Powering Studio Lighting on Location

[Bubble16]

I have volunteered to do a charity dog photoshoot at a dog show, so am going to be in a gazeebo and am only now beginning to appreciate the logistics involved!! :ops: I am doing studio style, not action shots so need my lighting kit, am using the lastolite hilite system. I have portaflash lights 336VM, any suggestions on how I can power them. Reading on here not only are generators prohibatively expensive but I don't think they are suitable? Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thankyou.:ocx

[lostmysnorkel]

Hi and welcome to the forum, why not pop into our 'Introduce Yourself' thread and join in a bit?

As far as I know, Portaflash is only suitable for mains powered operation. How long is your extenision lead???

You can get very good results using flashguns off-camera if you have the gear.

[tinysmall]

What Snorks said. Generators are not suitable for studio flash as you run a huge risk of blowing up your lights. For the time being you can use off camera flash guns which can achieve some very good results and in the future, if you want proper flash heads for location shooting, try http://www.lencarta.com/safari-portable-flash/index.php
Still expensive depending on your outlook, but MUCH cheaper than Elinchrom, Bowens and Profoto and these are great lights.

[Bubble16]

Thankyou for the replies, that was what I was understanding from what I had read so far. Have an SB600 and 800 so was thinking of getting another 600 and a 900 and then seeing what sort of a mess I could get myself into from there :)

[lostmysnorkel]

Don't know what camera you have, but if it's a D200, 300 or 700 - you should be able to make a decent fist of it with the SB-800 and 600.

You can use the pop-up flash as 'Commander' and set each remote flash to Group 'A' and Group 'B' respectively.

A couple of shoot - through brollies or a softbox on teh remotes and away ya go.

I wouldn't even consider trying to light the Lastolite with SBs - so try and set up the shoot with a plain black backdrop - or lift the back of the gazeebo to show a bit of the landscape.

[Garry_Edwards]

I agree with the others. The Lencarta Safari is definately the way to go for this type of photography but obviously the cost isn't justified for a one-off.
Personally I'd stick with your SB-800 & SB-600 for this shoot, I wouldn't bother buying any more flashguns unless you really do need them for other shoots, and I wouldn't even consider using a generator, the cost of a generator that produces usable (pure sine wave) current that's safe for electronic gear is very high.
I feel that this is a shoot that will probably look more natural without a pure white background anyway.

[Bubble16]

Ooh, the Lencarta looks like what I was after, once I have won the lottery or given up eating anyhow! The pure white background is really the whole point of the shoot, have marketed it that way, with hindsight would have been a lot easier if I hadn't! I was going to slave the flashes and honestly can't see why one wouldn't work for the hilite? Will experiment later and let you know!

[lostmysnorkel]

I was going to slave the flashes and honestly can't see why one wouldn't work for the hilite? Will experiment later and let you know!

I'd be interested to know how you get on. I haven't used a hilite before, but seen them in action and I'd be surprised if you get enough power out of the SB-800 to be effective.

[Garry_Edwards]

I'd be interested too.
I know that several people do in fact use the hilite with hotshoe flashes, my guess is that the power becomes adequate if the ISO is cranked up, which some people think is an OK thing to do.
The theoretical side of my brain is making me wonder whether they will distribute the light evenly enough, as the fixed reflectors will stop the light bouncing around inside as much as I would think necessary.

[Bubble16]

Well I have experimented and with an ISO of 320, 1/60 and F8 the SB600 set on 1/1 bleached everything so I set it on 1/2 and bingo!! Very chuffed. Now just have to work out how to light the flooring which is always the most exciting part with the hilite! Shopping for another SB600 is on the cards! Will keep you updated, got 8 days to sort it out - anyone know where to buy a gazeebo :)

[Bubble16]

Just to let you all know, bought a white gazebo and set up with my SB800's lighting the hilite and on-camera and two SB600's on tripods with umbrellas and the lighting was perfect!! Am actually thinking of using this set up instead of the studio lights when working on location in children's cafes, no leads to trip over and the flashes power-up more quickly! Very happy.

[ChrisC]

you had 2 800's on the hilite with 2 600's at the front - is that right?

[Bubble16]

you had 2 800's on the hilite with 2 600's at the front - is that right?

No I had one SB800 on the hilite (clamped at the top) and one on camera acting as the master unit but set on 1/16th power. Then two SB600's for the front/floor.

[Nora]

Hi. I am new to this forum...well I am new to any forums really!
I hope someone out there can help. I am really stressed out as I can't decide which lighting kit I should buy.
I need to shoot babies and families sometimes in very small rooms and I am looking for something easy to carry and set up that will give me good light.
I don't have a huge budget so I can't afford 2 kits like someone advised me!
The question "how much power do I need" seems to be very difficult to answer when the location is not a fixed studio but I don't know much about lighting and I find it very confusing.
I have been looking at the Elinchrom D 4 and the Lastolite Hilite background but not sure if is the right one to go with..
Any advise? Thanks. Nora

[chaz]

Have a look at these if on a tight budget http://www.cameraworld.co.uk/ViewProdDetails.asp?prod_code=PON09G000017&Prod_name=Interfit+EX+150+Mk+II+Home+Studio+Flash+ Kit+%28INT182%29&CAT_CODE=30&SUBCAT_CODE=219