But wait, there’s more! While Chris and I were building the Mark II edition of the “Chinatown Special,” we also shot video during the whole process.
Got four minutes? Here’s the walk-through of how to make what Chris and I think is the best DIY beauty dish.
For the full 10-step instructions, more photos of the design, and the complete parts list, check out the full write-up for this DIY beauty dish design.
We made it for the Nikon SB-900 speedlight, but you can make it for any speedlight flash.
You can see more examples of the Chinatown Special in my band promos and portraits.
End Notes:
If these instructions have been helpful to you, please drop me a comment, share this link, and go make a DIY beauty dish. Or, if you’re so inclined, buy yourself something nice through my affiliate links through B&H Photo in New York.
Also, if you enjoyed this video and would be interested in seeing more videos about gear, technique, and workflow tutorials for music photography, let me know, I’d love to hear from you.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 3:06 pm and is filed under Photography Tutorials and tagged with beauty dish, best diy beauty dish, chinatown special, diy, owyoung, speedlight, strobist. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Awesome Todd…This is a great how-to and basically looks exactly like my Paul C Buff dish. I love shooting with a beauty dish…They are so versatile, and give a bit more edge to pictures than soft-boxes do in my opinion.
Hey Kevin,
Thanks for the kind words, always appreciate your comments here and your support. Glad to hear that this design looks similar to the Paul C. Buff beauty dish – I’d love to hear that it looks like the light, too!
I’ve loved shooting with this beauty dish – this size here is perfect for individuals or small groups.
Todd,
The light is very similar indeed. The falloff looks pretty spot on.
I have a few shots I am editing this week that were shot with my PCB beauty dish. I’ll send you a link when I get done so you can take a look to see how your dish compares. I would have to say it’s going to be pretty close.
Hey Kevin,
Great, a link to some of your shots would be great. Looking forward to them, thanks.
Todd – thanks for what you do. Nobody makes you share your discoveries or secrets with other photographers but you do it anyway. Much respect. I always look forward to these updates and tips, thank you!
Hey Matt,
Thanks for the support. I’ve been stung by sharing information and have had people better their own situation at the expense of mine because of it, but I really do feel that sharing is important.
With this particular DIY beauty dish, I think of it as just one in a family or lineage, if you will. So, I’m happy to share.
Best, most professional looking DIY Beauty Dish I have ever seen! Sadly I am not very good at the DIY. I think you should take orders ;) .
Hi Tina,
I’d love to fulfill orders for beauty dishes, but I do worry a bit about my brain cells – doing it with spray paint and the polycrylic, all the fumes get to you.
The toughest thing is probably cutting the hole for the speedlight – everything else isn’t too bad.
I will say that a DIY beauty dish is a great way to have fun, but not necessarily money. It doesn’t cost too much to build, but the time it takes can be consuming to say the least. And, as they say, time is money.
It’s beautiful, and you guys are awesome for putting together both an informative video and a really exhaustive blog entry on the whole thing. It’s a wonderful service to the photography community.
That said, I’d rather pay $80 than do all of that! I guess it would be different if I had the tools on hand. Brilliant design, and very professional-looking output.
I guess I should add: the real hang-up is getting the light bracket that fits. If anyone finds a good source for those, please share!
True, the bracket is one issue – if you look back on the main post, I’ve linked up Greg Tran’s version of this design that he built without a speedright/bracket – just a simple L-plate from the hardware store. And it looks great.
Garrett,
Thanks for the comment, I appreciate it. You’re right – even though it’s less than $40 all said and done (tools permitting), the amount of time it takes can be considerable, especially if one is a perfectionist. Perfection and DIY just don’t go well together!
Thanks again.
Thanks so much for that update, Todd! I looked at the blog post when you first wrote it, so I missed that.
You got it.
Building The Best DIY Beauty Dish | ishootshows.com http://bit.ly/aqf2Gr
this is great Todd thanks for sharing … I think I’m making one one next month :)
You’re welcome, Corey, let me know how it goes if you do make this DIY beauty dish.
RT @syl_arena: Great DIY Beauty Dish for Speedliters – inc. video on building – http://bit.ly/cyQLBa by @toddowyoung (via @scottwyden)
That my friend is utterly stunning.
Thanks for the kind words, Paul.
Ah much better with a video! nice work guys.
Thanks, Kylie.
Building The Best DIY Beauty Dish | ishootshows.com: Also, if you enjoyed this video and would… http://bit.ly/a5UDuU http://bit.ly/8GRCXK
Building The Best DIY Beauty Dish | ishootshows.com: Also, if you enjoyed this video and would… http://bit.ly/a5UDuU http://bit.ly/8GRCXK
Building The Best DIY Beauty Dish | ishootshows.com: Also, if you enjoyed this video and would… http://bit.ly/a5UDuU http://bit.ly/8GRCXK
Building The Best DIY Beauty Dish | ishootshows.com: Also, if you enjoyed this video and would… http://bit.ly/a5UDuU http://bit.ly/8GRCXK
[...] For the video walk-through, check out this four-minute tutorial. [...]
Building The Best DIY Beauty Dish | ishootshows.com: Also, if you enjoyed this video and would be interested in se… http://bit.ly/9kktDn
Building the BEST DIY Beauty Dish Video Tutorial… http://is.gd/97ZOf
Hey Todd
A video too….wow, you’re really spoiling us now mate!
Mine is almost complete (pictures will follow eventually- I promise). I had a lot of fun (and sweating) using a dremel for the first time. Everything looks spot on, except you can’t get that Minwax polycrylic spray over here in the UK and I’ve already damaged the rim just by turning it over to spray the black back (it obviously wasn’t totally dry and peeled at the edge) so I must repair the damage & find a suitable matt varnish to protect this work of DIY art before I can finally assemble this badboy.
Thanks again for the tutorial- you’re a genius…
Oh yeah- I hope you moved your car out of the garage before you started spraying!!!!!!
All the best,
iain
Hey Iain,
Thanks for the kind words – looking forward to seeing photos of how your dish turned out. Yes, Dremels are fun, but it can be a little nerve wracking cutting into the metal. On the first version of the dish I made, I definitely messed up the edge a bit before spraying it with polycrylic – the good thing is that it’s relatively easy to touch up, you just need more white spray paint. I’d suggest taping up the edge and also taping a plastic bag over the back of the dish so that the black paint is protected from any over-spray/misting from the white.
Cheers, and great work on your site – love the landscapes.
[...] this video and would like to see more, just let me know. In the meantime, you can check out the making of the Chinatown Special DIY beauty dish. About the author: Todd Owyoung is an internationally published music photographer specializing [...]
awesome guys
just awesome :)
Thanks, Pat.
@richard_hales Here's a great article on DIY Beauty Dish by @toddowyoung > http://bit.ly/cyQLBa #strobist
Todd,
Awesome tutorial; thanks for sharing your DIY findings! I’m going to work on this and the snoot this weekend. They’re definitely the most professional looking DIY photo projects I’ve seen out there.
Have you ever considered fab’ing up a DIY ringflash for a speedlight? I’d be interested in seeing something like that from you, though I might give it a go if I finish the Chinatown Special + snoot in enough time this weekend… Here’s to trial and error!
-Tina
Hey Tina,
Thanks for the comment. Let me know how this works out if you end up making it this weekend.
I haven’t made a ringflash, but who knows – maybe that should be a project as well. If I did make a ringflash, I’d want it to be fairly large in diameter, if at all possible.
Thank Todd,
I did it myself this weekend. I am waiting the painting is dry to use it. Silver paint to recover the internal surface :-) I hope it will be good.
Thank to share your experience ! You are a king !
Best regards,
Hey Zepouet,
Thanks for the kind words, happy to share this design. Do you have any photos of the completed dish? I’d love to see them.
I have a quick question for you Todd if you have time. I just came up with an idea for a more homemade style beauty dish, i was wondering what your thoughts would be on a plastic bowl lined with tin foil? It is just much easyier for me to cut through. Could this potentially work? Any input would be awesome, thanks Todd.
Joel
Hey Joel,
I think a plastic bowl would work just fine. As for the tin foil, it’ll certainly reflect light, but it’s going to give a different look. You can always paint the bowl white or silver if the tin foil doesn’t work.
i have a similar question with the person who posted above–
would using a plastic bowl work also? (if so, would it work just as good?)
and would buying a glossy white have a better (or worse) affect on the inside?
thanks for the guide btw, great work.
Hi Phillip,
A plastic bowl will absolutely work – the shape is going to be the most important thing here; the materials are really secondary.
From what I’ve seen, glossy white paint may produce some hot spots, depending on the shape of the bowl. I’d go with a flat white or possible matte silver if you want to try more punch.
Great work dudes. Can’t wait to put it in the field. Will post results.
Hey Costa,
Great, looking forward to seeing your results w/ the dish.
@heidertorres Depois da colmeia, estou pensando em produzir um beauty dish tbm, seguindo esse tutorial: http://bit.ly/9FofN4
I used a steel toilet seal retainer ring to stiffen up the back of the beauty dish and have something to attach the bracket to. It is just the correct size. Works great. Thanks for the tutorial
Hey Scott, thanks for the suggestion – will have to check out that mod.
Check out this DIY Beauty Dish was made by famous #music #photog Todd Owyoung using our product: http://ow.ly/1xtmX
Check out this DIY Beauty Dish that was made by famous #music #photog Todd Owyoung using our product: http://ow.ly/1xtqy
Hi Todd,
Thx for sharing this lovely diy project. I’m find it more useful and very easy to bond w/ it. Thx though.
Regards
DIY plato – http://ishootshows.com/2010/02/23/diy-beauty-dish-video-tutorial/ http://bit.ly/9HvjQP
This dish looks great alright!
I don’t have a dremel so I’ll probably use a stiff plastic bowl instead and use a drill / hacksaw for the edges – You’re using a pizza dish for the reflector – is there something to be said for using a curved surface almost like a really flat bowl for the reflector to bounce more of the light out to the sides of the dish? The pizza dish looks quite flat so would a lot of your light end up being bounced back towards the flash? Or is it a case that your matte white paint is softening the lighting coming back from the pizza dish?
Really good job!
Very cool guys great idea you should make it put me on your list I want one. Thanks
Ed
bueno dato para amigos fotografos… http://bit.ly/9FofN4
[...] Todd is an extremely talented music photographer and has gained a ton of recognition for his work. His photos can be seen everywhere and his creativity is unsurpassed. We were pleased to find that he had actually used a few of our products in his DIY Tutorial on how to make a beauty dish. His simple step-by-step tutorial proved to photographers everywhere that they too could be more innovative when constructing photography equipment. To see his DIY Beauty Dish tutorial video, please click here. [...]
Hey Todd, I’m gonna start drawing up some plans to make one of these and I had a question but first thanks for the great writeup of the build, it will make things much easier. Now my question: do you think that a single speedlight is plenty enough light for this mod or would I be better off designing this to hold two flashes? Thanks again, Jake.
Hey Jake,
If you’re using a flash like the Nikon SB-900 or Canon 580ex, you’re going to be good to shoot at around f/8-11 at ISO 200 or so, depending on how close the flash is.
Two flashes is going to give more power and flexibility, so if you really want to overpower daylight, I’d go for two flashes.
Let me know how the build goes for you, and good luck.
Hey Todd!
I like your beauty dish better then the one from Strobist! Thanks so much for your video.
Now I can have a nice Beauty dish in my bag of umbrellas, Lastolites, Etc.
Tom
[...] via I shoot shows source [...]
Building The Best DIY Beauty Dish | ishootshows.com http://is.gd/cSPRx
[...] work. There are a lot of DIY blogs out there with tips on how to make things like Grid Spots and Beauty Dishes. [...]
Something I must-to-have: http://ishootshows.com/2010/02/23/diy-beauty-dish-video-tutorial/
[...] Selbstbau-Beauty-Dish mit erstaunlichen Ergebnissen http://ishootshows.com/2010/02/23/diy-beauty-dish-video-tutorial/ [...]
LOVE it! Thanks for the great info on making the beauty dish. Can I ask a silly question and I apologize if you addressed it above. I notice on the video before you cut the hole for the speedlite you showed where the holes will go for the mounting bracket. I notice the next shot is all the holes are drilled. How did know where to place the holes for the reflector (pizza pan)? Are all the holes within the same radius of the holes on the ezybox mounting bracket?
Thanks,
Mark
Hey Mark,
For the holes, it’s going to differ with every design – but since I had the “speedring” from the bracket, you can actually just lay that down and use the very holes you’ll be using for mounting to mark where you’ll drill.
Thanks for the reply! sorry for my suuuuuuper later reply!! Keep up the great work!!
-Mark
nice #DIY beauty dish tutorial video – http://bit.ly/bDYxAT looks great, gonna try soon
Well… I just finished mine based totally on your design. Even though it’s not perfect and considering I couldn’t find a bigger bowl, it still works awesomely awesome. Thanks so much for the idea and walk through!
Here’s a link to how mine came up
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thepancaker2/5062623945/
Hey Juan, looks good. Thanks so much for linking back to how the build turned out.
Great post and video.
I’ve just finished my first DIY beauty dish but it isn’t too big. I’d really like to make another one that is at least 45cm in diameter but I’m having a real hard time trying to find in Mexico a metal bowl that size.
I made two minor changes compared to your build:
The edge of the hole is sharp evening after sanding. To fix that problem I got some old spare electrical wire (white sleeved) and sliced it length wise with a sharp cutter knife. Next I removed the copper strands then used the sleeve to trim the edge of the hole. It grips fairly well to the edge of the hole but to be on the safe side I applied some two part epoxy resin to make sure it wouldn’t fall off.
The only other difference is that I used wing nuts to hold the bracket assembly to the dish as you can’t get a good grip when hand tightening normal nuts and I don’t really want to carry around a wrench or pliers on every shoot.
Hey Robert, thanks for the note – and thanks very much for sharing your tweaks to the design, hope they help people!
hi Todd,
Mate I finally got around to building the chinatown special and wow! I even surprised myself, as per other posts here, yes the cutting was the trickiest bit, I ended up drilling a lot of holes first and the used the cutter. I sprayed in a large warehouse, if you did this in a tiny garage you would definately leave you a little short of brain cells, the white paint needed 2-3 as much coverage too. It turned out brilliantly though, problem now is all my mates want one! Thanks again Todd, awesome work!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jol-e/sets/72157625380324874/
Building The Best DIY Beauty Dish http://t.co/CjRVjou
And I think I'll be building one of these guys: http://bit.ly/9FofN4 #beautydish
DIY Beauty Dish – http://bit.ly/9huF7O
[...] I think you’ll be impressed to learn that Helen’s mother Anne fashioned the bouquet herself. And I’ve been remiss to mention that since the portrait session I did for Janice, who now dwells in Dublin, I’ve been using a DIY beauty dish my husband and trusty assistant Benjamin and I made together. All the details for the best DIY beauty dish can be found at the blog of the brilliant Todd Owyoung. [...]
I’m really loving this dish and plan on heaading into my garage to craft one myself…I’m curious about the circular “sanding” marks that I see on the mixing bowl. Did you guys add these marks to affect the quality of the light output from the dish bounce or is this intended to give the paint a surface to adhere to?
I’m really thinking of building one which is white and one which utilizes the metal surface of the mixing bowl for a harsher light which will throw farther. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts though.
I’ll be building my dishes to fit a canon 580EX II speedlight.
I wonder if I could do the same thing with a ring flash intended for macro shooting and adapt a beauty dish modifier for that? Then I could take this large soft diffused light source out with me without giant battery sources and whatnot…I wonder if the output would really be worth it..hmmmm…..
thanks for this awesome research and sharing your findings.
happy shooting!
http://charleselittle.com
follow me @charleslittle2
Hi Charles,
Yes, the metal bowl was sanded prior to painting to help the paint stick. Good luck.
hanks, Todd, thats was an awesome DIY beauty dish. I’ve serached all over the net and i like this one the best. WIll you be doing more DIY tutorils? if you can do one for a ring light, that would be cool.
Anyway, thanks again.
Presley
Just received a cool link for the best DIY beauty dish I've seen yet…http://ishootshows.com/2010/02/23/diy-beauty-dish-video-tutorial/
Hey Todd,
This is amazing and am looking forward to making it. I just have a quick question before I make it. I have cactus V2s for my sb600s and from watching the video it seems like using external hotshoes is not an option. Am I missing something. Sorry if I am. Thank you very much :)
Hey Billy,
You can change the design as needed – especially if you’re not using a pre-built bracket and just using an L-plate.
Did you ever consider using a parabolic mirror to reflect the light?
Sera que a minha mae deixa eu pegar a tigela dela??? http://ishootshows.com/2010/02/23/diy-beauty-dish-video-tutorial/
Hello!
This is a great tut and I thank you for posting it. I know its old so Im late to the party with your website etc. but I still thought I would post to encourage you and also to ask a question.
1. Do you find the weight of the stainless bowl to be a problem vs. a plastic bowl? 1.a. do you think a plastic bowl would be too weak even though it would not be carrying any weight but its own since you’re using the store-bought bracket?
2. Did you try with the larger bowl and find it to not be sufficient gain in photo quality to justify the additional weight/size to pack around etc?
Thanks again!
Bob
Hi Bob,
1) A plastic bowl would work just fine, I don’t think the strength would be an issue. I used a metal bowl because the shape worked the best for my needs.
2) A slightly larger bowl – say, 20qt vs 16qt – was much more expensive, and for only a very marginal increase in overall diameter. So, it was more of an issue of cost than size and weight.
HI!
Great tutorial, and great video! I haven’t seen any questions on light setup, so I thought I’d ask. The self portrait you posted at the end was great, the lighting is something I’ve been trying to ‘get’ for some time now. Do you need a beauty dish to get the lighting you’ve demonstrated in the photo? I have 2 umbrella lights, 2 softboxes, and a speedlight. Is it possible to get the lighting you have in your portrait with the equipment I have? Also, what is that type of lighting called?
Thank you in advance.
Hi Leia,
I believe you could pretty easily recreate a similar lighting in that last portrait with a softbox if it’s positioned very close to the subject. The beauty dish was just out of frame.
You can read more about that shoot here:
http://ishootshows.com/2010/12/06/portraits-owen-pallett/
@lenteaberta o próximo projeto é esse: http://t.co/lDoGZKcO mas não achei a bacia ainda!
Todd do you ever grid the Chinatown special? Building mine this weekend, thanks for the tutorial.
Hi Ray,
Thanks for the comment. I never did make a grid for this beauty dish. If you do want to pursue a grid, I’d suggest making it out of something like an airflow straightening grid.
Hi Todd!
Thank you very much for the tutorial.
I went with an hybrid solution, I used a plastic bowl and the pizza tray, and it worked!!
Here some pictures of my results!!
Hi Todd!
Thank you very much for the tutorial.
I went with an hybrid solution, I used a plastic bowl and the pizza tray, and it worked!!
Here some pictures of my results!!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.288881757803192.75880.100000441114181&type=1
Próximos projetos DIY: http://t.co/cLp9YDKk and http://t.co/sUoaC3RV #strobist
[...] The Chinatown Special: The Best DIY Beauty Dish via slrlounge [...]
Hey guys,
I don’t know if you’re still responding to questions on this DIY, but I’ve nearly got all the tools in place to get started. I have one question about lining your holes so the dish and reflector (pizza tray) line up properly. Do you have any tips on aligning the pizza tray so that the holes for the 3″ machine screws through the tray and the bowl align perfectly. I’ve got some ideas about it, but I’ve only got one shot (because I had to get the dish and tray online) and I wouldn’t want to mess up and have to wait two more weeks for new parts. I was just interested in finding out what worked for you.
Thanks,
Kye
Hi Kye,
Use the same template for both the dish and the pizza tray and try to drill exactly on the mark. The screws are long enough that you’re going to have a little wiggle room, so the holes don’t have to match up exactly, too.
Amazing!!!!
I built mine. But what about the grid??
Where can we find a suitable grid?
a grid is a must!
[...] If you haven’t built your own beauty dish yet, check out my detailed tutorial for making your own DIY beauty dish and grab some popcorn for the video tutorial. [...]
Very nice, thanks
This thing is seeeeeexy! I’m gonna have to be that chic at Lowe’s tomorrow buying a Dremel, spray paint and some machine screws. BOOM! Thanks for an awesome DIY.
Oh this thing works so well. Start up costs may make you think, “I could’ve bought one for this price,” but it’s worth it. Plus I’ve used the Dremmel for so many things after making this. I even made a sock from fabric and sewed an elastic band around it. This thing is the TRUTH!