Flash or reflector

[slat]

If you were on a sunny beach instead of facing the sun, which never makes for a good shot, if you were positioned at say a 45 degree angle so you weren't facing the sun.
Would you use a reflector on the shadiest side with flash for fill on the sunny side?
Or the opposite set up for this?
Or just use either a reflector or flash on the shady side?

 

[Strodav]

Outside of the golden hours the photographer doesn't want to face towards the sun because of lens flare and you don't want your model facing the sun because they will squint. So you will need to find a good angle, usually using the water as background. I like to use reflectors on brighter days, usually one at face level opposite the sun at a distance that gives me a little depth, like 1/2 to 3/4 stop, and another in front of the model and lower to get rid of the shadows under the nose and chin. I have been known to use a fill flash if it's too windy to manage the reflectors.

 

[Derrel]

Reflector fill is easier in most ways than flash...WYSIWG...UNLIMITED SHUTTER speed range, wide choice of f/stop, no neef to wait for recycle
..
Biggest problem is wind.flash is easy most times. This is not a beach shot but it shows you what a large 42 x 72 in white reflector looks like in full afternoon sun in August.

 

[Derrel]

SB 800 flash, ISO 100, beach, sunlight from behind subject, 1 /250 second, 200mm f/2 lens.

 

[Derrel]

If you put the sun behind your subject, you can apply either reflector fill or Flash Fill to the dark side of your subject. But be aware you will most likely have Overexposed highlight areas, as you can see on the shoulders of the one young woman above.

 

[Tropicalmemories]

Reflector is much simpler, as the color temperature of the light will be naturally balanced. You'll either need an assistant or a stand with an adjustable head - assistant is best as you can direct where to hold the reflector for best fill lighting, and an assistant will not blow over unless is very windy.

 

[Mike Drone]

Happy you got some answers, I learned a thing also, awesome info. =]

 

[Space Face]

Every day is a school day

 

[smoke665]

Is everyone at the beach but me?????? That isn't fair!!

Reflectors can move a lot of light and work great when you can get the subject in some shade, but beaches don't generally have a lot of shade, so unless you're there doing the Blue/Golden Hour, you might want to consider a scrim combined with a reflector. How to Control Harsh Sunlight for Glamorous Beach Portraits FYI you don't have to spend a lot of money on one, you can easily build them out of pvc pipe and material like this Make Your Own DIY Scrim for Under $50 they can be made smaller/cheaper however you want.

 

[JBPhotog]

Additionally, many foldable popup reflectors are available with diffusion, as the inner layer if it is a 3 in 1 or 5 in 1, which does the same job as a scrim. In any windy environment you'll need an assistant to hold it otherwise a grip head can do this for you.

 

[Bongekile]

I myself prefer using natural light instead of flash especially the ones built into my camera, they turn to damage the images causing unwanted light in the image. So using a reflector is the best option and it balances the amount of lighting in both sides of the image.