I’m a big fan of light modifiers for my SB-800 Speedlights. I’ve built a number of DIY modifiers including grids, ringlights, and beauty dishes, to name a few.
I recently came across a very professional-looking beauty dish modifier tutorial by Tom Seibert at of “Light and Pixels.” It’s made from a bamboo salad bowl (large diameter, and shallow…about $20 at my local Cost Plus World Market), a door dent preventer and plastic gutter adapter (couple bucks at the local home improvement center), and a piece of 1/2-inch aluminium to take the weight off the flash. All in all, under $30, took the weekend to build (mostly waiting for the paint to dry) and it works great.
I modified the design a little… got rid of the CD holder (unnecessary), and simplified the aluminum bracket. It very closely approximates the size and design of the professional beauty dish modifier I use on my studio heads.
Couple test images of my daughter… “Sweetie, can you just sit here for a second while I try out my new beauty dish…?” I love the look, but judge for yourself….
Thanks for looking! Feel free to leave a comment…
Jon,
Wow! You’ve done a great job with the BD and I see you’ve incorporate several of the updates I’m planning to use in my next version of the BD. How is the single bolt working for the dish mount? I was afraid one bolt my not hold and spin. Keep up the good work and pics of your daughter with the BD look great!
I’m glad I could help in some way to get you started down the path and I’ve book marked your blog cause you’ve got lots of really great stuff here.
Cheers,
Tom
Thanks, Tom! I had a good design to start with!
Actually the single bolt was an error that turned out to work okay after all. I had already bent and drilled the aluminum bar when I realized that I hadn’t allowed for a second bolt or pin to keep the dish from twisting around that pivot point. Turns out, though, that it works just fine so far (the paint’s barely dry, so we’ll see how it holds up over time). The single bolt is secure enough that the dish doesn’t spin on it.
If I were to make another one, I’d make that flange just a tad longer, and probably put a second small pin in the flange (like the peg you see on some tripod quick release plates used for video cameras). Another bolt would be overkill, but a small pin or rivet to keep it from twisting would do the job.
Thanks again for the great design!
[...] changed last night. Over the weekend I built a new speedlight beauty dish, and while working with it a bit more last night, realized that I needed some type of fill to [...]
Great shots on the twin Marine aviator brothers. Love the black background!
[...] it. I followed his tutorial on his blog and added a few modifications to mine (some that I got from Jon Haverstick’s blog. It ended up costing me $42 to make. The most expensive piece of making it was the bowl which I [...]
Awesome! Thanks for the detail shots! Love how you didn’t use the CD holder. Great work!
[...] New Beauty Dish Adapter for SB-800 Speedlight – Jon C. Haverstick PHOTOGRAPHY [...]