The Teaser and a New Toy

[rixafter6]

I think Fish said it best, “Why use just a few words when a lot will do.�

I’ve wanted a beauty dish for a while now and thought of making one, but I couldn’t find the right shape and material to make one. I tried a trash can lid, a do it yourself oil changing pan and finally remembered about Don’s “salad bowl� beauty dish. With six dollars worth of Home Depot items (a white can of spray paint and three nuts and bolts.), and a donated (16�salad bowl� attached to one of my Photogenic reflectors I had a new light source.



I had a light blocking unit in front of the strobe to reflect all the light into the bowl but the light was still too harsh, although not as harsh as a direct blast of light. I took off the light blocking unit and added an umbrella to shoot through. That did it. The quality of light coming through the umbrella is a lot softer after being reflected by the white “salad bowl� rather than a standard silver Photogenic reflector.



My brother is due over with his tap and die set so I can add a set screw to the other side so I can tighten the umbrella down when I use it in conjunction with the light blocking unit.



I was very pleased at the quality of light when I used it as the main light in conjunction with a bounced fill light and background lights. I was also pleased with the diffused shadows it produced when I used it as a single light source. Overall I think I was able produce some pretty good dtuff in spite other equipment malfunctions plaguing me last Saturday. Tell me what you think in the thread called “The pleaser after the teaser.’ thread.

Rick D.

[Jon_Howard]

That's funny Rick, I made one of those last Friday myself.

I'm not happy with it though, I'm looking for a larger diameter outer piece (I didn't measure it, but it's an 8 quart stainless mixing bowl).

Your shots with it look good!

Cheers

[stevenD]

your a regular McGyver...

can it do this:

[rixafter6]

Maybe the light can but I'm not sure I can.

I've got a few more things to try out like gels over the front instead of an umbrella maybe some diffusion material in combination with a gel.

Nice image bro.

Rick D.

[rixafter6]

Steve:

You may not have seen the other thread, but this is what I did with it.

Rick D.

[rixafter6]

Jon:

This one is 16" across and not deep enough or directional enough for my taste, but it does produce a nice soft light.

Rick D.

[BGPhoto]

[ QUOTE ]
...deep enough or directional enough for my taste, but it does produce a nice soft light.

[/ QUOTE ]

<edit> re-read the post and answered my own question.

That's a unique setup. Do you see much of a difference shooting with your new bowl and umbrella vs. a standard 7" reflector and umbrella?

[rixafter6]

One thing I didn't mention in the first thread was to always remember that if you modify any of your equipmnet you can probably kiss your equipment warranty goodbye.

Don't forget about your liability insurance either. If you've modified your equipment and something goes wrong...well I'm no lawyer but it would be wise to find out what you're liable for if something unfortunate happens.

Udate on my New Toy.

My brother came over with his tap set so we could drill a hole into the secondary umbrella holder for a new set screw. We experimented on a hapless junction box I had laying around and it was a good thing too, because we couldn't come up with a small enough screw with the right threads to fit his smallest tap. Imagine how professional that would look with five holes in the side of your holder.

So this will have to do until I can get back to Home Depot.



Now where did I put that insurance policy?

Rick D.

[rixafter6]

I like the way the light performs now but now I'm going to add the light blocking unit and the umbrella together and see how that works out. I'd like to get a little more diffusion in the transition area of the light and shadows so the edge of the shadow won't be as pronounced.

Rick D.