Light quality from a beauty dish vs strobes

9 years 10 months ago #381810 by Justin
I'm trying to understand the difference between using a strobe and beauty dish on portraits.  Can someone share just the key points of why the light is (if) different.  Are all beauty dishes the same?  

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9 years 10 months ago - 9 years 10 months ago #381908 by KCook
A strobe provides light.  A beauty dish is simply a fancy reflector, it does not make any light by itself.  In theory a beauty dish could be used with a continuous light, but I have not seen any examples of that.  Beauty dishes are normally used with some sort of strobe light, either a speedlight or a studio strobe.

A beauty dish focuses the light, similar effect to a deep (bullet shaped) light reflector.  But the light from the beauty dish is more even, which can be flattering for closeups.  It is also common practice to cover the front of a beauty dish with a diffusing cloth, which makes the light effect more like a small, round softbox.  Links for more info -



jakegarn.com/elinchrom-beauty-dish-vs-deep-octa/

neilvn.com/tangents/using-a-beauty-dish-light-modifier/

Kelly Cook

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