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Archive 2012 · Is this a beauty dish look?

  
 
andrew00
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Is this a beauty dish look?


Hey,

I generally like Ellen Von Unwerth's photos as they balance the on-camera/raw flash trend with a more even glamorous look, that doesn't stray into being soft and cutesy.

There's not much behind the scenes that can let me see exactly what she's doing but I did see these pics of a Kylie Shoot

http://www.eroglamour.com/glamour/20090525/kylieminoguephotographerellenvonunwerth/5-kylie-minogue...-photographer-ellen-von-unwerth.jpg

http://www.eroglamour.com/glamour/20090525/kylieminoguephotographerellenvonunwerth/4-kylie-minogue...-photographer-ellen-von-unwerth.jpg

Here's some of the images:
http://www.eroglamour.com/glamour/20090525/kylieminoguephotographerellenvonunwerth/3-kylie-minogue...-photographer-ellen-von-unwerth.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h_vJwcVkrf0/TxHlcRo8yBI/AAAAAAAACf8/zbf6DrNPWJ4/s1600/kylie-minogue-ellen-von-unwerth-por.jpeg

I was wondering if anyone could guesstimate what I can do to get a similar look?

From the above it looks like an HMI is blasting up the ambient light and a 22" Beauty Dish is doing the flash work, both the BD and flash look Profoto? (w/Hasselblad)

Either way what do y'all think?

Here's another shoot for example

http://romanceinthestars.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/raquel-zimmermann-and-caroline-trentini-for-vogue-nippon-june-2010/



Dec 06, 2012 at 06:43 AM
PeterBerressem
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Is this a beauty dish look?


The fresnel was used only during the set up, maybe also for a quick movie clip. Look at the dark violet balloon in the final shot - it tells that the dish was the only source used. Otherwise it would show reflections from additional lights (as visible in the balloons of the set up shot).


Dec 06, 2012 at 09:53 AM
myam203
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Is this a beauty dish look?


^Agreed. That definitely looks like beauty dish light, and the reflection in the balloons confirms it.


Dec 06, 2012 at 11:41 AM
BrianO
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Is this a beauty dish look?


andrew00 wrote:
...I was wondering if anyone could guesstimate what I can do to get a similar look?


If you look at the shadows -- under her nose, on the wall behind her, etc. -- you can get an idea of where the key light was placed, and the darkness of the shadows can indicate how much fill was used. (In these examples it looks to me like no fill was used; a one-light setup.)

The best way to get a similar look would be to use a beauty dish yourself, but if you don't have one then a small octabox or soft box without the diffusion panel can come close.

With any given size of modifier, the further the light is from the subject the "harder" the light will be; that is, the edge of the shadows will be crisper. So in addition to the height and angle of the light, its distance will have a significant impact on the quality of the light.

What lighting gear do you have now?



Dec 06, 2012 at 07:59 PM
RustyBug
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Is this a beauty dish look?


I'm trying to discern how much of "the look" is from the lighting vs. the processing. The size and distance of the BD compared to the falloff / key highlights doesn't quite match up with my expectations based on the lighting pattern alone.

I could be off base, but I'm wondering if "the look" here is being achieved by the lighting alone.



Dec 06, 2012 at 08:34 PM
phuang3
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Is this a beauty dish look?


I also think the fresnel didn't play any role in the lighting setup. For the DOF from a hassy, it just not bright enough for any effect.


Dec 06, 2012 at 08:40 PM
BrianO
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Is this a beauty dish look?


RustyBug wrote:
I'm trying to discern how much of "the look" is from the lighting vs. the processing.


Yes, the processing is definitley a big part of it. The photos in the linked-to group are lit differently, being outdoor shots, but have somewhat the same "feel."

That's something I need to learn more about; I've always been more of a realist, but would like to expand my repertoire.



Dec 06, 2012 at 11:14 PM
Mark_L
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Is this a beauty dish look?


A beauty dish may have been used but I wouldn't say this is the beauty dish 'look' which you get used in tight at 1-2x the dish diameter.


Dec 07, 2012 at 07:47 AM
andrew00
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Is this a beauty dish look?


Thanks for the replies y'all!

That's the thing that I both like, would want to recreate, but am unsure of how. I.E. In the above but the images are really contrasty, but have the direct flash look, which is the thing I like.

Like others have said above - Is it a well processed 22" BD image, or is it an in camera technical detail I'm missing (but would like to recreate).

As I see a lot of flat BD images and I see a lot of direct flash images that lose the detail and evenness of the above. What I like about the images above, you can see this a lot in the second shoot I posted a link to, is that the images maintain an evenness to the light and yet still have that direct feel, it feels like a best of both worlds that I'm keen to ape, essentially!



Dec 07, 2012 at 11:31 AM
myam203
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Is this a beauty dish look?


That look comes from the beauty dish placed slightly above and ~5 feet away, like you see in those behind the scenes shots. There's a bleach bypass sort of effect going on as well, but don't overlook the great model with great makeup, hair, styling, and skin retouched to perfection.


Dec 07, 2012 at 12:00 PM
Mark_L
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Is this a beauty dish look?


I wonder if it's a silver bd?


Dec 07, 2012 at 12:07 PM
RustyBug
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Is this a beauty dish look?


Mike Yamin wrote:
There's a bleach bypass sort of effect going on as well, but don't overlook the great model with great makeup, hair, styling, and skin retouched to perfection.


Bleach bypass (not my thing) .. that's what I couldn't recall, as I was wondering @ processing, retouching, etc. vs. lighting.



Dec 07, 2012 at 12:52 PM
andrew00
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Is this a beauty dish look?


Yeah I wondered if itd be a silver BD as it's more contrasty, or if it's just be a white BD that gets tweaked in PS.


Dec 07, 2012 at 06:59 PM
BrianO
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Is this a beauty dish look?


One of the things I learned from Simon Gerzina (Shatterkiss) before he stopped visiting was that one of the most important aspects of the beauty dish was its opaque center deflector. It allows one to bring the light in really close, for crisp yet wrap-around light, without blowing out the forehead.

Do to the dramatic fall-off of light when using a close source, most lights, if set not to over-expose the forehead (or nose, or whatever), would under-expose the ears or neck.

If you use a larger source from further away, the fall-off over the few inches from front to back of a face isn't so dramatic, so the center deflector isn't needed, but unless it's a really large source you can't get the same wrap as with a BD used close.

Going by Simon's advice, for the classic "BD look" I'd use my 20-inch BD at just 20- to 30-inches from the subject. Five feet or more? It may be a good look, but not what I'd call "the beauty dish look."



Dec 11, 2012 at 04:23 PM
marameo
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Is this a beauty dish look?


Sorry to bring this up. I don't have a BD at the moment. Yet, I have both a silver and opaque deflector. I was wondering if a small softbox - silver inside - can mimic the look of BD if I use the deflector.

Thanks



Nov 15, 2016 at 01:53 PM





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