Wellcome to the forum, Ben.
What is it exactly are you trying to achieve? Are you just after object detection or you really need to measure an analogue reflection from the object (aka measuring it's shade of red)?
First comment I would have is the distance you intend to sense the reflection will be you biggest challenge. To be able to measure the reflection at 1 meter you will need to use good optical system, unless I am mistaken.
Depending on the actual purpose you can find ready made solutions and they are not too expensive these days, certainly not thousand dollars as you suspected.
Try to give more information on the application and you will get more practical replies.
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