Beauty dish good for group portraits?

I am currently using a soft box for my Elinchrom Quadra strobes as my modifier. I've never used a beauty dish before and I've seen great results from single portraits. Would a beauty dish be a good modifier to use for bridal party portraits?

The shadow transitions are determined, as much as anything else, by the relative size of the light source.
Most BDs are about 22" in diameter. With a sock they are essentially a hard sided soft box. Do you like the look of shadows from a 22" soft box?

Groups by there nature mean the light is farther away. That implies that it is smaller relative to the subject, thus sharper transitions.

A quick test will tell you more than a hundred posts on this thread.

IMO, it's way too small for more than 3 people. A decent sized umbrella or octabox is far better suited for that task- something in the 30"+ range

hawk911 wrote in post #15938144
IMO, it's way too small for more than 3 people. A decent sized umbrella or octabox is far better suited for that task- something in the 30"+ range

Hawk, I think a 22" dish is just right for one subject head and shoulders shot.

However, a single speedlite works for lighting a group of 20 if you're willing to accept sharp edged shadows.

Large groups can not, practically, be lit to provide soft transitional shadow boundaries with anything much smaller than a north light or overcast sky

Or maybe bouncing a couple of strobes of the back wall and ceiling. (I know that works for a 44 person extended family from experience. )

I agree David.

dmward wrote in post #15939648
Large groups can not, practically, be lit to provide soft transitional shadow boundaries with anything much smaller than a north light or overcast sky

I do indoor family reunion groups with 75+ people in them and get reasonably soft shadows using six studio lights, all equipped with large reflective umbrellas and located roughly in a horizontal line above my camera. The lights are usually at ten or eleven feet off the floor and the camera is at eight feet from the floor.

nice setup Skip! do you use a 36" reflective umbrella?

hawk911 wrote in post #15941583
nice setup Skip! do you use a 36" reflective umbrella?

I have four 60" umbrellas and two 45" umbrellas. All are Photogenic Eclipse umbrellas with satin white interiors and opaque black covers.

mola setti will work quite nice

if you put a sock on a Beauty Dish and shoot a group of people at a relative distance...you will get a functioning 22" diameter softbox.

Op doesn't say how big a group.

Skip, I've done similar with speedlites. I was basing my comment on an understanding that we were talking about one light.

I shot a family group of 22 last New Years with two speedlites in shoot through umbrellas. Worked fine with camera on tripod slow shutter speed, reasonable F stop and ISO.

I've also shot groups of 40+ with two monolights bounced into the ceiling while standing on a ladder.

And Phil is right sock turns it a beauty dish into a soft box.

Mola, whatever. Its still a small source for a large subject area.

I suggest the use of a large octabox for groups of 3+, preferably at least 5 feet.

The setti is usable for 2-3 people, but I would stick to shooting soldiery portraits with a 22" dish.

Having a beauty dish outside is always great if its windy and your in a pinch. Doesnt catch the wind like a softbox or umbrella would.

but without a headcount, hard to suggest an appropriate modifier.