Beauty Dish and Softboxes – Glamour Photography
For new photographers, using a Beauty Dish or a Softbox, may sound intimidating, but in reality it’s not! I’ll illustrate why you should start using one right away. Photography is a learned craft, for some it comes easy and quick and for others, it takes time and practice. Whichever you fall into, one thing is for sure, you will eventually start using light diffusers like a Softbox and a Beauty Dish. Advancing your craft should be a priority, so it’s best to start now.
A flash for your camera is a must, but seasoned photographers learn how to control light. This is so true when photographing models. Your model may be beautiful, but if you don’t know how to “light” her correctly, the results may be less than flattering.
Whether you’re shooting your subject indoors in a studio or outdoors, a Softbox to diffuse your strobe light will enhance your final photo. Take it a step further and use a Beauty Dish and bang! That’s right, it makes all the difference in the world. I’ve been using both for many years now.
I use them for family photos, graduation pictures, headshots and glamour photos for magazines and websites. Each have their own strengths but at times, I’ve use both at the same time.
First, I’ll use a large soft box to light the upper body or whole body, something like the Godox 47″/120cm Umbrella Octagon Softbox will be enough for a portrait or to use on the upper half of the body.
Second, use a beauty dish to make the models face “pop”, like I did with the photos of Jeneen. She had done her makeup really well and had perfect skin, but I wanted to even out the light more, so I used Beauty Dish to accomplish my vision. When it comes to beauty dishes, don’t pay too much, forget about brands, they all work the same. But this is not true about sofboxes, get a better name brand like Godox or something similar.
Finally, whichever you go with, Softboxes or a Beauty Dish, make sure you get the right “mount”. My strobes all are Bowen mounts, so make sure to order with the mount you need!
— This is a guest post by OCPix, he has over 25 yrs of experience in photography, be sure to follow him on Instagram @OCPix. Model: Jeneen she’s on instagram as well, go give her a follow, let her know OCPix sent you!