Summer is coming and with it picnics in the park, vacations in the country and holiday visits. These events have in common a wonderful opportunity for great pictures of your loved ones.

This method of outdoor lighting is very forgiving but requires at least three people, one as a subject, one camera person and someone to hold the reflector. The usual snapshots taken outdoors tend to look dark and bluish in the shadow areas or washed out from a too bright sun. A soft silvery reflector eliminates these dangers while adding a flattering light on the faces at the same time. Professional reflectors like Monte's Illuminator are perfect for the job, but are quite costly. ($94.00 for a 36" reflector).

A home made reflector works almost as well, though lacking in the ability to fold up for storage. Buy a 42" square mounting board in foam core. On this glue a metallic silvery cloth obtainable from your local rag shop. The surface must be completely flat for a good effect. The reverse side is useful as a fill source in sunlight. An alternative would be a silver automobile dash sun shield.

Place your subjects in the shade with the sun behind them. Have the reflector person stand behind the photographer slightly to the left or right, holding the board over their own head and directing the reflected sunlight at the subjects. This bright reflected light now becomes the main source of light, darkening to a subordinate value all other sources of light except the edge light from the sun.

Inside in winter, an accessory flash can be aimed at the reflector producing a soft, modeling light source with open shadows. Typically, an aperture opened two f stops should give a good exposure. Don