V-Flats Photography Reflectors

V-Flats are used to control light when photographing different subjects.

They are basically two large pieces of foam board taped together in the middle with gaffer’s tape or held together with Velcro. The most flexible v-flats are white on one side, black on the other and fold together to create a a right angle or Vee shape.

Many local art shops or signage stores carry a variety of materials you can use to make your V-Flats but often they don’t stock the large sheets required. A better option is to either get full sheets of foam board from somewhere like foamboards.com.au. They have large sheets of both black and white foam core board that can be glued together to form the reversible reflector.

You’ll need two 4ft x 8ft pieces to make one V-Flat. It is best to get them around 10mm thick as anything thinner can bow and buckle and also fall over. The large sheets of foam board cost around $50-60 a piece and can be used in a variety of ways for shooting fashion, beauty and portrait images.

Two sided v-flats allow you to create three different looking scenarios. When used with the black side facing you, place your subject very near the front and make sure the triangle edges are right at each shoulder. This creates a strong front light with a sharp drop off in light that allows the subject to pop out from the background. This can work great for black and white portraits as well.

When the white side is behind your subject you can create a lighter backdrop and clean background much like the infinity background favoured by Steve Jobs when presenting Apple products. This is great for lively portraits and bright shining smiles.

A third option is to back-light your subject and let the background blow out, sticking the flat open on the white side at the back of the shoot.

There are several other studio designs of setting up multiple V Flats and most professional photographers would have at least a set of two white and two black reflectors.

In Australia you can get a pre-fabricated reversible v-flat and also a portable variety from foamboards.com.au or follow the link below.

V-Flats Photography reflectors Australia