I’m not sure how I decided to do this. I want to say it was a strobist tweet but I am not too keen in digging through that list to find it. I will say, I ended up at ISHOOTSHOWS.COM to whom I give credit for giving me the nudge to do this. And here is my write-up of what went down.
If you follow the ishootshows link, you’ll see the idea is based on using a 16 quart stainless steel mixing bowl for your dish. A little heavy, but professional-ish looking for a DIY project. I had plenty of trouble finding one, but eventually settled for… ebay. Yes, I bought it on ebay, in bulk (ok, a 4 pack is bulk to me). $40 shipped, but I figured a) if I screwed up, I’d have a backup b) I could provide a bowl to someone local and c) my mom actually said she’d take one. Other suggestions are basically restaurant supply stores.
Cut with a Dremel and the 426 reinforced fiberglass cutting wheel. I strongly suggest you get a pair of ear plugs or noise blocking headphones. And don’t do this at night unless you don’t care about your neighbors. I also strongly suggest not using a shitty Harbor Freight rotary tool. No, I didn’t use it, but I realized I needed a real Dremel. Wasted money. Oh, and safety goggles. Sand it down when you’re done.
I assume you all know the basics of the beauty dish. There are a few more holes I cut for the studs for the reflector dish and the L-bracket for the flash mount. I will say this-drill the holes on the dish first, then place it on the bottom backside of the bowl to trace cut out holes. I did it the other way around and quickly realized it’d be a pain to line up properly. Oops. Oh, and get a decent bit that was designed to cut through metal. Dull crappy bits take forever… and will snap (unrelated project, but thought I’d mention it).
I used Rustoleum flat black and white spray paint. One can should be enough for 4-6 coats or more. I fail at spray painting, especially outside with a hint of a breeze. I have some smooth spots, and some rough ones from stray spray? Or just failed technique. I should have probably sanded in between coats, but I’m impatient. And my attempts at sanding just cut through the paint. Another note, when I flipped this over to spray the black, there were small gaps in my cardboard liner. Yeah, the paint got through and I had to do an extra layer of white touch up. Give yourself a healthy afternoon. For this part. And another for…
You have to protect your work, so use Minwax Polycrylic over a well dried paint job. I found this at Home Depot, but I think it will vary by area from what I’ve read. Again, showing you the over spray. Or so I think, I have never used this stuff but it dried fine. To be honest, I don’t know how well this will actually hold up over time. But it sure beats just spray paint. If you can’t find this, use a clear coat or something. It’ll be worth it.
For mounting the flash, I was lucky. The L-bracket I found was spaced almost perfectly. Unfortunately, I still had to drill a hole through it for mounting it to the bowl. Drilling through steel is fun. Again, make sure you have a sharp bit for metal work. I painted this black as well. You’ll notice I had to raise the flash some in order to line it up. Yes, it’s just a bunch of washers. If anyone has any suggestions, I’m open to an alternative. This will likely be an issue with any future flashes I get that happen to have PC sync or 1/8″ plugs built-in. And for the curious, I’m using the hotshoe adapter to use Alienbee Cybersyncs. But really, if you have any suggestions for making this fully adjustable (besides find a new L-bracket, unless you can point me somwhere), I’m all ears. Drilling more holes does not count.
And there you have it, my little DIY beauty dish project. I may need to use longer screws for the reflector dish, but we’ll see. Initial tests seem alright, but then again, I need to work a bit on lighting.
Parts list
- 16 quart stainless steel mixing bowl, $10
- 8″ aluminum pizza pan/dish, $3
- 2 cans of spray paint, $8
- 1 can of Polycrylic, $10
- 1 L-bracket, $5 (2 in pack)
- various screws and washers, $6
- umbrella bracket mounts, whatever you got
The spray paint/polycrylic is probably good for another bowl, depends on how much you waste on the first one. Or how thick you want the coatings. Locking washers might be a consideration, too.
These are SOOC via the latest version of Lightroom 2 and ACR. You’ll have to excuse the focus (and shiny face), I don’t know how people shoot themselves all the time. All shot with my GF1+14-45. Threadless rules. Oh, and no, I’m not praying, I have allergies.