# Beauty Dish Vs. Umbrella Vs. Reflector.



## Trever1t (Nov 30, 2012)

Just for giggles, not a true scientific evaluation as I didn't measure distances or light accurately....




3 little bears by WSG Photography, on Flickr


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## Designer (Nov 30, 2012)

There is obviously a difference, but I think it is still a matter of taste and appropriatness to the subject.  So how do we decide?  I really like the beauty dish shot.


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## tirediron (Nov 30, 2012)

Cool!  It would interesting to see a series with the same strobe output just to get an idea of the relative light cost of each modifer.


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## Trever1t (Nov 30, 2012)

Yes, I did note power differences, offhand. Beauty dish obviously focused light, very close to subject at lowest possible output with very noticeable less spill. The bounced umbrella an easy 2 stops brighter than the shoot through at the same distance. Using the shoot thru does allow you to get closer with lower flash output to get same exposure but falloff is more pronounced and with my white walls and low ceiling it's harder to control (read nearly impossible).


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## Derrel (Nov 30, 2012)

In shots 1 and 2, the red ribbon's color looks virtually the same. In the third shot, done with the shoot-through umbrella, we can see a much lighter gray background, and a lighter ribbon, and the white fur in the third shot looks very,very light and nearly detail-free.

I think the difference in the foreground is the most striking thing about these three frames. The beauty dish has the most detail. The second shot, done with the reflecting umbrella, appears to have the same amount of exposure on the bear and his neck-ribbon, but less detail in the white fur.

The third shot, the shoot-through, appears quite detail-free, and appears maybe a slight bit "over-exposed" on the bear, at least compared against shots 1 and 2.

None of the shots are horrible...all have at least "something" going for them!!!


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## Trever1t (Nov 30, 2012)

Derrel I agree with your observations. Hence, the beauty dish is a no go on my face, too much detail for my old mug.  

For a corporate party coming up I am setting up a mini-studio, will be using 2 bounced umbrellas and company backdrop. Boring as far as lighting but adequate me thinks.


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## Dennissphoto (Nov 30, 2012)

I prefer the beauty dish


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## greybeard (Dec 8, 2012)

I like the reflected umbrella, not too bold, not too flat.  _(jmho)_


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## Robin_Usagani (Dec 8, 2012)

it is better if you do it in a big room with tall ceiling.  If not, the walls need to be dark or the light will bounce everywhere and the comparisons isn't as good.


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## jake337 (Dec 8, 2012)

Where's the softbox?


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## Trever1t (Dec 11, 2012)

Robin_Usagani said:


> it is better if you do it in a big room with tall ceiling.  If not, the walls need to be dark or the light will bounce everywhere and the comparisons isn't as good.



It would be nice if I had a mansion and a yacht too Robin, I just have to work with what I have and can afford


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## Robin_Usagani (Dec 11, 2012)

Outdoor at night


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## joshua_ (Dec 11, 2012)

Wow.... 

Great info, thank you.

It's amazing to see the differences.  This really will help me.  I'm very new to this and this sort of side by side really helps me.

I've already been interested in the umbrella (reflective type) but I may also be interested in a beauty dish.  

I did a quick search to see approx cost, but there seems to be a good spread.  If you don't mind answering, what beauty dish did you use there and what is the approx cost?

Thanks again


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## fjrabon (Dec 11, 2012)

Nothing against trever's experiment whatsoever here, it's definitely cool to see stuff like this done on here, but keep in mind the 'subject' is a fuzzy teddy bear, thus the reflection off of it is going to be VERY diffuse.  This means that it will handle harsh lighting much better than human skin, for example, will.  Thus, we see almost none of the softness benefits to the shoot through umbrella, and all of it's lack of control negatives.  

Softbox, umbrella softbox, strip box, gridded softbox, reflective umbrella, shoot through umbrella, beauty dish, honeycomb grids and even bare flash all have their uses.  Ultimately you need to know how soft you need your light and how controlled you need your light and choose a modifier accordingly.  There's no such thing as a 'best' modifier, they're all simply tools.  

Now, you can ape the effects of some modifiers with others, especially if you add in gobos, but remarking that the beauty dish is 'better' here is simply acknowledging that when you have a very diffusive surface for a subject, that control and contrast will probably win out over softness (that you don't really need).


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## Village Idiot (Dec 12, 2012)

I like shoot throughs when outside where you don't have to worry about the spill so much. I'll come back and post up some comparison shots when I'm done uloading the paper order. They're not all of the same subject, but you should be able to see a difference.


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## fjrabon (Dec 12, 2012)

Village Idiot said:
			
		

> I like shoot throughs when outside where you don't have to worry about the spill so much. I'll come back and post up some comparison shots when I'm done uloading the paper order. They're not all of the same subject, but you should be able to see a difference.



A trick I've really been using more and more when blending ambient and shoot throughs and spillover needs precise control is to set the camera to high speed continuous and fire two shots. The first will be the shoot through in all its out of control soft glory. The second will be before the flash had a chance to recharge and thus 100% ambient. Then in photoshop align and layer mask the two together and have completely perfect control over spill.


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