Location Lighting

[stevesanacore]

Just a few tips from a location photographer:

1 - In my experience Elinchrom units do not hold up to travel very well, ( I have four in a junk pile that are unrepairable). Profoto are the only strobes that have been reliable for me on location. The new Profoto B1 Air would be my choice if 500ws is enough power. The Profoto B4 Air is the best choice, but $$$$. I still have a 7B unit which has lasted forever on beaches, in rain, wind, sand etc. around the world for many years now.

2 - In the outdoors with umbrellas, your stand can never be too heavy! I use very HD steel combo stands when outdoors with sandbags, just to be safe. One less thing to worry about.

[gazwas]

Profoto all the way.

Regardless of WS, recycle times, flash duration, the absolute beauty of the Profoto battery systems is how small the AcuteB and ProB heads are but still remain fantastically well built and rock solid holding modifiers. Their smaller size has compromised none of the full size heads strengths and the others (Eli, Bowens etc, etc) don't come close to size apart from the Bron Mobil heads but they look like they'll fall apart. Additionally the Profoto modifier attachment is the work of genius - never jam, stick, fail, fall off - amazing for such a stupidly simple rubber band!

[KevinA]

Here's a good modifier comparator.

That's good fun. So for portraiture you only need a white umbrella. Everything else is just show.

[bcooter]

That's good fun. So for portraiture you only need a white umbrella. Everything else is just show.

For soft light, pretty much.  10 folding umbrellas of different sizes and opacity will fill up the space of one beauty dish (actually less) and do more.

And remember, you can make a big light small, but it's damn hard to make a small light big.

For flash, profoto for all the reasons stated.



IMO

BC

[Ken Bennett]

That's good fun. So for portraiture you only need a white umbrella. Everything else is just show.

Yeah, pretty much. A nice mid-size white umbrella is cheap, easy and fast to set up, and provides a nice quality of soft, wrap around light. They are easy to break, too, and don't last long in even moderate use, but I can buy a crate of 'em for the price of my Elinchrom deep octa.

[TMARK]

A small silver will get a hard light.  Not as hard as a zoom reflector or a magnum, but definitely a light with bite.

For soft light, pretty much.  10 folding umbrellas of different sizes and opacity will fill up the space of one beauty dish (actually less) and do more.

And remember, you can make a big light small, but it's damn hard to make a small light big.

For flash, profoto for all the reasons stated.



IMO

BC

[bcooter]

A small silver will get a hard light.  Not as hard as a zoom reflector or a magnum, but definitely a light with bite.

For direct light, to me nothing is prettier than a standard profoto reflector up high. 

With an 8x foamcore bounce you can make that light do almost anything and it always looks modern and unique to me.

For soft crossing light, I love two shoot through umbrellas, or two beauty dish, side by side one high and one lower going through a 12x vertical silk.

I don't do a lot of retail, but when we do and it's soft, this setup will allow me to make fast changes and hold the look.  You know when you go from a dark complexion model with a white top to a light complexion model with a dark top.  Just by adjusting the angle of the two dishes and dropping or raising the power 1/3 stop.

_________________

when I started I had the coolest lighting setup.  A shoot through umbrella with a hand stitched black enclosure on the back with a zipper.  Years later I noticed Annie used something like this.

What this allowed was a soft directional light without spill and nice fall off.  Beautiful for portrait and lifestyle and even head and shoulders beauty.

But everybody has a different way, though I do like umbrellas.

IMO

BC

[TMARK]

For environmental portraits on location, but inside, with a normal wide FOV, a zoom reflector set wide on a boom as a top light, Chimera shallow as a wide fill.  Maybe a Mola dish as a key, maybe not.  Beautiful light.

What I found is that the Mola 22, a grid, a few umbrellas, foam core/reflectors, and an Acute 1200 with three heads was all the lighting gear I needed for editorial portraits of people.  Not fashion, but portraits.  I usually used one head and the Mola, and shiny board.  Two D1 Air 500's could replace the Acutes, but I don't get the "Built Like a '78 MBZ 300 Diesel" vibe from the D1s like I get from teh Acutes, although the D1's are pretty nice.

For direct light, to me nothing is prettier than a standard profoto reflector up high. 

With an 8x foamcore bounce you can make that light do almost anything and it always looks modern and unique to me.

For soft crossing light, I love two shoot through umbrellas, or two beauty dish, side by side one high and one lower going through a 12x vertical silk.

I don't do a lot of retail, but when we do and it's soft, this setup will allow me to make fast changes and hold the look.  You know when you go from a dark complexion model with a white top to a light complexion model with a dark top.  Just by adjusting the angle of the two dishes and dropping or raising the power 1/3 stop.

_________________

when I started I had the coolest lighting setup.  A shoot through umbrella with a hand stitched black enclosure on the back with a zipper.  Years later I noticed Annie used something like this.

What this allowed was a soft directional light without spill and nice fall off.  Beautiful for portrait and lifestyle and even head and shoulders beauty.

But everybody has a different way, though I do like umbrellas.

IMO

BC

[Lightsmith]

The Quantum system is by far the most versatile. The battery packs are light and one pack can power two heads. There are plenty of fast to setup umbrellas and a great light box that opens like an umbrella so takes seconds to attach. The flash provides for multi-zone control with TTL at distances up to 1000 feet from the camera. There is also a hot shoe mounted device for Canon and Nikon cameras that has a dial with +/- EV in 1/3 stop changes by twisting the dial - nothing could be easier or faster.

I can fit two Quantum flash heads, two battery packs, cables, the FreeXwire transmitters and receivers, lightstands, and the special softboxes, into a single Pelican 1620 case. Everything goes to the location in one case so there is one trip from the car.

The Quantum flash heads also can be shot bare bulb with is a great light source both indoors and outside for people photography. My favorite though is the SP Studio Systems EZOctagonal Softbox that collapses like an umbrella and is a 19" diameter round softbox (round making for more natural catchlights) and sells for $40. It is faster to set up than an umbrella reflector.

The Quantum is also Nikon iTTL and Canon eTTL compatible so you can use it with a Canon or Nikon master unit to have a lot more light than would be possible from a Canon or Nikon flash. TTL has a more limited range of "only" 200 yards.

[gregohb]

Those quantum's look really nice. But for the price of a Quantum you can buy 2-3 Paul Buff heads used, which give more power, and will take a fall off a light stand and still work.