I definitely enjoy a DIY project whether remodeling my house or creating a new light modifier for the kit. Recently I decided to create a beauty dish and ran across a nice design from photographer Todd Owyoung. The portraits above of Olympic track cyclist Jennie Reed, at left, and the prep baseball player were lit only with the beauty dish I made. MORE PHOTOS AND HOW-TO INFO AFTER THE JUMP…
The DIY ethic in small flash circles is not a new thing at this point with sites such as Strobist and DIY Photography, and rather than re-invent the wheel check out Chris and Todd’s video on making a beauty dish and the accompanying blog post.
Designed to fit a Nikon SB-800 speedlight, I chose to find a cheaper solution for a mounting bracket to the Owyoung’s “cheat” of using a pre-made part from a another light modifier, and scoured the racks at Home Depot until I found a “L” corner brace to use for the mount, shown below.
Below, a quick test shot of all the parts assembled for the beauty dish prior to painting, and the always gracious young model.
Though I haven’t gotten to shoot the beauty dish as much as I’d like yet, I really like the quality of light it produces and that it holds up waaaay better in a breeze as compared to a softbox or umbrella when on location. The beauty dish was then main –or only– light for portrait session with Kenechi Udeze that was highlighted in a prior blog post. Below is a little visual reminder, the only light source coming from the dish at the subject right. Enjoy!
5 comments
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26 August 2010 at 7:49 AM
Rick Takagi
I’m all over this. I’m so glad you posted it….thanks!
3 September 2010 at 2:26 PM
Chad Coleman
No problem, Rick. Your welcome. Would love to see how it works out for you, so keep me posted!
3 September 2010 at 9:06 PM
Guess the Lighting
the chinatown special is freakin’ awesome. great job guys.
cheers,
GuessTheLighting.com
2 November 2010 at 12:20 PM
John Legend | Portait « Seattle Editorial Commercial Photographer Chad Coleman
[…] And below, a quick behind the scenes snap of our portrait “set” — a conference room wall — complete with my DIY beauty dish. […]
2 November 2010 at 12:21 PM
John Legend | Get the most from a press portrait session « Seattle Editorial Commercial Photographer Chad Coleman
[…] And below, a quick behind the scenes snap of our portrait “set” — a conference room wall — complete with my DIY beauty dish. […]