Reflector colors

What's the difference, photographically, between and white and silver reflector?  Is it just that the silver reflects more light or is there something subtle I'm missing?

I've got probably a dozen books that talk about reflectors but it always seems to be that they compare a gold to white reflector for portraits and gold to silver for weddings.  I haven't been able to find a comparison between white and silver. 

I think what Bob said is probably right.
I use the silver when there is not much light to catch.  I use the white way more often.  It doesn't blind my subject and it seems more even.

There are many factors involved with reflector usage.  There are many types, sizes, configurations, colors and surfaces, each with its own specifications and applications.

Obviously, silver reflectors will punch back more light that white ones but the surface and color will effect your results in different ways. The manner of usage also factors in.  Here are some examples:

A very simple, effective and practical portrait lighting setup is using a soft box equipped strobe as a main light and filling in with a disk shaped  matte silver or super-silver  reflector.  In this method the main light is directed at the subject and feathered off so that a bit of its light strikes the reflector, which is then feathered in toward the subject, from the same or opposite side as the main light and acts a a fill light.  This set up is also very effective when window light as a main source.  In theses cases the shinyer reflector is required to pick up and reflect back enough light to be an effective fill source- a soft white reflector simply would not make it at practical working distances.

When working out of doors, a popular method is to shoot in the late afternoon and use the sun as a back/hair light.  Again, a fairly shinny silver reflector can pick up the sunlight and return enough light to the face of the subject to act as a main light.  If the reflector is held fairly high and off the camera subject axis, good portrait lighting can be established without "blinding" the subject and causing squinting.  Nice catch catch lights will form in the eyes as well. 

Just as in studio lighting, the further the reflector is placed form the subject, the harder and more distinct the transition from highlight to shadow will be.  I seldom use white reflectors at outdoor sessions unless I am working with hazy sunlight and want a very soft effect. Essencially, shinner reflectors creae more intense specular highlight than ther white counterparts.  Some shite reflectors are translucant enought to difuse harsh ligh sources when used as scrims and gobos.

There are silver reflectors which are almost mirror like.  Theses can throw light quite  a distance.  I can place a subject in open shade and push in light from across the street where the sun is shining.

When reflectors are used as a fill light, especially when a relatively shinny surface is used, it is important to carefully feather the reflector so that it does not establish a lighting pattern of its own thereby causing a disunity of lighting.  Matte finish reflectors are less likely to do that.

I use white reflector in the studio mostly for commercial work, especially for highly reflective objects.  I may bring in my main light from overhead and slightly behind the subject.  The white reflectors will show up in the reflection from a mirror like product creating a soft area of diffuse highlights rather than hot spots on a dark field.  This is called light field photography and is often seen in commercial images of highly polished electrical appliances such as toasters and kettles.

Gold reflectors are designed to reflect light back on the subject imparting a warmer tone.    In some cases, however, if the reflector is too yellow it causes a very unattractive jaundiced skin tone- just a light gold is all you need unless you are looking for a dramatic special effect.

The most popular reflectors, nowadays, are like the ones made by Westcott- the Monte Illuminators. Theses are durable cloth reflectors mounted on spring loaded rims- large reflector can fold up to very manageable transport sizes.  For general use a 24 inch round reflector is a food starting size.  You will need a small boom-like device to mount these reflectors on a light stand for convent use.

Simple reflector can be made by stretching crumpled and re-stretched aluminum foil on light weight boards mad of Foamcor(tm)or Corplast(tm). The shinny and matte sides of the foil will yield harder and softer results respectively.  The Rosco company makes all kinds of plain. colored and differently surfaced rolls of reflective material from which you can make custom reflectors.  Go to
www.rosco.com for more information about theses materials.

Hope this helps.  Ed   

What triggered the question was a senior shoot earlier this week.  I used the silver side of my 5-in-1 reflector and was surprised how much light it threw back.  I like the look, it was just stronger than I was expecting.  Normally I just use the white and it usually didn't seem to make much difference.

And I've never used the gold, and don't really see myself using it much.  Seems like the color effect from the gold reflector can be done by adjusting the color temperature in post.