This post is a bit of a two-for-one deal. Two DIY projects in one post.
The first one is a DIY reflector to bounce light on to your subject. You can use these indoors or out.
There are expensive models, but a couple of photographers, including Joe Edelman and Daniel Norton, recommend using white poster boards. Norton calls the ones he uses "Brooklyn Reflectors." The boards are inexpensive — you can get them for $1.25 a piece at the so-called dollar stores, or your usual big-box store.
With it being back-to-school, you may be able to get them on sale.
Here's Edelman's demonstration with one.
You can use the reflector with a voice-activated lightstand — also known as an assistant — but if you're shooting alone, it could get tricky trying to take the picture and hold the reflector yourself.
Edelman proposes building a PVC holder for the reflector that lets you adjust it and put it on a lightstand. This allows you to use it hands free, and the rig can also hold flags (the light-blocking variety, not the state or national emblems) and Gobos, which go between a light source and a subject to create a pattern of light, say simulating light coming through a Venetian blind.
Edleman's plans are in this video, although I would probably also use a joint to mount it to a PVC lightstand.
