magnum reflector and beauty dish vs umbrella

[sfoto100]

1) magnum reflector

....Master portrait lighters like to put a light over to the side and then rotate it so the main beam moves in front of the subject. At some point, they will see the penumbra effect and they’ll know they’ve got the light right where they want it....



I don't know what this means... can anyone help?




2)beauty dish

.... So, here’s the gist of the argument: I understand that the beauty dish is meant to be used close to a model’s face; my fashion photographer friends even have a formula that says beauty dishes should be used at a distance equal to about 2x the diameter of the beauty dish. That’s about 32 to 60 inches from the subject. What I’m supposed to see is “a soft, smooth light with crisp (but not hard) shadows that quickly falls off on the edges.” I’ve owned a beauty dish for years, and I just don’t see much of a difference between it and a well-tuned umbrella of the same basic size. But take this with a grain of salt. I’m not a professional beauty photographer, and I admit that they’re probably more sensitive to the nuances of their specialty....


Do you think the effect produce by a beauty dish can be achieved using an umbrella?


src: http://portrait-photographer.blogspot.com/2010/03/metal-reflectors.html Look at the section on magnum reflector

tks alot

 

[foxtwo]

This pic should explain what preumbra is. But this is after it has hit a subject.

However, flash is not being shot in a direct beam though. So using reflectors or softboxes and direct the strobe at a wall, you'll clearly see a preumbra effect at the edges of the light. I've not used a magnum reflector but I assume the effect would be more pronounced with it and thus easier to make out. I guess the whole point is that they don't want the full effect of the light, just the 'feathered' portion.

 

[sfoto100]

This pic should explain what preumbra is. But this is after it has hit a subject.

However, flash is not being shot in a direct beam though. So using reflectors or softboxes and direct the strobe at a wall, you'll clearly see a preumbra effect at the edges of the light. I've not used a magnum reflector but I assume the effect would be more pronounced with it and thus easier to make out. I guess the whole point is that they don't want the full effect of the light, just the 'feathered' portion.

hi foxtwo

thank you very much.

i did more search on beauty dish also... and the answer is no, the effect cannot be created using umbrella...