p.1 #1 · Paul C. Buff Beauty Dishes - Shots with white and silver HOBD?
Hey guys,
If you have them, can you post up shots with the white and/or silver dishes? There are shots on Flickr of course, but it's hard to narrow them down to just the newer HODB dishes instead of the older one or other brands and generics. I know the silver is much more specular, but I'm trying to find out if it's too much for my taste, and if the white is too flat for that matter.
Here's two shots from a studio I worked for with an (I think) ePhoto 22" dish. I believe I had the dish too far away in the closeup shot, so it lost some of its "punch", but it had a silver interior that wasn't super bright. It would actually be helpful if you could even just describe how the HOBD dishes compare to what I got in these shots. I think I'd just buy the ePhoto with the grid if it were in stock at Amazon, but it isn't and I don't know where else to find it.
p.1 #3 · Paul C. Buff Beauty Dishes - Shots with white and silver HOBD?
i've yet to find a use for my silver 22" PCB dish... i'ts 100% to direct... they arent lying about it be high output either... 1/16th power with the dish is about the same as full power with a grid on my B400's
p.1 #4 · Paul C. Buff Beauty Dishes - Shots with white and silver HOBD?
alaskalive wrote:
OMG, LOOK AT THOSE EYES!!!! OMG!
I know right?!
RoadconePhoto wrote:
i've yet to find a use for my silver 22" PCB dish... i'ts 100% to direct... they arent lying about it be high output either... 1/16th power with the dish is about the same as full power with a grid on my B400's
Thanks for the info. That's what I was afraid of. I have an Einstein, so I can power way down, but if it's harsh like that then I guess it's not worth it.
Still, if anyone has any shots, go ahead and post them up please! Is anyone making good use of the silver??
p.1 #9 · Paul C. Buff Beauty Dishes - Shots with white and silver HOBD?
Thank you, Mike! I appreciate that.
The silver is really too hot for a main light up close in my opinion unless you put a sock on it. That works fine but it loses its 'beauty dish' quality and becomes a 22" round softbox.
I have two other PCB dishes. One of the white old style and one white H/O.
The newer white one is just a bit more specular to me than the original dish.
I use the original dish if I want a softer light. For instance a beauty shot on a model in her late 20s. Children and teens to early 20s (with good skin) I can use the white H/O dish and get a bit more pop. After age thirty I will grab a softbox instead.
ETA: Mike I checked your site as well. Nice work. I really love your food photography.
Something I have yet to get a good handle on.
p.1 #10 · Paul C. Buff Beauty Dishes - Shots with white and silver HOBD?
No problem, Joseph! Thank you for the compliment on my work.
That's what I figured about using the sock. I wouldn't want to lose the look that beauty dishes are known for.
Your explanation of each dish helps a ton. I guess they're cheap enough to have both anyway, but I've even heard of people painting them to increase or decrease the specularity. I wonder if there's something that could just be used as a temporary insert though... like a brushed aluminum ring to attach inside the white dish for some more punch. Maybe a DIY project is in my future.
p.1 #12 · Paul C. Buff Beauty Dishes - Shots with white and silver HOBD?
I have a 16" silver beauty dish that i painted white because the highlights were too sharp. I believe that a beauty dish should remain white to ease the contrast from the light source. silver works really well with a larger light modifier such as a plm since the wrap helps to compensate for the harshness of the shadows.
p.1 #13 · Paul C. Buff Beauty Dishes - Shots with white and silver HOBD?
Cool shot Rick. Thanks a lot.
Thanks c2thew. I agree that white is probably best for achieving the full beauty dish effect. Do you find that the 16" is large enough? In what scenarios do you think it works best?
p.1 #14 · Paul C. Buff Beauty Dishes - Shots with white and silver HOBD?
Mike Yamin wrote:
That looks great, like a digital rendering or something. So no people shots huh?
no, i'm not very good with human subjects, unless they had alcohol in their system.
p.1 #16 · Paul C. Buff Beauty Dishes - Shots with white and silver HOBD?
beauty dishes are close range light modifiers: 5 feet or more based on the size of the dish. You can use it at longer dishes but the beauty of the light turns into light from a standard 7" reflection.