E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Beauty Dish? I really don't know where that name came from! The light coming from these so-called beauty dish ain't necessarily more "beautiful" than light coming from anything else! OK- A beauty is is certainly another handy tool in the wedding photographer's kit, however, it's important to remember that the aesthetics of lighting have more to do with the photographer's skill and know-how than any particular equipment usage. Outstanding bridal portraiture and wedding photography can be produced equally well with any number of lighting systems once you master your techniques and know exactly what you are doing. Learning to SEE LIGHT is one of the most important talents to develop. Understanding the physics of light in terms of illumination, quality, angle of incidence, feathering techniques, distance, diffusion, reflectivity, direction and specularity is the key to dynamic lighting. There is no automatic intrinsic beauty in any particular piece of equipment- the results are up to you! Well- thank goodness there's no such thing as an "ugly dish" !

So...a beauty dish is a dish or pan kinda reflector with a central DEFLECTOR that covers the flash tube, and reflects the "hot spot" back into the dish, thereby smoothing out the lighting pattern. Generally speaking, the effect is usually somewhere between that of a large parabolic reflector and and umbrella. The absence of a hot spot makes it less applicable to feathering techniques so in certain cases, you may render less texture in complexions thereby having a slightly more of "smoothing" effect on your subject's face. Again, this is not an automatic result with this kind of modifier because the rendition of skin tone and texture is mainly controlled by the placement of you lights, the contrast or light ratio of your lighting scheme. The softness/hardness is still based on relative subject/reflector size and the distance of the light(s) to the subject. Of course, optical performance of your lens and the application of soft-focus or optical diffusion also factors in to the "beauty" level or approach. Oh- don't forget about makeup- cosmetics! Of course, camera position or angle and the "sculpting" of facial features by various lighting forms and patterns is also a major consideration in all kinds of portraiture.

Beauty dishes come in various sizes and finishes just like their umbrella and parabolic counterparts. Most of them are of metallic construction and there are a few collapsible umbrella-like models. I use a 24" matte finish dish that works nicely with my Photogenic(tm.) flash gear. As a main light, it is generally a touch softer that a feathered parabolic and is a bit harder that a matte silver umbrella. It can serve as a fill light as well.

This kind of light is a very old concept. I have a 50 year OLD 36" tungsten flood light unit where the deflector swings in and out of position. It is a combination parabolic and beauty light that takes a 1000 watt lamp. Theses "hot lights" combined with Fresnel spot lights were the standard tools of the "Hollywood" glamour photographer of the 1930s and 40s. Also,,, good for barbecuing chickens!

Sometimes, in in closeup and 3/4 portraits, a beauty light will create a kinda donut-shaped catch-lights in the eyes which may require a bit of retouching. Because of their large size, beauty dishes can be problematic in subjects with eyeglasses. It is easier to control certain reflections with smaller light sources. In full face portraits, I sometimes eliminate reflections in eyeglasses by tilting them slightly downward and/or raising the main light slightly. In some situations, I utilize blank eyeglass frames.

Next addition- more modifiers and tricks!

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Hi Ed.
I read part 7 and 8 in one sitting. Good stuff. Thanks for sharing.

I've honestly never seen the Beauty Dish that you pictured. That one is kind of intriguing. Much larger than the other ones I've seen for use on a speedlight.

Lots of good insights. I'm really enjoying this series.
Thanks
Bob

jaysnave Loc: Central Ohio

Ed, I will echo Bob's appreciation for your knowledge sharing. Much to be learned from your many years of experience. I have a beauty dish that I am still experimenting with. Sometimes I think I will always be experimenting. I most recently bought the Wescott Rapid Box with the beauty dish reflector so it is sort of like a softbox/beauty dish combo in an octabox shape. OMG, can't go wrong with all that right Ed? What I like most is how light and portable it is. Anyway, I wanted to drop a post to keep encouraging you to teach Ed. I got busy this week and not been keeping up like I hoped to. I am going to construction job sites shooting for a concrete company's website! A little opposite than wedding photography, but hey you get to wear old clothes.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Hey Bob!

Thanks for the feedback!

That beauty dish comes from an outfit called MAG MOD- they have a nice line of very compact and well made modifiers and gel type filters. Their system starts off with a very strong magnet adapter which is fitted to the Speedlight and the various accessories are held in place magnetically- kinda neat!.

Fact is, however, just about anything you stick in front of a light or bounce a light into or of off is gonna have some effect- some more and some less. As we discussed previously, allot of it has to do with size and distance.

I can justify or understand many of claims made by manufacturers about their modifiers that are used on studio flash units and stuff like mono-lights. Theses units have modeling lamps so you can see exactly what the modifier is doing, if it is effective and most importantly you can visually fine tune your lighting by making adjustments in the placement of the lights, in relation to the subject, and also adjust the position and orientation of the primary light source within the modifier. If there are no modeling lights and you can't see exactly what you are doing, you are working at a disadvantage. At a wedding, there is little or no time for experimentation or too much "chimping" so we gotta get it right- right off the bat!

With a Speedlight, of course, there is no modeling lamp so just pumping the light upward into a beauty light, a soft box or anything else is just a matter of guess work and trial and error as to what the actual results will look like. As you mentioned- sure it's gonna soften the light a bit, perhaps, or just rob you of a couple of f/stops with very little aesthetic improvement.

Especially with a beauty light, the central position of the flash tube, behind the deflector, is critical for the kind of performance one expects, otherwise, any modifier will prove some level of diffusion.

The new guys and gals gotta be able to differentiate between real lighting technique and advertising hype, otherwise they're gonna be throwing money at useless gear.

Thanks again, Ed

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Thanks, Jay! It's always nice to hear from you and the other folks here in the wedding section. Sometimes I feel like a DJ working the all-night shift at a small radio station and wondering if anyone is actually listening! I have grown kids, grand kids and (creative) employees at the studio and young students at the college- so I am used to nobody listening to me! Oh- and my lovely wife of 48 years- she, at least pretends she is listening to me!

I am glad to hear that you are getting the results you like form you modifier- it sounds like a nice one.

Nothing wrong with industrial photography- I also spend most of my time, nowadays, during the week doing commercial work, architecture and construction progress as well. Sometimes shooting on a site with jack-hammering, welding, blasting and rumbling cement mixers- all somewhat more calming than the pace of a wedding. My city is putting in a light-rail transit system so there is plenty of digging, excavation, mud, dust, gravel, dirt and all that good stuff to photograph! can't wait for the new shiny trains.

Regards, Ed