How far was the beauty dish placed away from the model Paul? When I first saw the photo, I thought you had used a reflector. The effect is amazing - it really accentuates his abs. Also did you use the shower cap on the beauty dish?
"Aim for the moon - if you miss you'll land amongst the stars."
Thanks Paul - I had seen the lighting set-up from the link to your website, but I wondered how you got the subdued light from the beauty dish. I guess it's experimentation on the distance behind the camera until you get the effect you want - or did you meter it to, say, a couple of stops below the other two lights? And which do you regard as your key light on this set-up - is it the rear light to the right?
"Aim for the moon - if you miss you'll land amongst the stars."
Here. the beauty dish was acting as a fill light just to throw a bit more light in on his face and body. I can't remember exactly, but I think it was metered about 1.5 stops below the main lights.
The main lights were the two back lights behind Simon, which were both metered at the same power.
This particular lighting pattern was chosen to separate him from the background and to bring out shadows, which help to define his muscles and abs.