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27
Mar
2010
Strobist Corner – Viewer Submitted Tips & Tricks
Product Reviews
The e-Photo Beauty Dish w/Nikon SB-800 Speedlight:
Product Reviews
i/e TTL Cables
I have been shooting outdoors a lot the past few weeks. I’m working on a new article “Shooting Outdoors with a Beauty Dish” for GlamModelz Magazine and of course this site. (yes, I’m listening to you)
Since I’m using the e-Photo Beauty Dish as my primary fill. (under a noon sun), I did not want to rely on CLS to trigger my strobe at distances I’m comfortable with. I had I really needed a longer iTTL cable, Nikon only offers a 3′ coiled cable that stretches to 10′ But anyone who has actually attempted to use these cables close to there limit can attest, that is ridicules!!
I found this 5 meter cable pictured above at Adorama and it’s Rocked my World. I am no longer fighting and tugging my Beauty Dish to get that perfect shot. Adorama offers this cable for both Nikon and Canon through the lens flash systems. I have even used the Nikon cable on my Hasseblad a time or two (manual mode of course), Don’t tell on me 
e-Photo’s Beauty Dish:
Recently I purchased a 16″ Beauty Dish, from my friends at e-Photo
I must admit I am having a lot of fun with this Beauty Dish outdoors. But after using the Alien Bees, Beauty Dish with the flat white interior for so many years, I will need some time to acclimate myself to its power range. The highly reflective silver interior surface throws a lot of light on your subject!!
The center reflector on this Dish is fully adjustable and slides back and forth on it’s metal hangers. There are two indents to serve as stop guides, which I have not yet had the time to experiment with. I love using this Beauty Dish connected an SB-800 via an i-TTL cable. So far I’m very pleased when I shoot .07 of a stop under. I’ve had great luck using Nikon CLS in remote mode.
The e-Photo Beauty Dish w/Alien Bees 1600:
Very recently I shoot in my friends studio; Studio K, in Modesto CA. It’s a beautiful, spacious, modern facility very well equipped in the California central valley. If your ever looking for a rental studio in that area, I would highly recommend Studio K.
My buddy had taken the studio’s Beauty Dish out for a day shoot, but I had my new e-Photo dish in the car and decided to see what I could manage. The e-Photo 16″ silver Beauty Dish connected up to my Alien Bees 1600′s like it was designed for it. First, I really must say; WOW, I had no idea how much light my white Alien Bees Beauty Dish was eating… From the beginning I had to reduce the power down to about 1/3 on my AB 1600 (shooting at ISO 100 with the dish about 10′ from my model).
I managed to get the feathered lighting effect I love so much and it was exactly where I expected it. So aiming was easy and experienced no learning curve issues jumping from the AB 22″ white dish to the 16″ silver dish.
You realize all studio lighting has its own color shift? The color shift is usually much more prominent at lower output settings than it is at higher settings. I have not yet had the opportunity to shoot a color card and write a profile, but I will and update this review sometime soon.
Overall I was very happily surprised with the performance and effect from the e-Photo Beauty Dish when used in conjunction with my Alien Bees. I have no doubt this Beauty Dish would be very effective with lesser powered systems. From ten feet away in the studio I can still light a full body shot, so I haven’t noticed any negative effects from the 16 inch size. This Beauty Dish is easily maneuverable in the field because of it’s smaller size. You will need to sandbag your lightstands, this dish will catch wind just like it’s big brother…
The e-Photo Beauty Dish w/Nikon SB-800 Speedlight:
The setup I purchased from e-Photo is marketed for the Canon 550 and Nikon SB-800 series speedlights, but it appears to me that it will attach to virtually any hot-shoe mounted portable flash. The adjustment in the bracket (pictured above) easily accommodates from the very small through very large speedlights and portable flash systems.
Kristina was shot Rembrandt style (a single light, centered, 8″ above eye level), with my SB-800 connected directly to the camera through an i-TTL cable. OMG! I LOVE THIS SETUP!!! I have no idea why I decided to connect the i-TTL cable, but thank God, I did. I immediately went onto e-Bay and bought a 33′ i-TTL cable to extend the distance of the speedlight from the camera.
With the Speedlights I’m still seeing the magenta cast in the white balance and need to make a -3 correction in Camera Raw to compensate. No big deal! I quickly became accustom using this dish as a fill source and it’s another tool in my arsenal that I can not live without!
They offer a studio version of this Beauty Dish without the speedlight bracket and costs a few bucks less too. e-Photo has a speedring option available, you should consult them regarding studio strobe attachment.
In conclusion I guess I should list the Cons. I don’t see any with this particular Beauty Dish. IMHO all Beauty Dishes share a few disadvantages. They are bulky and difficult to pack for transportation. You do not ever want to dent a Beauty Dish. Loss of it’s shape will undoubtedly effect the light on your subject. The #1 disadvantage to owning a Beauty Dish is: Models will quickly become addicted to the flattering light, insisting that you shoot at all hours of the day
This is a Must Have Light-Mod, for any serious Strobist!!
e-Photo Beauty Dish here. e-Photo’s entire e-Store
Models appearing for this article are: Danielle, and Kristina Marie. For booking inquiries the models should be contacted directly.
Artistic Makeup Artist Christalbell
Strobist Softbox: e-Photo also offers 24″ and 16″ softboxes for portable flash systems. They are sold individually or in sets of two, with or without light duty light stands.
This softbox is made with a twist and flip to open design and are very sturdy when open. They come in a handy little pouch for carrying and they are easy to assemble. These softboxes have the same fully adjustable mounting bracket pictured on the Beauty Dish above and it can accommodate very tall profile speedlights. Your flash unit sits outside the back of softbox, making the controls easy and quick to access.
Just as with any softbox the light is very flattering and soothing to your subjects. I especially like using mine in a Rembrandt lighting scenario with this softbox as a single light source. I feel it seems to do it’s best work in this type of lighting situation. They work great with i-TTL or manual mode. I have even been known to set the speedlight in Slave mode, triggering my softbox with the Beauty Dish.
This awesome device from the photography Gods is here.
Viewer Tips & Tricks
Tips & Tricks
My buddy Ron, of Ethereal Pixels, turned me on to this awesome little Must Have set of gels. These sample gels from Rosco, are available from many photography suppliers and linked from the Amazon e-Store to your right.
I love these, I simply flip down the diffuser on my Speedlight to hold the gel in place and fire away. The set includes over 256 gels in all and I paid something like $5.00 for the sample set, plus shipping and handling.
Be very careful, consistent usage can cause the gels to melt and distort badly. I have come close to being burned removing these after a half hour of heavy use.
DIY Photo Equip.
I love anything to do with Do It Yourself, sometimes I’m a sucker and will waist twice the time building something then I could have bought it for… BUT…. It needs to perform! Here I will rate some DIY photography projects and equipment.
DIY Photo Equip.
The DIY Beauty Dish: I used Tyler Burk’s method to build my Beauty Dish last year. It was simple to build and took about 45 minutes as described on his site. My local auto supply didn’t carry the 3,1/2″ convex mirror I needed for the front of the CD spindle, I finally found a 5″ mirror at Micheal’s Art Supply. I used black electrical tape to attach the mirror which worked very well. Later I found the perfect mirrors at Wally World, but I have never gotten around to swapping it out.
This shot of Bailey to the left is one of the better examples I have using the DIY Beauty Dish. Notice the light on her right, it seems a little hot for me. The light is very hard to control and it’s not consistent. It dose work good as a large reflector, but it’s just not effective as a “Beauty Dish” IMHO..
Over the past year I have really put this design through it’s paces and I must admit I am not very pleased with the results. It functions more like a large reflector then it does a Beauty Dish. This is the primary reason for justifying the $60 portable Beauty Dish from e-Photo (pictured above) This dish works great as a 14″ reflector and the light loss is minimal. It’s very light weight, but bulky and difficult to pack in with your other equipment.
The DIY dish is not something I would recommend for someone who needs the lighting qualities of a real Beauty Dish.
Photoshop CS5
First Reports CS5:
My good buddy Jeff DeHaven of DeHaven Digital has been playing with the latest version of Photoshop CS5. He sent me this late last night, which I found interesting enough to share with you all. In case you have not heard Photoshop CS5 has one or two new features including this sneak peak of the Content Aware Tool.
Holy $#*! it actually works!
Attached is a very very quick example, before and after. All I did is create a lasso around model Carolyn, went to fill- used the “Content Aware” option in the fill dialogue box, and this is the end result. Obviously a very difficult texture for it to work with and these results are less than ideal, but imagine the possibilities with removing a tree blocking the sky or something where there is more of a gradation rather than complex texturing.
Ciao
Jeff
Jeff
Hmmm Jeff, I really hate to ask this, but if I were to use this awesome new tool a little more carefully and a lot more tighter …..
Dave
NOTE: I have complied some information on configuring Nikon CLS here. Canon users should note a separate, oppositional Commend Unit is available to work with 550 and 440 series Canon flash equipment. I’m told the command unit has been incorporated in the 7D and other Canon cameras.
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I receive a lot of e-mail asking what I use in the field and why. We’re all learning, sharing knowledge and experiences helps us all enjoy our art to the fullest.
I would like to open this page to a lighting discussions. Equipment must have’s, Tips & Tricks. Review your favorite on-line photo store/product. e-Bay purchases, etc…
* You are encouraged to post links to your Photography related site, Nothing else!
* I’m not attempting to collect SPAM here!!
* You may use BBCode (or use the link below the comment box ) to post image examples and/or lighting diagrams. I will approve anything caught in my Spam filter as soon as I can, usually twice a day.
Regards
~Dave
My Bandwidth increases every month and the costs of hosting the tutorials is becoming prohibitively expensive. Donations are always greatly appreciated and will guarantee continued updates and on-line presents.
Thanks so much, Dave |
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