Toronto Photography Meetup Group

http://ishootshows.com/2010/02/09/music ... auty-dish/

Via another wedding photographer on Twitter.

Looks easy enough, and I've got that "cheat"

Cheers,
Dave

Great link, It looks like it works really well and constructed amazingly well

looks like some of the DIY ring flash thingy mabobbers. I will have to try this sometime

thanks for sharing

Pretty smart design.

..and cheap too...

I'm gonna hunt Chinatown tomorrow for some parts - maybe hit up Tap Phong

Cheers,
Dave

LOL, Wok sales just doubled.

For those interested in taking on this project, check out Tap Phong Trading on Spadina just south of Baldwin on the west side. They have several sizes of mixing bowls (including what seemed like 16 quart size) and the pizza dish, again in different sizes including the 8" as described in the tutorial.

Sweet DIY. I have to find a chrome wok shaped like a Mola

13 qt Stainless Steel (probably more like aluminum.. it's so light) mixing bowl from Tap Phong - $9.99
8 inch pizza pan (there was an 8"x1" deep pan but the flat pan just seemed better) - $2.19

I'm thinking of adjusting the design initially posted in order to accommodate any flash. I'll likely need some flat rubber or a portion of a blown out bike tire

The bowls at Tap Phong are of varying depth and shape - looking at them on their "edge" should give a good idea what the modifier will be like. I opted for a "wider" yet shallower bowl rather than the 16 qt recommended in the link because this one had just as wide a diameter yet was a wee bit more shallow.

Cheers,
Dave

Is the 13qt mixing bowl 22" in diameter? If it is, that's the reason why I decided not to attempt this project...my Alien Bees HO beauty dish is the same diameter. Instead I thinking of adapting it for use with my flash gun.

The 13 qt is more like 16" in diameter - a bit smaller than the one suggested in the original post - there were larger bowls but they varied in depth.

The 8" pie plate seems to fit exactly flat on the bottom of this particular bowl.

The shape of this particular bowl is what made me think it would likely be "good" for this type of modifier - we'll see soon I hope

Cheers,
Dave

This looks fantastic ... anyone interested in collaborating or helping out?

I personally don't have the tools nor the experience in cutting metal things and given my history (or lack thereof) this seems like a visit to the emerg waiting to happen. If someone has successfully put one of these together, maybe they'd be willing to lead a workshop?

Also, I doubt if you'd need a whole can of spray paint to do one beauty dish. Anyone interested in either splitting spray paint to save a couple extra cans from going to the landfill (or collecting dust)?

been using one for almost 18 months.

absolutely awesome light modifier.

for the record, for a single speedlight dish, I find the matte white to eat a bit too much light. I started off using matte white, but have since gone to a chrome silver paint instead. No noticeable hot-spots after going with the silver paint, and it eats way less light.

Next on the list is a bigger dish for a 2-light mount.

I do extensive christmas shopping at Tap Hong. Banana protectors, hot dog microwaving thingies. I have my eye on one of their deli meat slicers.

Their joss money is a riot christmas eve getting the kids to throw stacks of bills into the fire.

Good times at Tap Hong.

This is good. Thanks for sharing Dave.

I'm building one today sans the lastolite bracket. I know I have to get one at Vistek soon. I've decide for a neoprene sleeve to cover the speedlight as it goes in the BD and was wondering where I can get one, any thoughts?

"Neoprene sleeve" sounds like a beer koozie (I think that's what they U.S. folks call them) - they're likely available from the Beer Store and such - you'll probably need to "disassemble" the beer koozie in order to use the Neoprene effectively no?

Oh.. and by "koozie" I mean those beer sleeves for a standard sized beer bottle - they're supposed to keep your beer cold or something...

Cheers,
Dave

I looked all over the place yesterday for supplies for this DIY project.
Thanks for the posting Dave.

Now I need to figure out how to modify my new lastolite bracket..

Wouldn't that increase the potential for your speedlight to overheat?

If you want to protect your Speedlight from getting scuffed from the edges of the cutout on the dish, stop by Canadian Tire and pick up some Automotive Edge Trip (basically U-Channel moulding) from the auto dept to line the edge of the cutout. It's used a lot in PC case modding.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/AutoCustomPerformance/MiscellaneousCustomization/PRD~0410285P/Automotive%252BEdge%252BTrim.jsp?locale=en

even better thanks Carlton.

Hey Dave,

Would if be possible for you to take photos of the stuff you picked up?
I'm planning to head downtown in the next day or two and it would be really helpful to know exactly what I'm looking for.

Hopefully I'll be able to do something like that this evening.
I've got the "stuff".
I just need to actually get around to assembling it *LOL*

I've been trying to figure out a way to use something that will allow me to use ANY flash in the dish - so my old Vivitar 283's or my SB-900's or if I go back to *shudder* Canon I can use the 580-EXII.

The Beer Koozie around the "flash hole" is a good idea. I was thinking along the lines of a piece of a bike inner tube but the neoprene is a better concept.

The idea is to have a "flexible" hole to insert the flash into. That way, no matter how "thick" your flash is, you can always "slip it in the hole"... innuendo aside, I'd like to see how this will work because you don't want the light "oozing" out the flash hole.

Cheers,
Dave

Good thinking Dave.
I'm making my hole just a tad bit bigger then the size of my Vivitar 285HV. I figure that any flash I will want to put into the DIY beauty dish will only be smaller then that. I just need to figure out how I'm going to attack everything together seeing as the lastolite bracket I have isn't exactly ideal.

request if someone wants to make another one for me to work with a Nikon SB800 let me know. Of course I know your labour isn't free. So let me know your cost.

Thanks!

Just finished mine this evening using a 22" diameter mixing bowl and a 9" diameter pizza dish (both from Tap Hong). I have a Sto-fen Omnibounce attached to the flash head for "protection" from the relatively sharp edges.

I stopped by Sears this afternoon for more cut-off wheels for my Dremel and noticed that a 20 pack of reinforced cut-off wheels were on clearance for $9.94. I picked up two and took them to the cashier to pay and they rung up to $4.39 with tax for both packs together! Maybe this bit should be posted in RFD.

I to am not handy with this sort of stuff but would love it if I could get one built for an sb900........

Anyone??

This is just what I need. Thanks for the info

Gotta see first if this thing will actually work based on what materials we're actually using. I have a feeling it'll need to be tweaked to get it right.

Post pictures please
I plan to start putting mine together later today.
The pan I got is an inch smaller then the one they suggested, but I'm sure it will still get the job done.

Did you use the lastolite Ezybox hotshoe plate?

thanks Shuttereye...let me know