You’ve heard it before I’m sure: as photographers, we write with light. This, of course, can be any type of light. Very often, when we begin our journey, we rely on natural light, and eventually move to shaping that light with tools such as reflectors and silks. Next comes the classic if inevitable softbox and umbrella. Each gives us a greater ability to shape the light to fit the images we have in our minds-eye. As we refine our skills and style, we gravitate towards more specific light shapers, those able to help us unlock our visions. If that vision is beauty, fashion, or portraiture, a beauty dish may be the tool to help get you there.
What is a Beauty Dish?
A beauty dish is a pan-shaped reflector, with a flat(ish) back and steep walls. The shape of the beauty dish is its most important aspect. A small circular piece of reflective material (the deflector) is mounted in the center of the dish about 3-4 inches in front of the light source. While they can range in size, a standard beauty dish is around 20-25 inches in diameter. Traditional beauty dishes were made of metal and fall into a category of light shapers called hard reflectors. This doesn’t mean the light from the dish is hard, but rather the materials that make up the dish are. Over the past decade, a number of collapsible-style beauty dishes have been made, allowing us to take this amazing light shaper with us wherever we go.
When and Why to Use a Beauty Dish
Why would you choose a beauty dish over a hard reflector like a Magnum or a softbox? A beauty dish creates a style of light that is difficult, if not impossible, to create with any other light shaper. Because of its unique shape and use of a deflector, the beauty dish allows us to create hard-style light that is remarkably even with no hot spots.
This is incredibly valuable for beauty photography as the hard light is perfect for shaping the face. The even falloff of the light ensures shiny makeup will glow but not become an overexposed highlight. Many fashion photographers love the look of the beauty dish. It can be used as a primary source when placed 6-10 feet away from the subject, creating punchy-but-even light that casts hard shadows to shape the subject and clothing. Or it can be used in combination with large soft lights to bring a little more punch to the overall image.
Another popular use of the beauty dish is by portrait photographers looking to provide that “celebrity” look to their clients. Let’s face it, most photographers are using the same softboxes and standard lighting positions. Sometimes having a cool tool to add flavor to the session can really help the subject feel special.
How to Choose a Beauty Dish
Some of the questions you will need to ask are:
- Should I go with a hard reflector style or a collapsible fabric dish?
- What size dish should I get?
- Silver or white interior?
- What accessories are available? Which ones will help me create the images I want?
Let’s take a look at these questions one at a time.
Hard vs Collapsible
There are a few factors to consider here. The first is portability. There is no question a collapsible dish is much more portable. If you intend to travel with your dish, or have limited space to store your gear, collapsible is likely best.
Another consideration is compatibility. Some collapsible dishes work using a “speed ring” system and thus a single dish can be used with multiple systems of flash. Hard dishes tend to be more rugged. If you operate a busy studio, a hard dish might hold up longer. The quality of light from a hard dish is also a bit different so if you have been renting or borrowing a hard dish and love that look, you may want to invest in that same type of reflector.
Beauty Dish Size
If you are unsure, or have seen many images you like created with beauty dishes , you will probably want a standard-size dish around 22 inches. This will give you the classic look. Larger sizes like the Glow EZ Lock Collapsible Silver Beauty Dish (42″) are great when you want the punchy-yet-even feel but need to cover a larger area, like a ¾ portrait versus a headshot, or when used at a greater distance as a key light with a bit softer shadow transition.
Silver vs White
A silver interior will cause highlights to “pop” but can also create hot spots on very reflective subjects. The white will reduce the possibility of hot spots but does make for an overall less punchy image.
Placing the Beauty Dish
Placement is key for a beauty dish. The deflector allows for close positioning and the classic size creates a “hard but not too hard” light at about two feet distance. If you use the dish further away, you tend to get a nice punchy look, but that same look can be had with other hard reflectors.
Grids can be added to many beauty dishes reducing the spread of light while increasing shadow contrast a bit. A fabric diffuser can be a good addition to help lower highlight contrast, but keep in mind it often increases the spread of light from your dish.
Best Beauty Dishes
As they are the most versatile, I will recommend a few collapsible beauty dishes that might be great additions to your kit.
The Glow brand offers a large number of lighting modifiers and studio accessories. Affordable and versatile, Glow is a strong brand to consider when building your perfect studio or location kit. The Glow EZ Lock Collapsible Silver Beauty Dish (34″) is a silver-lined dish that will produce a nice punchy light for your beauty and portrait shots. The dish comes packaged with two diffusers (internal and external) to create a very smooth light, effectively creating light similar to an octa-softbox in feel when both are used. Also included is a grid, which makes this dish a great value.
The Westcott Beauty Dish Switch, like the Glow dish, has an interchangeable connector plate allowing the Beauty Dish Switch to be used with many brands of light. With a white interior, this dish will create a gentler light and is ideal for portraiture. Included is a neutral diffusion fabric. A grid can be purchased separately.
My personal collapsible dish is the Profoto OCF 24″ Beauty Dish with Deflector Plate, White. This dish is the closest in dimensions to my hard Profoto dish — being about 9” deep versus 13-15” for the others. Like the Westcott, the white here helps create a smooth look for portraits. As part of the OCF line, this dish is compatible with all the Profoto OCF lights. Like the other two, a fabric diffuser is included.
Conclusion
A beauty dish is a powerful tool we can take advantage of when creating beauty, fashion, and portraits. Select the size that is best for you; larger for fashion and portraits, smaller for beauty and that classic beauty dish look. Use silver for a specular pop, white for a creamy light, and use the diffuser and grid to really finesse your final images. Follow the best practices as far as placement and you will have stunning images your subjects will love.
Now, let’s create three looks with a beauty dish:
