Beauty shot

so, I watched this video on kelbytraining.com and it was about a beauty shot with a big soft box behind the subject and a beauty dish over head. I don't have a big soft box, but I do have a DIY beauty dish. Looking around, I had a DIY light diffusion panel made from some pvc pipes. This was very simple, throw a white sheet over it, and instant light panel.



In an attempt to learn about back lighting the subject, I gave it a shot.


Here's the end result.


Some details. The panel is pointed up behind Ashely so that is it not directly at the camera. I have a Sunpak behind to light the panel. I took a few test shots with just the panel light to get a feel for the light wrapping around Ashely's face. Remember, her face will be very under exposed and the shot will look washed out. This is ok since you can correct a lot of this in post.

Once I felt comfortable with the back light, I added the beauty dish, which is using the Vivitar 285HV. To lighten up the shadow under Ashely's chin, as you can see, she is holding a silver reflector. This is really a car shade from Costco, about $7.

This is a first attempt, so it's not great or anything, but you can learn from it. I plan to buy a soft box soon (a large one) for the Flashpoint mono light I have and then make a couple of small ones for my flashes. I think I will make a 24"x24" for the Sunpak first. I will probably come back and shoot this again when I have a soft box.