There’s often a lot of confusion when it comes to whether to use a silver or white beauty dish, but depending on the one you select, can drastically change the outcome! I hope to demystify that with you today in this video. 😃
A little background on what a beauty dish is first:
A beauty dish is a light modifier that doubly reflects the light source -- first into a reflective panel in front of the flash head, and then into the dish back onto the subject. This creates a mix of both soft light with a pop of contrast.
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I often love using beauty dishes in my work because of the stunning quality of light they can produce, which is perfect for my style as they create a little more pop and contrast.
While this video discusses using the Profoto brand of beauty dish -- as they call it the Softlight Reflector -- the concepts discussed here are universal and you can pick up just about any brand beauty dish.
👉️ The differences
A white beauty dish produces a softer and smoother quality of light with a little less contrast.
A silver beauty dish produces a more specular quality of light that brings out more of the highlights and details which ultimately produces more contrast.
Something to keep in mind is because of the way the silver beauty dish concentrates light, it produces nearly a stop brighter than the white beauty dish. This makes it a good choice for example when trying to balance with sunlight, where you might need a little more kick.
The silver beauty dish also is going to make it look like the light falls off more quickly as well.
👉️ When to use what
If you're shooting portraits - particularly of everyday people -- a white beauty dish is going to be a bit more forgiving as it has a softer quality of light and doesn't bring out every detail (think wrinkles, lines, blemishes texture).
The silver beauty dish brings out more detail, which can create a more contrasty look. This could be ideal for focusing on skin related portraits that focus on texture, or highlight an athlete with dramatic lighting because of the contrast and secularity.
👉️ What about diffusion?
You can add diffusion material (aka a sock) over your beauty dish which cuts down the on the specularity of the light and also softens the shadow transition.
Now these aren't hard and fast rules, you can use either or, it really depends on your taste. For most, I think the white beauty dish works unless you're stylistically attracted to the attributes that the silver beauty dish produces.
Remember at the end of the day it's about having the right tool for the job!
I hope you enjoyed this video, if you did, please throw it a like and be sure to subscribe with notifications to be alerted of the next one. 👍️
Drop a comment below and let me know if you use beauty dishes and which one you prefer.
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Gear used in this video 📸
Profoto (Softlight Reflector) White Beauty Dish:
Profoto (Softlight Reflector) Silver Beauty Dish:
Profoto Umbrella Small -
Profoto White Reflector -
Profoto 20 Degree Grid -
Profoto D1 -
Profoto D2 -
Canon 5d iv -
Canon 24-105mm lens -
Savage Seamless Paper - Beige -
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