Can a beauty dish be TOO BIG?

[andrewdoeshair]

hi. Long time no post. My work is primarily “shoulders up” portraits for various uses in the hair industry, and I’ve always used either a little 24x24 soft box or else a 16” beauty dish (on an Interfit honey badger), but I recently moved into a much larger studio and I want to get like, a 42” beauty dish or a 6ft Octobox— just something epic and huge to sort of celebrate finally having the room to use it (also hopefully start doing some waist up or even full body shots). Everything I’ve read about and experienced with lighting says that bigger is better for portraits— is there a “too big” possibility? Will a giant modifier make a difference for my “shoulders up” shots at all, or just open up the option for adding a waist in there, too?

Thanks for reading. Any advice is appreciated. Here’s a typical shot I’d get with the 16” beauty dish— just to get an idea of where I’m coming from.

 

[tirediron]

Bigger is better... too a point. Bigger generally equals softer, flatter light which can be flattering... to a point. IMO, a 42" BD is too large; you're going to lose the point of using a BD, and it's just going to become a generic, medium size modifier. I do like big modifiers, and I use 48" - 72" softboxes and umbrellas, but almost exclusively for fill. My typical portrait set-up is a 36-42" umbrella for key, and a 60" for fill. I use a 20" BD for a lot of my work as well, usually in a single-light setup. Where I could the 42" BD being useful is in high-key work, but again, it wouldn't really be working as a traditional BD.

 

[andrewdoeshair]

Thank you!

 

[SoulfulRecover]

If you are still looking around for something new, check out the Photek Softlight II

Also to expand on what TiredIron said, a larger modifier would allow you to have the light further away while maintaining soft light. Just comes down to how its used.

 

[ebyelyakov]

In physics generally bigger means better. However, aesthetically it might not work for you -- direct, diffused light is very gentle and perfect for newborn photography. It is low contrast, gentle, soft light that is also quite boring (for the lack of a better word). Considering on your specific uses (you mentioned hair related shots) there may be requirements forcing you to achieve a good definition and the level of detail for which the diffused light is not the best.

 

[Sharpshooterr]

hi. Long time no post. My work is primarily “shoulders up” portraits for various uses in the hair industry, and I’ve always used either a little 24x24 soft box or else a 16” beauty dish (on an Interfit honey badger), but I recently moved into a much larger studio and I want to get like, a 42” beauty dish or a 6ft Octobox— just something epic and huge to sort of celebrate finally having the room to use it (also hopefully start doing some waist up or even full body shots). Everything I’ve read about and experienced with lighting says that bigger is better for portraits— is there a “too big” possibility? Will a giant modifier make a difference for my “shoulders up” shots at all, or just open up the option for adding a waist in there, too?

Thanks for reading. Any advice is appreciated. Here’s a typical shot I’d get with the 16” beauty dish— just to get an idea of where I’m coming from.
View attachment 179153

Andew, that’s quite a beautiful portrait, very beauty dish like!
Here’s my question, does anybody actually make a BD that big? If so, then yes, somebody must use them. As Iron said, the bigger the softer! But like anything else, it’s just a different light.
Maybe check out the pics created by those 7’ umbrellas made by Wescott or Profoto or whoever. The real shiny silver ones are almost like a BD. Would love to see some results with a BD that size if you get one!!
That big BD would be my biggest modifier!!! LoL
Good luck
John