Are lights sufficient or you should use reflectors as well during shoots

What differentiates good cinematographers from average cinematographers is that , the good ones know how to get the best out of the limited resources available. A good cinematographer will know how to get the best shots using few set of lights and a pair of reflectors.

–Reflector can be used to create fill light
Just add light into shadows on your subject. This is hugely useful when you’re shooting around midday and the harsh sun is creating shadows under your subject’s nose, eyes, and chin. And even if you’re shooting in the shade or on a cloudy day, a reflector can help alleviate darker shadows. Also note that your subject can often hold the reflector on their own:


– Use reflector as the main light source
This one is pretty interesting . Sometimes you’ll want to start late in the day, when the sun is low in the sky. Position your subject with the light hitting them from behind , then use a reflector to bounce the light into their face.You will get nice soft light on your subject, plus a dramatic rim light on the back of their head . The soft frontlight on your subject should add plenty of illumination, while the rim light should create depth and separate your subject from the background.


– Block light with reflector
If you’re shooting on a sunny midday, under a few trees..and all the nice shady light is ok, but a strange beam finds its way through the leaves. What will you do. If you have white reflector, you can block out that strange beam and still get a great shot. A light-blocking reflector is sometimes called a flag or a gobo.


–Use a black reflector to create more dramatic shadows
Sometimes, you don’t want to fill shadows; instead, you want to deepen them, either to add drama or depth. I personally like to use this technique while taking headshots. During photo shoots you must have noticed that lighting on the face is very balanced, with very little difference between the two sides. So to get more depth in headshot portraits, you can use a black reflector. The black reflector adds lots of negative fill and creates a more interesting headshot.