JAY carreon wrote:

This is what I mean when I write about "getting it right in-camera"!

JAY carreon
PHOTOGRAPHER

But Jay, that is, or I should say results in, a particular look - and one which doesn't translate as well when shooting say color chromes.  Can it still be done?  Sure.  Can you or I do it?  Yeah, anyone with a light meter and a little knowledge can (this stuff isn't rocket science).  Will it result in the look that most clients today might want when commissioning work in either genre (glamour or beauty)?  Not likely.  Hurrell did this to a point, but there was also a LOT of retouching that went into it as well.  He didn't do that because he was incompetent as a photographer, he did it because that was what was necessary to achieve the look he, and more importantly his clients, wanted in the final image...

Fred Prose wrote:
22" Alien Bee Beauty dish with a bounce card camera left.  Always my choice for head shots.

Ab400 or AB800 Strobe?

-Kevin
NL PHOTO

New Life Photography wrote:
I have a quick question for you all. I'm needing a new strobe very soon and will be purchasing either the Alienbees AB400 or AB800, and the 22" beauty dish. Would you suggest getting the higher watt strobe for use with the beauty dish? I'll be mostly shooting in a small studio with the dimensions of 15'x15'.

-Kevin
NL PHOTO

For another 50 bucks I'd get the 800. The 400 would likely be fine in your situation, but you'll rarely wish you had purchased a strobe with less power.

I say rarely, as I have all 3 and when shooting in smaller studios I'd trade my 800 for another 400 at times. Dialing it all the way down, at times.

But then I realize there's more use for my 800 and all that...blah blah.

StephenEastwood wrote:
That out of date comment is just amusing, they are as out of date as using light to light an image. 

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.PhotographersPortfolio.com

that said I use 22inch with grids, all type silver, white, molas, hensel with center grid, soft diffused center and with no direct center light.  I typically use them as close to the subject as camera position allows, unless they are replacing the sun outside then they are about 8 feet away.

Hey Stephen,

I'm just about to purchase a Hensel  22" with a honeycomb snap on grid.
Do you know about it and is it to your liking??

Cheers

Sean

slave to the lens wrote:
You'll rarely wish you had purchased a strobe with less power.

I say rarely, as I have all 3 and when shooting in smaller studios I'd trade my 800 for another 400 at times. Dialing it all the way down, at times.

Get some ND filters  as well.

To get the full benefit of a beauty dish (for beauty work) it needs to be very close to the subject - ie. between 1 and 3 feet - and as you don't want to be stopping the lens down much past f/11 (to avoid diffraction problems) you may well find that an 800w/s strobe is too powerful without using an ND filter.

Frame In A Million wrote:

Get some ND filters  as well.

To get the full benefit of a beauty dish (for beauty work) it needs to be very close to the subject - ie. between 1 and 3 feet - and as you don't want to be stopping the lens down much past f/11 (to avoid diffraction problems) you may well find that an 800w/s strobe is too powerful without using an ND filter.

Ok when you say f/11 your talking about the apature or the shutter speed? I know everyone has all different was of talking about the same thing just trying to verify?

PrimalGraphix wrote:

Ok when you say f/11 your talking about the apature or the shutter speed? I know everyone has all different was of talking about the same thing just trying to verify?

f/11 is an aperture value...

MichaelDean wrote:

f/11 is an aperture value...

Ok thats what i thought but lets say your doing a nude beach shoot with a model do you really ant to be at f/11 seems a little off to me? unless your using lens like maybe 70-200 or something like that.

PrimalGraphix wrote:
Ok thats what i thought but lets say your doing a nude beach shoot with a model do you really ant to be at f/11 seems a little off to me? unless your using lens like maybe 70-200 or something like that.

I didn't say you have to be at f/11 - I said you don't want to stop down past f/11 or you will start hitting the diffraction limit of your lens.

However, if you were doing a nude beach shoot then I'd expect the beauty dish to be considerably further than 1-3 feet from the model, so you wouldn't be needing to stop down so far to reduce the light anyway.

Frame In A Million wrote:

I didn't say you have to be at f/11 - I said you don't want to stop down past f/11 or you will start hitting the diffraction limit of your lens.

However, if you were doing a nude beach shoot then I'd expect the beauty dish to be considerably further than 1-3 feet from the model, so you wouldn't be needing to stop down so far to reduce the light anyway.

OK sorry if i missed read wht you wrote my BAD!

PrimalGraphix wrote:
OK sorry if i missed read wht you wrote my BAD!

Hey, no sweat - sorry if I seemed a little short. That wasn't my intention

lambis wrote:
Profoto Beauty dish  with Grid

was this shot taken with the silver or white beauty dish

Beaupix Boston wrote:
Beauty dish does give contrasty light but makes beautiful butterfly shadow under the nose when used correctly. A large (40+ inch) silver umbrella can be used to mimic the quality of light from a bit farther away and this can be used for fashion type photo, especially if combined with a reflector panel from below.

A silver umbrella is more versatile because by varying the light source position you can change the way the light "focuses" on the subject. You can also open the umbrella only partially, which also change the quality of light.


I'm also a fan of bare bulb........ Beauty dishes rock as well.

Softbox is definitely much softer light, but unless you want to make boring artless light, I don't find softbox to be a good main light... (it is a good fill light)

Speaking of history of lighting setup, I'm still using barebulb in a significant part of my work and I definitely love the effects it provides. It requires a bit of skill to use it effectively, but at the same time I can significantly simplify my lighting setup. My whole studio setup (EOS 5D, a few L zooms, a few primes, a 500Ws power pack and 2 or 3 heads) comfortably fit in a single pelican case, but I would need a separate case for other types of heads.

I have unplesant experiences with sock-type diffusers. They alter color balance and it is only going to make beauty dish more softbox-like. Soft light makes model look flattering at first, but we get bored seeing those pictures very fast.