perpendicular to the floor. Could be any height depending on the subject, but if you're seeing a hard edge at the bottom I'd lower it some. I'd also try moving it farther from the background - that will make the light falloff more gradual and subtle.

I'm using two of them, one of each side of the background. I love them as I don't have a lot of space in my studio and they work great in that setup.

Are you talking about in a white seamless situation? How far away?