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Author Topic: Power Pack / Strobe Question  (Read 1489 times)

jvora

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Power Pack / Strobe Question
« on: April 08, 2013, 10:21:37 am »

Hello :

While shooting interiors ( homes, hotels, etc. ) that have windows which streams pools of white-bright light what soft of power does one need in terms of watts/s for strobes ?

At present, I only have 400w/s strobes that I use for Products Shots - They are only useful for early morning / late evening shots and are absolutely inadequate for afternoon shots.

I do not have a place where I can rent lights for testing purposes thus am in need of advice based on your usage and experience.

I shall await your kind replies.



Jai
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Studio B

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Re: Power Pack / Strobe Question
« Reply #1 on: April 08, 2013, 10:27:29 am »

Hello :

While shooting interiors ( homes, hotels, etc. ) that have windows which streams pools of white-bright light what soft of power does one need in terms of watts/s for strobes ?

At present, I only have 400w/s strobes that I use for Products Shots - They are only useful for early morning / late evening shots and are absolutely inadequate for afternoon shots.


What does your light meter tell you?
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KevinA

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Re: Power Pack / Strobe Question
« Reply #2 on: April 08, 2013, 11:11:56 am »

Hello :

While shooting interiors ( homes, hotels, etc. ) that have windows which streams pools of white-bright light what soft of power does one need in terms of watts/s for strobes ?

At present, I only have 400w/s strobes that I use for Products Shots - They are only useful for early morning / late evening shots and are absolutely inadequate for afternoon shots.

I do not have a place where I can rent lights for testing purposes thus am in need of advice based on your usage and experience.

I shall await your kind replies.



Jai

Impossible to say, depends on size of room etc. I once had 13000 j of Bron and when doing very large interiors every j was sent into the ceiling to stop it going green from under exposure, the rest of the room was time exposure.
Things like car showrooms I would light the area near the camera and time expose for the distant parts. No way could you light it all unless you were a Hollywood production. This was in the days of film.
You are going to need to multi expose and use Photoshop to blend.
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jvora

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Re: Power Pack / Strobe Question
« Reply #3 on: April 08, 2013, 11:25:51 am »

Thanks for the reply -

I understand my question was too open ended - I hope by revising the question as follows makes sense !

I'll narrow it down by asking for the amount of W/s I will need if I were using one strobe for a regular sized Hotel Guest Room, ( say 15Ft x 20Ft ).

I then will try and extrapolate from there on in for other areas.

I hope the above criteria makes it more possible to answer my query.


Thanks,

Jai  
« Last Edit: April 08, 2013, 11:27:31 am by jvora »
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stevesanacore

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Re: Power Pack / Strobe Question
« Reply #4 on: April 08, 2013, 11:39:41 am »

There is no way to guess at how much power you will need, especially because different brand strobes have very varied output. You'd have to go there with more than you need to be sure you have enough (like 4 Profoto or Broncolor 2400ws packs and heads.) If that is not an option then look at the alternatives:

Time of day is critical to a great interior shot. You should use the sunlight to enhance the photo but you will need to control it. You can always cover the windows with various gels, diffusion or black cloth too. Or shoot at a time of day when the sun is not coming in the windows.

Generally your shutter speed will determine how you fight the daylight and keep a balance. If you can get your sync speed to 1/500 the daylight will be down to  f8 or less at ISO100 depending on window tinting etc. That will require less strobe power to balance. It is quite complicated to shoot interiors but it's done all the time by experienced architectural photographers. There are so many variables to every shot that depend on the interior architecture. Usually we have to balance available light, artificial built in lighting, window light and our own added tungsten or strobe lighting for the perfect shot.

Using a camera with maximum dynamic range like the Nikon D800 or a Phase One back will also help.

Hope this helps.
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jvora

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Re: Power Pack / Strobe Question
« Reply #5 on: April 08, 2013, 01:20:34 pm »

Hello Steve :

Thanks again - Your reply does help a whole lot, ( i.e. not just because you mentioned 2400W/s, but because of the explanation that you provided )

One of the strobes I was considering was a 2400w/s by Elinchrom - I can begin by purchasing 2 Power Packs and see how that helps and if required, add more, ( i.e. each Pack can connect to 2 heads )

I wanted to confirm if I was heading in the right direction and based in your reply, it seems I am



Thanks,

Jai
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stevesanacore

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Re: Power Pack / Strobe Question
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2013, 10:05:23 pm »

jvora,  Well those strobes will give you more flexibility but it's only a small part of the puzzle. Using those lights in a way that looks natural is key to good shots.
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jvora

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Re: Power Pack / Strobe Question
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2013, 11:51:14 pm »

Thanks Steve - Appreciate your input.

Thanks all for contributing.



Jai

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