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Archive 2014 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

planalpha
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

I've been watching a lot of the Lindsay Adler videos and she uses a beauty dish for a lot of the shots that I like. I'm not one to just buy everything out there when I can make something else work, so I was wondering if I can achieve the same look with a small softbox, or perhaps a ABR ring flash (not shooting through it).
Or should I just find a cheap 22" speedlight beauty dish?

Thanks all.

Jul 01, 2014 at 08:22 AM

BrianO
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

The advantage of a beauty dish is the deflector in the center, which reduces (translucent deflector) or eliminates (opaque deflector) the light at the center that could cause a hot spot of the subject's forehead when the light is used really close (which is what a BD is designed to do). A large softbox can give a hot-spot-free light by keeping it further back (inverse square law, fall-off, etc.) but the results will look rather flat. A BD gives a more dramatic light by using fall-off to best effect.

You can simulate a BD with a softbox by making a mask with a round aperture that has a smaller mask in the center. A ringlight will usually have a smaller lit area than a BD, unless you get something like a Buff Moon Unit, which goes to the opposite extreme.

If you can manage it, I'd go for a true BD in your situation. There are more-expensive and less-expensive models, so you should be able to find one that's reasonable in cost while you're learning. You can get a better one later if you find you use one often enough to justify the cost.

I my case, I use an RPS Studio BeautiDish, designed for use with Speedlites. I have both types of center deflector, a diffusion sock, and a grid for mine, and I generally mount it on a boom stand.

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/ufiles/94/824394.jpg
https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/ufiles/91/813991.jpg
https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/ufiles/66/870466.png

Jul 02, 2014 at 12:34 AM

planalpha
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

BrianO-
Thanks for taking the time to reply! That RPS looks like a great option for decent BD. Any thoughts on size? 22" too much?
BTW, I have studio envy. What a great space!
Any info on the green background thingy?

Thanks again!

Jul 02, 2014 at 11:31 AM

BrianO
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

planalpha wrote:
That RPS looks like a great option for decent BD. Any thoughts on size? 22" too much?

22" is a good size, I think. I have an 11" one that I use as a hair light or accent light, bit it's too small to use as a true beauty dish. One rule-of-thumb is to have the dish as far from your subject as its diameter, so a 22" dish allows you to have the dish almost two feet from your subject and still get good wrap.

planalpha wrote:
"BTW, I have studio envy. What a great space!"

It didn't last...we sold the house and I moved into a small apartment. It was fun for a while, though.

planalpha wrote:
...Any info on the green background thingy?"

It's a Westcot X-Drop. Best portable BG I've ever used. After attaching the fabric of your choice you can further extend the upper arms to stretch the fabric tight, virtually eliminating wrinkles. In addition to the chroma-key green shown, they also have solid and patterned colors, and you can easily make your own with any light, stretchy fabric and a few grommets or eye holes.

In addition to being a BG, I've used the white fabric as a reflector and the black fabric as a cutter. One of my projects this summer is to take an old Space Blanket (silver mylar) and make a super reflector out of it for use outdoors.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=WESTCOTT+X-DROP&InitialSearch=yes&N=0

In use, of course, you have it turned the other way around from how it's shown in my photo; I just shot it that way to show the setup.

Good luck in your equipment adventures.

Edited on Jul 19, 2014 at 12:40 PM · View previous versions

Jul 02, 2014 at 04:02 PM

planalpha
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

Brian-
Well, now you did it...
I just ordered the RPS 22" dish and that cool X-Drop system.

Thank you for the information!

Jul 02, 2014 at 04:28 PM

BrianO
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

planalpha wrote:
Brian- Well, now you did it... I just ordered the RPS 22" dish and that cool X-Drop system.

Uh oh! Am I now a co-addict, enabling your G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)?

(I'd better not mention my YN-622 TTL-capable radio Speedlite triggers.)

Jul 02, 2014 at 11:14 PM

planalpha
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

BrianO wrote:
Uh oh! Am I now a co-addict, enabling your G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)?

(I'd better not mention my YN-622 TTL-capable radio Speedlite triggers.)

Hahha..
I actually just ordered the non-TTL version with the BD to use as a remote shutter release for my X-E2.
I never found TTL to work very well for me so I didn't bother. I am curious if you were able to get a higher sync speed with them.

Jul 03, 2014 at 10:22 AM

BrianO
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

planalpha wrote:
...I am curious if you were able to get a higher sync speed with them.

I had not used other radio triggers since going digital, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I get full sync with my YN-622C triggers by using the High Speed Sync mode on my Canons.

Jul 03, 2014 at 04:08 PM

planalpha
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

Brian-
I finally received the beauty dish today after a couple of false starts with some vendors on Amazon. I ordered the 22" but received the 20" (sigh). Do you think I should try and find a 22" or is the 20 good enough?
Also, there were no directions included and I wasn't sure if the center disks were supposed to have the bevel pointed towards or away from the flash. Any insights on that?

Thanks again for the help!

Jul 19, 2014 at 12:20 AM

planalpha
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

Brian-
Thank you for taking the time to create that image for me! It makes sense when you think of it like that. Looks like I have to go flip that disk.

Do you ever bother with the white disk? And what are you using for a diffusion sock?

Thanks again for the info! PM me if you're ever in Portland so I can beer you. I really appreciate the help.

Jul 19, 2014 at 08:15 AM

JohnBrose
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

My interfit model came with a diffusion sock. there might be generic ones available for your model or maybe the manufacture sells it separately for the model you bought.

Jul 19, 2014 at 08:23 AM

BrianO
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

planalpha wrote:
...Do you ever bother with the white disk? And what are you using for a diffusion sock?

I have the translucent disk virtually permanently attached to my 11" dish, which I use as an accent light, with or without the grid and/or sock (see images below), but I haven't used it with the 20" dish yet. If I were using the big one from further back than usual, and not to create "that beauty dish look," I might use the white disk to get a brighter center spot.

I have a grid and a sock that I thought came with the big dish, but maybe I just bought them at the same time; it's been awhile, so my memory could be faulty. (I do recall that the grid and sock did NOT come with the little dish, and were ordered separately.)

planalpha wrote:
...Thanks again for the info! PM me if you're ever in Portland so I can beer you. I really appreciate the help.

You're very welcome. I was born in North Bend when my parents and sisters were living in Coos Bay (there was no hospital in Coos Bay at the time), and I still have cousins in Portland, Albany, and Sweet Home, but I don't get down there much any more. I'll keep your kind offer in mind, though, if I'm down there or passing through.

Jul 19, 2014 at 12:24 PM

planalpha
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

BrianO-
After some delays, I finally got to experiment with the new beauty dish. Thanks again for help. It's quickly becoming my favorite light modifier!
BTW, I did blog post about it and put up my first shots with it. Do you mind if I use the light bouncing graphic you posted above?
Here's the post:
http://www.lightwith.me/first-shots-with-a-speedlight-beauty-dish/

It's basically my lighting notebook that I put online since it forces me to expand upon everything and log the details.

Jul 31, 2014 at 10:04 AM

BrianO
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

planalpha wrote:
...Do you mind if I use the light bouncing graphic you posted above?

I don't mind at all, if you don't mind using what was just a quick doodle in Paint. It's not great art, and definitely NOT to scale.

Jul 31, 2014 at 12:44 PM

planalpha
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

Thank you, Brian!

Aug 07, 2014 at 11:06 AM

Vlad_IT
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

BrianO wrote:
Well I'll be; I thought my RPS Studio BD was 22 inches, but I just looked at the box it came in and it says 19.8 inches.

I wouldn't worry about a difference of 2.2 inches; from a practical standpoint there won't be much noticeable difference.

Unlike a studio strobe head that casts light in all directions, a speedlight has a built-in reflector that directs the light forward as a beam. The curved disk acts to bounce the light out onto the surface of the dish. If you think of the photons as if they were billiard balls, and the surface of...Show more →

Westcott Rapid Box 26" Octa Softbox
Guys, what do you think about this as a softbox and a beauty dish? I want to try only one modifier, a reflector and few extra speedlights for hair/ backlight for evening outdoor portraits. Thanks in advance. Vlad.

Aug 12, 2014 at 06:10 PM

BrianO
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Psudo Beauty Dish?

Vlad_IT wrote:
Westcott Rapid Box 26" Octa Softbox ...what do you think about this as a softbox and a beauty dish?

Had I not bought my BD before I learned about the Rapid Box, I might have bought the latter instead; I really like the portability offered by the folding design.

I'd get a grid attachment for the Speedlite for spill control, but other than that the Westcott product with center deflector looks good to go.

Here's what Neil van Niekerk wrote about it:

http://neilvn.com/tangents/review-westcott-rapid-box-26-octa-softbox/

http://neilvn.com/tangents/using-a-beauty-dish-light-modifier/

For a grid, our own fellow FM member Spencer Boerup has created the MagMod system:

http://magnetmod.com/

(BTW, Neil must not have seen my post on which way to mount Speedlite deflectors; in the photos on his blog he has his backwards!)

Aug 13, 2014 at 12:19 AM


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