![gridded beauty dish gridded beauty dish](https://www.interfitphoto.co.uk/images/interfit-honeycomb-grid-for-beauty-dish-56cm-22-inches-p98-682_image.jpg)
![gridded beauty dish gridded beauty dish](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1899/4221/products/hypop-100cm-bowens-collapsible-beauty-dish-with-diffuser-and-grid-for-flash-strobes-2_1024x1024.jpg)
As with the image before, I do this in part to concentrate all of the attention on my subject's face, while eliminating any distractions. Again, the light is concentrated on his face, with little spill and dramatic falloff. The fill light was placed directly behind me and set to a low power. In the image below of musician Jesse, I again used a gridded beauty dish, but this time with a large octa for fill (mainly to aid in color grading). Jenique photographed with a beauty dish and 15 degree grid. I also had Jenique leaning on a white v-flat for this particular image, which filled in the shadows a touch more, and once again used the optical spot to add some background texture.
#Gridded beauty dish skin
In the image of Jenique below, the shadows below her chin are still quite visible, but much more subtle, and there is no loss to the skin tones. Of course, this is a matter of taste, so as I mentioned above, I recommend experimenting to see what setups speak strongly to your creative eye. For me, the results are a bit too flat, and as I have a number of other modifiers that can make similar results, this is not my go-to setup for the beauty dish. It creates pleasing results and is a great option to have in your lighting tookkit, but I find that the images lack the contrast and drama I look for when choosing to use a beauty dish in the first place. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using the dish with the sock, as you can see in the image of Jenique below. My least favorite way to use a beauty dish is with the diffusion sock. Setup Two: Beauty Dish With Diffusion Sock Jenique photographed with a bare beauty dish. As I said, this is my second favorite way to use the dish, because the light spills quite a bit and I prefer it to be concentrated around the face. In this particular image, I added a Westcott Optical Spot by Lindsay Adler to create the simple circle of light in the background. This is also not the best choice for corporate clients, so think of using the beauty dish, in general, as best for actors, models, and fashion shoots. There is not much skin tone to be seen in the shadow areas, and the shadow cast from the dish spills into her hair as well. I often use a setup like this when working with models or actors for the dramatic results it provides, although I would avoid it with some clients because the hard light, although it brings out the jaw line, also magnifies any imperfections in the skin. In the sample image of Jenique below, you can see that the shadows under her nose and chin are quite dark, as well on the right-hand side of her face, as I had the dish positioned slightly camera left. Using the dish in this manner results in deep shadows and lots of contrast. My second favorite way to use the beauty dish is without any modifier (remember that the small reflector is still inside of the dish). For some of the images in this article, I have the dish placed slightly off center, although I recommend placing it directly in front of your subject as a starting point. As with everything in the studio, the key is to experiment with placement and angles, since small changes in angle and position will make drastic differences in your images. I usually have my dish around two feet from my subject, but I will sometimes move it farther back if I want harder light. The dish should also be fairly close to your subject.
![gridded beauty dish gridded beauty dish](https://www.brisbanecamerahire.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Beauty-Dish-Grid.jpg)
The basic placement of a beauty dish is directly in front of your subject, above their head and angled down towards them so that the center of the dish is pointed at their face. I highly recommend experimenting with each of these variations, as this is the only way you will begin to discover the look you like the best. The final way to use a beauty dish is my favorite way, namely, with a grid attached to the front. The sock is an elastic diffusion material that can be quickly placed over the front of the dish and softens the light considerably. This is one of my preferred ways to use a beauty dish because it provides a harder light and more contrast than the second way, which is to use it with the diffusion sock. First, it can be used without any diffusion material (other than the internal reflector). In this article, I discuss three basic ways to use a beauty dish.