gonna build my first beauty dish.

[hue-e]

I've been wanting one for a while for my speedlight. I've searched high and low for decent diy dishes and have fallen short until recently. I've also shopped around a bit for factory made ones... they all seem to small and cheap.

I found this tutorial one guy made that seems like it will stand the test of time.

The Best DIY Beauty Dish | ishootshows.com

any of the other tutorials I found used, what seemed to be, more temporary solutions in materials. basically, they seemed like they would be destroyed after a couple uses. but this design seems like it will not only be durable, but adjustable as I experiment with different surfaces, distances of the reflector plate vs. dish and making it as universal as possible... not just for my sb-600.

anyway, I have a giant stainless steel mixing bowl (I think about 18"), and and 8" pizza pan I got from ace restaurant supply, as well as all the bolts, nuts, washers, etc. however, instead of a pre-fab adapter, I just got a 3' section of 1/8" thick, 1/2" wide flat bar I'll put in the vice and create my own adapter to mount on a stand.

I'll post the results when I'm done... wish me luck.

[princer7]

Need an assistant? I've been wanting to make one of these..just never got around to doing it.

[revjvegas]

Luck

[hue-e]

Originally Posted by princer7

Need an assistant? I've been wanting to make ine of these..just never got around to doing it.

not sure I need an assistant... my garage is one of my few sanctuaries for cussing, smoking, drinking beer and just being my rough-around-the-edges self. simply put, I'm kind of a loner when I'm in tinker mode.

not to mention, I may not finish it in one day, or actually work on it in any sort of set schedule.

I have a four day weekend to dink around with it so it's hard to say when I'll be motivated.

[hue-e]

ah nuts... not gonna get to this, this weekend. After thinking about it and looking at different ways to fabricate my own bracket, my life would just be easier if I bought the recommended speedring listed on that blog post.

speed ring flash bracket items - Get great deals on Cameras Photo items on eBay.com!

I think it will be more stable and give me a little flexibility with positioning, mounting different flashes on it, etc.

so now I wait for the mail :|

[TXhummer2]

Nice find! Now to save up $$$ for my Speedlight!

[danchez]

I go back and forth between making my own or buying one... but I think I will buy that way I can use it with my AB's as well.

[dmora]

damn thats a REALLY nice home made jobby.

[brad]

I just finished my super cheap one... will be posting it to my blog soon and link it here.... mine was put together with total parts under $15.

Originally Posted by danchez

I go back and forth between making my own or buying one... but I think I will buy that way I can use it with my AB's as well.

Wow.. that one from ishootshows is awesome.

[brad]

Ok, I've posted my Super Cheap one and the results to my blog... after I started adding it up, the cost was even lower than I thought: $6.56 in parts plus some glue and a couple items that were heading for the trash anway.

Labor Day DIY Beauty Dish Brad Barton Photography

[ChristopherCoy]

Brad, you HAVE to change the text color or something.... I can't read the post over the brown background!

[brad]

Originally Posted by ChristopherCoy

Brad, you HAVE to change the text color or something.... I can't read the post over the brown background!

It sometimes takes a minute to load, but there is another color background that loads behind the text... reload helps.

[ChristopherCoy]

Originally Posted by brad

It sometimes takes a minute to load, but there is another color background that loads behind the text... reload helps.

oh... nevermind then!


Anyway... I think I'd really like to try and build myself one. I'm pretty handy and I think I could probably do it.


We should make a weekend workshop of it, and all get together in someones garage and build these.

[brad]

Heh, that's an idea, because I have another DIY project in my studio, too.. use it almost every day.

DIY Strip Light Brad Barton Photography