DIY Speedlight Beauty Dish

And a Ring Light Combo Deal

Inspired by Just Fab's Turkey Pan Beauty Dish I set about making my own. The downside was that I did not have a diffuser that I could wedge on the end of my flash. Instead I use a round mirror from the local auto-parts store, and a CD spindle cover.

First, what is a beauty dish and why should you use this?

According to DIY Photography

Do you know why they call this piece of studio equipment "Beauty Dish"? Because it make people look beautiful. The idea is similar to other diffusion ideas - the more diffusion you put in your light, the softer the image is. This idea is widely deployed in photography studios - the softbox, the beauty dishes and the reflector disc all work on close principles.

List of parts:

(1) Disposable turkey pan from the grocery store (approx $2).
(1) CD spindle cover (free).
(1) round, 3-inch "round spot mirror" (approx $3 at my local Checker Auto Parts).
(1) sheet of "fun foam" crafting foam (approx $1).
(1) Glue stick.
(1) misc bits of gaffers tape.

There aren't many steps here, this really is quite simple.

Steps to Create a DIY Beauty Dish and Ring Light Combination

assemble materials First I had to assemble my materials. I used a hot melt glue gun to get the spindle to stick to the pan.

mount mirror Stick the mirror (mine had self-adhesive tape on the back) to the top of the inside of the CD spindle cover.

outline flash Mark the hole for your flash in roughly the center of the back of the turkey roasting pan.

cut hole Cut the mounting hole for your flash. The tinfoil pans are extremely thin, you can use scissors or a utility knife to do this.

glue Turn the pan over and use the hot glue gun to glue the CD spindle to the pan. Not shown here is that I went around the hole in the pan with some gaffer's tape as to not scratch up my flash.

mount Mount your new beauty dish to the flash (on a stand). I didn't fully cut the hole out, instead I left a flap of aluminum at the top of the hole, this makes it easier to mount. Just run some tape across the flap and around your flash head.

view inside What the beauty dish looks like from the view of your model.

view illuminated What the beauty dish looks like from the view of your model as the flash fires. The light is not perfectly even across the entire pan but overall it is not bad.

ringlight modifier To turn the beauty dish into a ring-light add a piece of cut crafting foam to cover the interior of the pan, a couple inches inside.

Steps to Create a DIY Beauty Dish and Ring Light Combination
	First I had to assemble my materials. I used a hot melt glue gun to get the spindle to stick to the pan.
	Stick the mirror (mine had self-adhesive tape on the back) to the top of the inside of the CD spindle cover.
	Mark the hole for your flash in roughly the center of the back of the turkey roasting pan.
	Cut the mounting hole for your flash. The tinfoil pans are extremely thin, you can use scissors or a utility knife to do this.
	Turn the pan over and use the hot glue gun to glue the CD spindle to the pan. Not shown here is that I went around the hole in the pan with some gaffer's tape as to not scratch up my flash.
	Mount your new beauty dish to the flash (on a stand). I didn't fully cut the hole out, instead I left a flap of aluminum at the top of the hole, this makes it easier to mount. Just run some tape across the flap and around your flash head.
	What the beauty dish looks like from the view of your model.
	What the beauty dish looks like from the view of your model as the flash fires. The light is not perfectly even across the entire pan but overall it is not bad.
	To turn the beauty dish into a ring-light add a piece of cut crafting foam to cover the interior of the pan, a couple inches inside.

The flash modifier works extremely well, I'm very happy with how the light falls off as well as how light and simple the construction was.

Sample photos from both the beauty dish and the ringlight modifier:

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