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Just Fab's Turkey Pan Beauty Dish
Beauty Dish for the Mechanically challenged a guest post by Just Fab
I had the honor of being photographed by one of my mentors, Don Giannatti (Wizwow on flickr) the other day after attending one of his fantastic lighting seminars. He chose to use a beauty dish on me. I love the way beauty dishes look, especially the way it sculpts the edges of my roundish face. Soft concentrated light which falls off quickly. You can learn more about the merits of the beauty dish on Don’s site.
Most of my inspiration for lighting setups come from that site and DVD. Anyway, I was so excited when I saw the images I knew I had to come up with something that could recreate the look that was portable and wouldn’t break the bank. Although I am handy with PVC pipes, my ability to use power tools are in question. I was thinking of cutting out a hole in a wok or mixing bowl, but I still couldn’t figure out how to rig it to reflect the concentrated beam back into the dish, plus my lighting stand would probably never stay upright with that kind of weight.
Then in a moment of brilliance, if I may say so myself, I came up with the lighting mod you can see at the top of this post.
I used a “Fong” type Lambency diffuser that I carry with me in my bag, but you can make a DIY one as listed on here.
I took the blue “cooling filter” lid that I never use and covered it with foil to reflect the light back. Next I took an inexpensive ($2.99 US) aluminum turkey-roasting pan and cut a hole in the middle to accommodate the base.
Next place the foil covered lid on. You may need a little duct tape to keep things secured. Attach to the strobe and you are in business! And if you travel by air just take the diffuser with you, go to the grocery store pick up the pan and some foil. No need to lug your equipment, although you may get some odd looks if you are trying to appear professional.
Here is the original image taken with an approx $200 dish:
Here is my $2.99 dish. I think mine makes me look, well…at least 25 years younger!
A little bit of Just Fab by Just Fab
Here is the beauty dish in action. Hope you enjoy!
Beauty dish setup by Just Fab
Get Yourself a Strobe:
Related Links:
- Original image on Flickr
- Don Giannatti's beauty dish tutorial
- The Ghetto Studio
- Soup Beauty dish modifier
- More beauty dishes
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Comments
Great results
Great results, though I would love to see how the image looks before being Photoshoped..
Very Ingenious
Great work. I love to see people using everyday materials to produce wonderful imagery. The concepts of thinking outside the box must always be used when producing the creative images we all aspire towards. Bravo!
great ideas, rock on!
I'll try it with a sto-fen omnibounce.
Suce a good idea
I always search a way to do my own beauty dish.
I'm hurry to try it myself. It's seems to be be easy to do it.
I tried to build my own ring flash. I succeded but results do not satisfy me.
hmmm...
is it the same model?
very deceptive. would be great to see an exact comparison.
overall great idea!
lol
thats totally 2 different models if you could get that kind of affect from lighting post production would be out of a job and all the lighting in america would change and plastic surgery would go out of business
More modifications
After further discussion that these dishes are usually painted white inside, I lined the pan with white duct tape. The light is still soft and concentrated but less contrast.
See results here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/justfab/2111754621/
Hope you enjoy. I can't stop using mine!
This is a great improvment
I guess it is because the light is reflected in a more even way.
Thanks for sharing this improvment.
Marry Christmass.
- udi
Beauty Dish
Thanks for the inspiration. Of course it caused me to build my own...liked it so much I built 2!
http://www.nicholaushaskins.com/2007/12/dish-of-beauty.html
dishes in action:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/haskins/2113479747/
??????
umm.....those are different models
That is a nice project but
That is a nice project but those are two diff people that is why you well look YOUNGER DUH!!
turkey pan beauty dish
Great idea! It being Christmas, I made myself a present of one of these. Curved the foil a bit more and softened the light with white nylon paperclipped over it's face. Works well on a flashbracket for macros too - but I wouldn't want too use it outside on a windy day!
Next project, the Ghetto Studio.......
Thank you so much for this
Thank you so much for this idea. I got some great shots with it which I will post soon!
Whoosh
Who cares if they're two different models? Obviously the glow produced by the flash + pan is similar enough to prove the point that a $2 "hack" is almost as good if not the same as a pro tool.
Great idea
Awesome job. Great to see such ingenuity at work! Can't wait for an opportunity to try it out!
No duping here, Mates.
Hey Mates, here is no duping going on here. He forgot to put in the first photo for the comparison. We are looking at the result with the use of the dish in the first photo. The next girl is an entirely separate event just showing the results of using the dish. Anyone with the slightest bit of intelligence can tell that they are not the same girl. I don't think he believes we are that naive.
Enjoy the photos.
Makes me hungry
Can you still cook turkey in it afterwards? Definitely a great, easy to make dish.
diy project
I decided that I had to make one of these myself and try it out myself. I use a Canon 10D, STE2 and 420EX flash. My question is that I am having trouble trying to get the right flash compensation. Do you just use ETTL? or do you set the light ratio between the remote and the flash to a certain ratio? The problem I am having is that although my pictures look properly lit on my camera view finder they look dark when I download to my g3 imac. When I open it up in photoshop, I find that I need to fix the curve a bit to bring it back to way it appeared on my camera. Sorry for the long winded explanation, but I am trying to figure out how to get the right light ratio without having to fix it all in photoshop.
thank you,
I love your ideas. I can't wait to try to make your ghetto light studio.
nice
I'd like to see what it looked like before they ran it through overlay, high pass, and finally a turkey sandwich.
Mood...
Hi,
After I saw your beauty dish (Great Idea) I tried to make one but I could not achive your effect on the photo! My picture looks like a normal picture taken with a softbox... do I miss?
I shoot with a 580EXII and in ETTL mode.
Thanks a lot!
Ale
Where to find the strobe
Where would you pick up a strobe like the one in the article?
Hardware stores?
I need to find one to make the project
Strobe
You can just look for a used Nikon SB26 or Cannon 550. Those are pretty easy to find.
If you want the new stuff, look for Nikon SB800 or Canon 580EX.
- udi
a lens sit in the MIDDLE of
a lens sit in the MIDDLE of a beauty dish doesn't it? :)
In the middle of the dish there is a reflector
you can use anything for that. even a CD spindle cover like the one used here.
- udi
Try using a beerbottle,
Try using a beerbottle, after a few of those it makes everyone look younger!!
wow!
I just wanted to say thank you for being so creative! Im trying to get a studio going in my house and have a "shoe string" budget as far as lighting goes. Ive made my backgrounds (and still making more) ive made a softbox and today im going to do the beauty light. Im excited!! i don't know if anyone will take me seriously as far as walking in and seeing my home made studio, but it works just as good. It actually feels like "my" studio too, which is a neat feeling. keep up the good work! I love all these ideas and seeing the pictures that come from them!
jess
>Blushing<
Thanks Jess, Actually the kudos in this case goes to Just Fab. She has done some really creative things in her work and has a great flickr stream.
I wish you the best of luck with your home studio. I would be happy if you shared your experience in making it.
there's no way that's the
there's no way that's the same person in both shots! WOW!
Amazing
Amazing how it also closed the slight gap in her teeth also. That thing's amazing.
NOT SAME MODEL
The first one is the photographer, the second one her daughter. Go to her Flickr page listed above to see more.
No it is not the same model.
The top picture is of me (Just Fab) taken by my friend Wizwow with his $300+ beauty dish on studio lights. We (me and my daughter) created the shot with a $3 Turkey Pan. My flash is set on manual. I don't remember the settings but my guess it was somewhere around 1/4 power. The trick with the beauty dish is that the light needs to be in fairly close for effect. Also make sure the beauty dish is completely filled with light (take a picture of it to check). It also helps to have the center piece even with the pan, otherwise you may get a dark spot in the middle. Take the flash and test it close to a bare wall and see if if the output gives you a dark spot. I have also further modified the pan by lining it with white tape instead of silver.
Sweet!
Oh, wow! That's awesome. I think the turkey pan one even looks better...
Another one
Here's the one I made, based on this excellent recipie: http://automagisk.no/blog/?p=37
the two models are entirely
the two models are entirely different. I dont even think the first one is a real photo... looks photoshopped in with the photographer's face. If you look at the face and the green tank, two different sharpness. The face is not sharp at all... This has to be a joke.
re: models
well, two persons indeed, the photog and her daughter
I like the look of your
I like the look of your cheap dish better :D
The turkey pan beauty dish
The turkey pan beauty dish is amazing! I didn't have a Fong so I rigged one up with waxed paper and aluminum foil. It works really well! Click the link to go to my flickr account to see the picture of my brother I took using the turkey pan beauty dish. I think it turned out well!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnauqram_zil/3793760059/
re: beauty dish test
wonderful results, Liz. I love the specular glow you put on the red wall.
I'd be grateful if you posted an image of the dish to DIPY's flickr pool.
Just a thought...
How about cutting a hole big enough to fit over the diffuser-thingy in another pan and painting it white... then you could clip it on if you want the white dish look... or leave it off for the silver...
oh, and maybe a white pillowcase to soften the light more... definatly gona have to try it....
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