Much of great portraiture – especially in the studio – is the art of great light. However, you don’t need a 5-light setup and a complicated scene to create great images, and this beauty treat is much more versatile than its name suggests.
I have bought and used a lot of lights over the years. Some of us were disappointed, some have stood the test of time, and some have been staples for years. One thing I’ve always enjoyed using is a beauty treat, but it can take some practice to learn how to use such direct and rather harsh light, and when it’s best to use it.
One tip that I would add to anyone looking to try a beauty treat – really any artificial light – is whether its size matters. That’s not to say that a small handgun can’t be used to produce great light, but placing it in a large modifier can take advantage of more. Whether I’m using a simple softbox, a beauty treat or a box of my dishes, the bigger the better. For the head shot, I’m currently using a 100cm octave which seems like overkill, but I like the look it gives. If so, I’d like my beauty dish to be closer to that size and the one in this video by Westcott appears to be 60cm or more.
In this video, Manny Ortiz teamed up with Westcott to give you a behind-the-scenes look at a portrait session using a large beauty sheet and shows you how versatile it can be.
