I was on a photo/video shoot for a sermon series at Radiant Church called Marked In Christ. When we were gathering our lighting gear together we noticed that our only soft box for our continuous Lowel Pro lighting was broken. We needed a controlled soft light source that wasn’t going to throw light any where but where we wanted it. With the shoot minutes a way and in desperate need of a soft box I had to think fast. With the help of Fernando (my boss) I cannibalized the beauty dish with a diffuser sock from my Alien Bee’s Strobe and attached it to our Lowel Pro Light.
Step 1:
We took a Lowel Pro lighting spot and removed the ring and barn doors from the head leaving the glass in place. It just happens to be that the hole of the beauty dish approximately the same size as the Lowel Pro lighting head.
Step 2:
With the light facing up we placed the beauty dish on the lighting head. We then flipped the ring that holds the bran doors and glass in place around so that the flat side is down against the beauty dish. Because its not a perfect fit and moves around a bit, I stabilized the 2 pieces while Fernando screwed the ring into place.
Finished view of inside the beauty dish.
Fully mounted head on back of beauty dish.
For the shoot we used a 30 degree honey comb grid and diffusion sock on the beauty dish to get the desired effect.
A note for those at home this hack does not work the way a normal beauty dish is supposed too. If you put the reflector in it casts a round shadow creating a ring of light on subject. This version of the light works best with the grid to control the beam and the diffusion sock to soften it. It becomes more like a round soft box or scoop with out the diffuser.