Since I get so many questions about my gear, I decided to post an article every now and then about what I use and why. Don’t expect lab tests, honest comparisons and too much technical data, there are other sites who do that kind of stuff way better then I could do. Sure, the specs of any piece of equipment are important in making my choices but there’s also the beyond scientific factor of personal taste, look and feel. Remember, my ideal choice may be completely wrong for you. A personal subjective view hardly qualifies as a real review, so I’ve called this new section RSO (Review, Sort Of).

Every single photographer I know that has ever used a California Sunbounce reflector agrees that there just is something that makes the light just that little bit better than most other reflectors. I find that to be especially true for the zebra (gold/silver) fabric. I also like the sturdy but lightweight metal frame that keeps the fabric from moving (and thus constantly changing the light) in the wind. But even though the frames are pretty quick to setup and travel pretty well, they are not as fast and handy as one of those pop-up reflectors. I still think that a Sunbounce mini (the most versatile to me) or a pro (the best light) are good investments for professional photographers and serieus amateurs who use reflected light a lot. But they might be a bridge too far for someone who’s just starting out and/or on a budget. Also for the run-and-gun work, they are sometimes not fast enough to use unless you have a dedicated assistant who’s running around with the reflector.

But now there’s the Sun-Mover, a reflector that promises to have the best of both worlds: a sturdy reflector with the proven Sunbounce fabric that can be folded up fast into a small package. It may be a bit more expensive than most other similar sized pop-up reflectors, but I think it’s worth it.

It’s an oval 85 by 79 centimeters reflector that folds up into a small supplied bag. The bag fits easily into the front compartiment of my LowePro Computrekker Plus AW backpack. The bag also has a sturdy plastic D-ring, to attach it to smaller camera bags. One word of caution: watch out when you fold open the reflector. To overcome the sloppyness that’s usually associated with pop-up reflectors, Sunbounce used some extremely strong steel. You can really hurt yourself when opening up the reflector if you don’t watch out. But then again, I never had a pop-up reflector before that doesn’t go floppy on me in a moderate breeze. The Sun-Mover will probably work fine for a shoot in a hurricane.

There are two comfy big handles that proved to be the key to get the most out of the Sun-Mover. They make it easy to hold the reflector but by bending the handles in- or outwards you also get a surprising amount of control over the beam of light.

The Sun-Mover comes in two flavors: silver/white fabric and zebra/white fabric. I choose the zebra/white because I usually find silver a bit too harsh for a smallish reflector. I also like the slightly warmish tone of the zebra.

When I’m on assignment I take at least a Mini and a Pro with me but when I’m working without assistants and have to shoot fast, they usually stay in the car. There are those moments when it’s restricts your movement too much to take a Mini along but you still think: “If only I had a reflector now”. One of those times was during the amazing wedding of Daphne and Katrien. They focussed on enjoying their big day and their friends and family, so we didn’t schedule a wedding portrait shoot. But suddenly they found themselves with 10 spare minutes to do an improvised portrait shoot. I grabbed my camera, the Sun-Mover and Daphne’s best man as an assistant.

When you don’t have much time it’s often best to look for uncluttered backgrounds. The shot bellow is made outside in a shaded area with a large wooden door behind them. When I took a quick testshot the light on them was soft but flat and the difference in intensity of the light on them and the background was not enough to get the background to go black. So we grabbed the Sun-Mover, placed it in a sunny spot and directed the light towards their faces. This gave me reasonably soft yet directional light. By keeping the beam tight (flexing the handles inwards) there’s no light spill on the background and the intensity of the light on Daphne and Katrien was a couple of stops higher than the background.

Same setup but I moved a bit to get the trees in the background. To be perfect, the light should have been pointed a bit higher, now the sweet spot is on their arms. Look at how the zebra fabric warms up the light just that little bit to be pleasing without getting that golden-Playboy-in-the-eighties-look.

In the next picture you can see what difference the Sun-Mover makes. I often try to light the faces just a bit more than the rest of the body. The size of the Sun-Mover is perfect for that. If you want to light a full body shot evenly, you need a bigger lightsource but the Sun-Mover is perfect for portraits to half body.

Here’s an iPhone snap of the setup:

Reflectors are usually used as a main light or fill light, but I use them pretty often as a back- or hairlight too. The soft indirect available light in the picture below was perfect as a main light. The bright blurred out background gives the picture a summery feel. To complement that even more, we placed the reflector behind the couple to give some of that nice just before sunset hairlight. The slightly warm light from the zebra fabric makes the picture complete.

During this first real life experience with the Sun-Mover it met and exceeded my expectations. It’s not as good as the Mini’s or Pro’s that I usually use, but it comes close, really close. And it has the added benefits of being cheaper and more convenient. Whenever I have the choice, I’ll go for the metal frame reflectors, but the Sun-Mover has earned it’s permanent place in my backpack. After all, the best reflector is the one you have with you.

In the last picture in this post, no reflectors where used, but I couldn’t resist sharing all this sexyness with you.