Beauty Dish and Reflector

First we placed the 200CX in a beauty dish and used a C-stand to arm it over our subject and aiming down at about a 45 degree angle.

How far the beauty dish is from the subject controls how dramatic the center shadow will appear. A beauty dish has a reflector that bounces light back into the dish producing a ring-shaped projection of light and the effect becomes more pronounced the closer the dish is to the subject.

A beauty dish produces fairly hard light making the shadows a darker and the overall image will have more contrast than a softbox, umbrella, or any modifier with diffusion. Make sure you can see some of the light reflecting in the subject’s eyes and that the shadows of your subject’s nose, lips cast don’t run off the face.  This is a great starting point because we can bring those shadows back up.

A reflector is truly the MVP of the studio. Here we’re using a piece of white foam insulation. If you don’t have a C-stand you can simply have the model or an extra pair of hands hold it for you.

Work with the angle and distance of the reflector in relation to the light and the subject and keep shooting to see the results. Guess and check is the methodology that gets you there fastest.

Subject lit with both the 200CX in a beauty dish and now with the reflector as well. The light is a basic daylight setting matching a daylight balanced COB.

Once the shape of the shadows is set it’s just a matter of tuning those shadows up or down to taste by bringing the reflector in or out and if you’re using any of Hive’s Omni-color lights playing with the color to set the right mood.

Cosmetic: Cool Amber

Cosmetic: Neutral Rose

Cosmetic: Warm Violet