Have you tried this unusual way of using a beauty dish?

One of my favorite things to do is using gear, props, or arts & crafts materials in unconventional ways. It often gives unexpectedly good results and you come up with some great new techniques. This is what Miguel Quiles does in his latest video. He uses a beauty dish in a way most of us probably wouldn’t, and he ends up with fantastic results.

For the first setup, Miguel uses a beauty dish with a grid in a pretty traditional way. He places it at a 45-degree angle and above the model, lighting her directly. He also added two black V-flats on her both sides, a reflector underneath her chin, and another modified light to create some background separation.

But then, he tries a different approach. He takes the grid off and turns the beauty dish away from the mode. He shines it onto a white V-flat behind him, which creates large and soft light and lights both the model and the background. Once again, he adds a reflector underneath her chin to bounce some of the light off. Take a look at the results:

I personally like both of these looks. They’re very different and it all depends on what you want to achieve. It makes this setup extra-handy because it means you can get two totally different looks with the same (and relatively minimal) set of studio gear. Which one do you prefer? And have you used a beauty dish this way?

[One WEIRD Way To Use A Beauty Dish For Portraits | Miguel Quiles]