DIY Beauty Dish Fight At High Noon
Have you ever wondered what are the subtle differences between various home brewed beauty dishes?
Photographer Ed McGowan had just the same question in mind. He faced off two of the more popular DIY beauty dishes: on the left corner, wearing blue shorts at feather weight, the Turkey Pan beauty dish. On the right corner, enforced by the elements, wearing red, the Terra Cotta bowl beauty dish.
Winner after the jump.
There is no KO in this match. Lets count the points:
Light - You can look at the images above or pixel peep in a big file here. The pan has bigger reflection area, so I was kinda expecting a bit softer light, yet, for me they look pretty similar.
Weight - winner is turkey pan by points. Not that I think that there are big points in weight. If the strobe can carry the dish, it doesn't really matter.
Sturdiness - big points go to Terra Cotta. It is build better and thus will travel better and will pay off the crafty after noon for a longer time
Looks - well, the pan dish kinda looks like a championship belt, but if clients are around, the Terra Cotta looks more pro.
And the winner by points, according to Ed is "Terra Cotta bowl more...mainly
because it looks better".
What do you think? Which Beauty Dish do you like better? Sound off on the comments.
Featured comment by Lech: Terra Cotta rocks the pants off Turkey time! The color cast is one aspect for sure, but beyond that, there's a whole gallon of deep frying oil more highlight coming off the subject shot by the plant dish. Her skin tones are warmer, the whites are whiter, and the complementary colors in the neckware really dance. More detail in shirt by a mile, and even look at the light in the jeans - much sweeter blues come out with the Terra. To me, it's totally hands down - Terra over Turkey. I would consider amending your post even since after reading it, you didn't do the comparison justice.
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Comments
Re: DIY Beauty Dish Fight At High Noon
Were these two images run through the same post-processing? What surprises me the most about this comparison is the COLOR CAST!!! When the subject was lit with the turkey-pan beauty-dish her skin is a bit dull and flat, kind'a lifeless... When lit with the terra cotta bowl beauty-dish her skin tones are warmer, richer and just seems to have "life".
I'm guessing that's because the dish is white instead of silver. (?)
In addition to color, I noticed a bit more detail in her shirt when lit with the terra cotta bowl beauty-dish, it's definitely sharper.
Just my 2 cents worth. Thanks for the comparison!
I kinda tend to agree with
I kinda tend to agree with wotsit above. However - is it me or does she have the exasperated "here we go again" look that I know so well from my own experience of trying to test out things on the kids/wife?
re: BD's
@anon now that you mention the cast, I cant believe I did not see it before. makes sense with the silver "coating" on the turkey pan. I think, however, the image on the right (terra) is not exposed similarly to the image on the left. The model is a bit underexposed in comparison to the other image.
@FJ1200 I wish that was the look on my wife when I asks her help. it is more like squinting eye with fire coming out of them...
would like to see a
would like to see a comparison to a real beauty dish...
reflector color
While I was researching online for the "best" color for a reflector (the dish is a reflector) I found a site with measured readings that showed white has more reflectance than silver, which was better than gold. I can't put my hands on the link, tho. I also think the bowl shapes the light better than the turkey pan. There is a lot to be said for durability.
Terra rocks the socks off the Turkey
Are you kidding me, Terra Cotta rocks the pants off Turkey time! The color cast is one aspect for sure, but beyond that, there's a whole gallon of deep frying oil more highlight coming off the subject shot by the plant dish. Her skin tones are warmer, the whites are whiter, and the complementary colors in the neckware really dance. More detail in shirt by a mile, and even look at the light in the jeans - much sweeter blues come out with the Terra. To me, it's totally hands down - Terra over Turkey. I would consider amending your post even since after reading it, you didn't do the comparison justice. (Don't take this the wrong way - your work is invaluable, but the analysis just needed a few more errant eyeballs)
Great work - thanks for doing this. I love seeing the results of the acid tests and boy am I glad I went Terra and not Turkey!
re: comparisson
Hi Lech,
Thanks for all the pointers. pixel peeing is a learned skill - so it seems - and that was a great lesson. I think the comment is to valuable to be left at the bottom - and it is now a part of the post.
Fame!
Ah, my 15 minutes of fame - they feel great!
Thanks for your great work on DIY - I'm a big fan of the site. I really appreciate how you present DIY options to those expensive toys that we all really want, but only recently learned we could make!
Lech
no oroblem Lech
This was well deserved. This is part of the fun here, that I get to communicate and learn so much
BTS Setup shot?
Any chance you took a behind the scenes shot? Just curious about the light placement and distance to the subject. My past experiences with DIY beauty dishes left me grabbing my softbox instead but these shots look pretty decent.
Terracotta upgrade
I like David's terracotta beauty dish just because it looked so much more professional than anything else I'd seen. But I didn't like the dark spot in the center. So, with a mylar baloon and some creativity....
I didn't fully eliminate it, but I did cut down on it considerably.
Details at http://www.linearconcepts.com/?p=1598
TIM
My own DIY Beauty Dish
It amazes me that this is the most popular post on my blog: http://thephotophile.blogspot.com/2010/10/diy-beauty-dish-on-cheap.html it seems that lots of people want to build their own!
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