Welcome to the fourth installment of our new monthly that highlights a different Elinchrom Light Shaper or Lighting Technique, with sample images (full length and cropped headshots) and lighting diagrams. All the images were photographed with the same model and outfit (standing in the same spot on the background – about 3 feet away), the same day in the same blacked out studio, with the same strobes at the same height (forehead height) & distance (about 5 feet) from the model and the same camera setup. I tried to remove as many obstacles as possible so we can compare light shaper effects.
I used an Elinchrom FIVE battery monolight triggered by the Elinchrom Transmitter Pro. My trusty Gossen Digisky light meter ensured consistent exposure values – it has an integrated Skyport transceiver to remotely trigger the FIVE. My Nikon D810 had a Tamron 85mm f/1.8 lens and all was mounted on a Vanguard VEO 3+ 263CB tripod. Camera settings are ISO64, f/8, 1/125s We used an Easiframe backdrop system with the Grey Texture backdrop. I tethered my camera into Capture One on my laptop with a Tether Pro USB-C to C cable and connected my laptop to a large screen TV with a TetherPro HDMI cable so we could review images on the big screen.
Special thanks to Phil and RevPrint Studio (https://www.revprint.com) for the use of their space. Phil hosts workshops featuring Elinchrom gear via West Toronto Photography Group (https://www.wtpg.ngo/)
I’ll start with light shapers and techniques for portraiture. This month, our focus is on the Elinchrom 44cm White Beauty Dish, which comes with four deflector plates for subtle changes in your light characteristics. White is a popular beauty dish colour as its less contrasty and warmer than the Silver Beauty Dish.
The Beauty Dish is a favourite tool of portrait and fashion photographers, as well as hair photographers. It’s a large flat reflector with either a silver or white interior and a deflector plate to block the hotspot and fill the dish with light. The light from a Beauty Dish is quite hard to help sculpt the subject’s face and show texture in their hair, skin and makeup. This hard light creates crispy shadows under the nose and chin to add definition to a face. The fall-off is fairly sharp – they’re ideal for head and shoulders portraits as the light emphasizes the face with less spill on the background. Lastly, Beauty Dishes create perfectly circular catchlights in the eyes – they replicate what we normally see in the eyes from natural sunlight.
I’ve already detailed results of the Silver Beauty Dish with each of the Deflector Plates (Silver, White, Gold and Translucent) plus the Hard Grid and Textile Diffuser last month. There’s no need to reiterate how each modifier affects the light – the light characteristics are identical. I’ll compare the White to the Silver, as that’s what readers will find more beneficial.
Elinchrom Beauty Dish White Deflector
Elinchrom Beauty Dish White Deflector
Elinchrom Beauty Dish Translucent Deflector 
Elinchrom Beauty Dish Translucent Deflector
Elinchrom Beauty Dish Silver Deflector
Elinchrom Beauty Dish Silver Deflector
Elinchrom Beauty Dish Gold Deflector
Elinchrom Beauty Dish Gold Deflector
The one clear difference we can note between the White Beauty Dish and the Silver Beauty Dish is that the White is much warmer with a touch less contrast. It might be just a smidge softer but this is negligible. Aside from that, light patterns are identical. The one interesting characteristic to note is that the White Beauty Dish with the Gold deflector is less warm than the Silver Beauty Dish with the Gold deflector – the Silver amplifies the Deflector colour. This could be helpful when shooting with gels.
Let’s look at the differences between the two but add the grid and diffuser sock:
Elinchrom Beauty Dish with Diffuser Sock
Elinchrom Beauty Dish with Diffuser Sock
Elinchrom Beauty Dish with Grid
Elinchrom Beauty Dish with Grid
The results with diffusion and grid added are similar to what we found above. The shadows are a little deeper with the Silver and the White is a touch warmer.
Why would you choose one over the other? The Silver is a touch punchier – for hair work and people with darker complexions, the Silver will give a touch more light. The Silver would be my choice when photographing fitness models and body scapes due to the higher contrast. However, for most portrait work, I’ll reach for a White Beauty Dish. The slightly reduced contrast and touch of warmth is more flattering for most people. For headshots of “normal” people, most will like the look of the White with the Diffuser sock.
Share some of your favourite images taken with a Beauty Dish on our Facebook page or tag us on Instagram.
Next month, I’ll show the effects of the Elinchrom Shallow White/Silver Umbrella. At the end of the series, we’ll compare each of the Elinchrom light shapers to each other. See you next month!
Read the previous articles:
Elinchrom Light Shapers and Lighting Techniques – #Series 1
Elinchrom Light Shapers and Lighting Techniques – #Series 2
Elinchrom Light Shapers and Lighting Techniques – #Series 3
Items Discussed
Author: Will Prentice
A portrait, fine art and commercial photographer for 30 plus years, Will Prentice is not just a contributor to PHOTONews magazine, but also host of PHOTONewsTV, owner of Captura Photography+Imaging and Technical Support/Brand Manager for Amplis Foto, Canada’s largest distributor of photographic equipment.
Will teaches photographers of all skill levels how to improve their craft – from creative photo projects to picking the right gear for their needs to flattering lighting to getting the best expressions to creating final images for screen and print. His unique style of highly detailed images with perfect tonality, wide dynamic range and stunning colour is instantly recognizable. Commercial clients rely on Will’s creative eye and mastery of lighting.
When he’s not behind the camera or in front of a class, you’ll find Will outdoors in any weather – usually on one of his bikes or enjoying time with his grandchildren.
