Originally posted by robin
Here's something from my film school days that I've always found useful...

Regardless of whether you're shooting in studio or on location, have a light fill or light bounce board.

They're cheap -- I've made them out of cardboard and white paper before and that's worked nicely in a pinch.

The idea is that you have a white foam board or similar material that you can position and use to soften harsh light, fill in shadows, or direct soft light to the model.

This eliminates a lot of bad lighting problems.
Absolutely a good tip -- and depending on the board color - they can be used to add a touch of color -- I've used foil gold ones for instance when doing floral closeups ... gives a nice golden glow in the fill light.