I would recomend this to anyone, professional or novice. I hate the harsh sunlight and dark shadows that ruin the pictures when shooting in direct sun. This is a permanant part of my equipment bag. Just in case your not sure, unlike relectors you hold this directly between the sun and your subject, it filters out the sunlight and gives you a nice even light on the subject. No more squinting from the model or harsh shadows or streaks of light. One thing you should know, because of it's size it's only good for the head shots or maybe a bit more but not really big enough for full body shots. I Love it, it's a great tool when you need it.
I used this at an outdoor photo shoot and it really did the job of filtering out the harsh sunlight. Couldn't shoot in sunlight without it.