Overpowering the sun with flash

[ChipBulgin]

Originally Posted by CaptainKen

Thanks again Ernie
Would 2 600 watts in one softbox be the same as 1 1200 watt light? That I can do I just have to buy the double mount ring. That only just now occured to me.
Ken

Ken, yes it will, but it only buys you one stop of light. A single Elinchrom RX600 has more than enough grunt to make this work. You should be able to get a meter reading of f/45.0 at 4 meters (ISO 100) with the standard reflector. The trick is all in getting your flash exposure to exceed your ambient exposure. Meter your subject as it appears with ambient light. Lets say it ends up as: ISO 100, 1/125th. sec, f/16. To match the ambient light, You need to configure your strobes so that they also meter at ISO 100, 1/125th. sec, f/16. If you want the sky one stop darker, configure your strobe so that you meter f/22.0. (Alternatively, you could set your shutter speed to 1/250th. and keep the f-stop at f/16.0). If you want the sky two stops darker, set the strobe up so that you meter f/32.0.

Basically, you use the shutter to control the ambient light portion of your exposre, and you use your apertures to control the strobe portion of your exposure. As Ernie said, use neutral density filters if you want to open up the aperture.

-Chip

[Dman65]

Thanks for the information Ernie. That is exactly what I was looking for.

This is one time I miss my old medium format Bronica that synched at all speeds because of the leaf shutter. But on the other hand, I couldn't look at the back of the camera to see if I was getting what I wanted either so I guess everything has trade-offs.

Thanks again,

Daryl

[CaptainKen]

Thanks Chip
Looks like I have lots of options. That’s a great explanation as usual. I think the umbrella was just sucking up to much energy. I have some ideas I’d like to try so I’m just experimenting before I try it with a model.
Ken

[Olli]

You can also raise your shutter speed to help darken the background. Nikon says max sync on my D70 is 1/500 sec. I have synced with strobes at up to 1/1250 sec with no loss of strobe light. At 1/1600 sec my exposure dims, as would be expected since I am well above sync speed. Try it with your own equipment, it could buy you another f-stop.