Beauty Dish - Need ideas for Photoshoot

[astroNikon]

So I picked up a 22" Beauty Dish last week. It's a silver one with a sock and grid.

But I'm looking for ideas on interesting modeling poses for upper body using a BD.
I have a couple models coming over next weekend so I'm putting together a setup plan but I'm looking for interesting posing concepts.

I like a lot of the concepts on this one website from the 1st, 3rd, 4th (high key), and the last ones as a few examples I'm going to aim for. The 2 models will be doing makeup changes in order to accomodate my ideas ... though I'm still trying to put together more ideas.
==> 5 Ways to Use a Beauty Dish Light for Portraits

So I'm wondering what interesting BD shots people have used in the past.

FYI,
I'll be using a grey background .. or white and I'm going to color it in a few shots. I also have a couple other varied colored BGs I could use. Model will be on a stool. My 2 models are both 5'1" so I actually could do full body shots too (using different lights). I'll be using my D750 and 80-200 @100mm to minimize perspective distortions and probably f/5.6-7.1 for upper body. I've tested out the distance and I have enough room for the model from the background and far enough back for upper body shots. Of course I don't want to go any lower than 80mm, but can also use my 85mm AFD lens.

Though with a BD, I may want to be closer. I'll be testing out my setup this week and making appropriate changes. I've never used a BD before. Should be fun.

 

[table1349]

Wonder how that would go over with the wife, buying new gear and then looking for something I can use it for. She is fairly patient with me when I go about it the other way around.

Nikon, there is always porn.

 

[tirediron]

BD + Reflector = Clamshell

 

[astroNikon]

BD + Reflector = Clamshell

I tried that once ...

it wasn't pretty ...

 

[astroNikon]

BD + Reflector = Clamshell

I'll remember to use the reflector for BD at an angle. I didn't think of that.

Is there a good reason to mix a white BD sock diffused light, and use a silver reflector? Or just stick with white reflector?

 

[Derrel]

People have different ideas about how specular they want the light of the beauty dish to be...silver interior gives a bit more sheen (specularity) than a white interior does. I see nothing wrong with adding the sock diffuser to a beauty dish if it gives the look you want it to.

I have wondered about maybe using whitewash type material on the inside of a silvered beauty dish, meaning some type of liquid-based solution that could later be wiped off with warm water and a cloth, or maybe wipoed off with a mild cleaning solution, like white vinegar,etc..

The way I see it, one of the major attributes of the beauty dish is the clean, circular-shaped, bright eye catchlight it can create, as well as the fairly crisp, yet diffused light it can throw.

 

[astroNikon]

My BD is a silver interior. I thought I bought a white one.

I'm actually looking at methods to temporarily make it white such as molding a white paper into the BD. Until I figure something out I'll use it as is, with the sock, I also have a grid for it. I can't get the white one with a grid at the price point I bought it at.

 

[Derrel]

BD + Reflector = Clamshell

This is a classic use of that type of light, with the light placed fairly straight overhead (like at the 12 o'clock position), so the nose shadow comes almost straight down, and then an under-chin reflector board kicks some light back up, and onto the lower part of the eyeballs. The effect looks pretty good much of the time.

If you do not have enough overhead space to get the light up high, you could work with the subject seated on a chair or stool.

As far as silver-to-white interior: for $2.69 a can of spray paint ought to convert that silver interior into a white interior in a jiffy! The idea of lining the dish with white paper (maybe held in place with some masking tape) makes sense to me as well.

 

[astroNikon]

Yes, my models will be seated. Plus their short anyways 5'1". So I do have enough headroom in this instance. I also was going to use a small table/stool to hold a reflector too get under the chin/eye sockets.

I thought of the spray paint, except when I do want to use the silver I'd have a problem ...

 

[Derrel]

Years ago, I had a 16 x 22 inch solid, thin steel sheet that came off of a large posing table, and it happened to be tapped in several spots with 1/4 x 20 female receptacles, so I made it into an under-chin reflector of the type suggested by J. Barry O'Rourk in this book How to Photograph Women--Beautifully

I painted the under-chin reflector matte white on one side; the other side was its natural stainless steel color. I used to angle it on a 3-way pan-and-tilt tripod head, so it was handy. That was wayyyyy back in the early 1990's.

You can get a similar effect as an under-chin reflector by using a white pizza delivery box, with with or without aluminum foil taped to it. Or a sheet of poster board from Office Depot, or paper tacked to a large, flat piece of cardboard. With something like a beauty dish or a small reflecting umbrella from close in and angled in from overhead, there can be quite a bit of close-range bounce from a smallish reflector that the model holds in her hands, or which is angled just right. Even a cookie sheet is enough size for that lower-eye catchlight if the reflector is within arm's reach of the subject's face and the angles are correct.

You will likely find that the beauty dish has a fairly noticeable central core of light, and fairly rapid fall-off toward the edges of its spread, and that aiming it requires somewhat precise placement. You'll most likely want to first-off, set the correct height by raising or lowering the light stand so the nose shadow is below the nose but doesn't reach the upper lip, and then second, loosen the monolight's mounting and tilt screws, and "waggle" the light through a left-right arc, and also and up-and-down tilt angle arc. One,two,three.

This is the classic way to set the key light placement with a small, hard modifier like a metal 'pan" "dish' or 'bowl' type reflector. It might seem silly, but actually following this three-step process is helpful when you have a smallish, narrow-angle light used at such a close distance! Step one gets both the right catchlight in the eye AND makes sure the nose shadow is there, but not overly long. Setting the proper height of the key light when the key light is a metal reflector of that (small) size is important! This is not a massive softbox or a big umbrella, and the catchlight is sharp.

 

[SoulfulRecover]

My primary modifier is a 22" BD, white interior with a sock. I jump between the Clamshell method and just the BD. Great lighting setup.

If you want a temp white interior, you can try using white Plasti-Dip. It will peel off after you're done. Well it SHOULD peel off if it was done right.

 

[ronlane]

I got to hear Tony Corbell speak last night and he was talking about beauty dishes. His comment and suggestion was to "use the BD at 3 feet or closer" and it will make good skin better. But if it's not good skin don't use it.

 

[Derrel]

You might be surprised that Kirk Tuck has written that he sees little difference between a beauty dish and the results he gets from a "well-tuned" small reflecting umbrella in the 30 to 32-inch size range. He's been a successful Austin, TX pro shooter for the better part of three decades now, and he specializes in people photography for business and industry, and is a huge proponent of lighting equipment and technique as the best way to differentiate one's photography.

 

[ashleykaryl]

This is one I have that can be used pretty well for larger subject areas. I have a sock and front grid for this one as well. A key difference is the internal gold reflector you see that produces nicer skin tones.