Hair light: what should I use?

[Foxtrot_01]

Hello all,
I am still a beginner and I wanted your input, I do glamour shoots, I use off camera flashes(285Hv) and I DIY Beauty Dish that works well, I use an umbrella as a fill light with the 285Hv. I have enough material to build a second BD, the only thing I need to buy is the bracket(ebay $34), I was wondering if the 2nd Beauty dish would be a good choice for hair light on a 3 point key lighting scenario or if a soft box would be better?

I use the BD as key light, umbrella as fill light.

any suggestions?

 

[tirediron]

If you want it solely as a hair light than I would go with a snoot/barn-doors type modifier. 11x17 matte black construction paper and masking tape makes a great DIY snoot for speedlights. This will let you get exactly the amount of light you want with no spillover.

 

[KmH]

I made my selection of speedlight snoots out of cereal boxes, velcro, and gaffers tape.

I also made speedlight grids using cereal boxes, corrugated cardboard, straws, and gaffers tape.

I also kept some cinefoil handy for various odds and ends, like making temporary flags.

 

[Derrel]

I like an 11.5 inch reflector with a 20 degree honeycomb grid, a mylar snap-on diffuser, and a set of 2-way barn doors as my hair light.

If you have a standard-sized beauty dish that will accept a honeycomb grid (16,20,22 inches are std.sizes), that would be fine.

You can also use a mostly-closed umbrella as a hair light; aime the flash into an umbrella that is MOSTLY CLOSED. Silver-surface interiors work well.

Hairlighting can also be done by shooting flash through a transparent fabric-covered panel called a scrim, or panel.