My shoots are becoming more and more on location especially with model portfolios. Don't really want to continue taking expensive strobes into the New Zealand wilderness which can often be unforgiving. That and I think my determination and durability often out does the fragile units.

Anyway, I am thinking of using a set of 4 (500W) halogen lamps setup on the one stand. Thats 2000W of bulb light. I completely understand the temperature of the light will be far from perfect. However I believe my photoshop skill can correct, plus I will also most definately reflect from gold reflectors for that low sun gold look anyway.

My question is.... how much light will I need to compete with daylight? I believe that I'm dreaming if thinking of competing with a bright sunny day, but low light afternoon or overcast??? Does anyone have some experience with this sort of thing?

Thanks

Aloha Richard! First I want to agree with you on the lack of sharing ideas and practices that work...I'm working on a new marketing model myself and waiting to see the results!

Anyway, rather that go with hot lights, which can be a fire hazard, by the way, not to mention having to carry the generator etc, why not replace the expensive studio strobes with speedlights?! I use 3 speedlights on stands on all my location work. You'd think that the small light source would make for harsh edged light, but I set my key to 50mm and my fill at 35mm or 28mm, and the results look very natural. And speedlights are WAY lighter and more portable than the other solutions.

Hi Richard,

I would agree with Stan that those lights are going to get awfully hot. They might not even give you the light that you are looking for depending on the scene and your desired aperture/shutter combination. I also don't see any real difference in lugging them around versus your strobes. Stan may have the best option for you with the smaller strobes.

Definitely forget the hot lights outside. You'll spend a lot of time and sweat trying to get enough light on your subject to even come close to the sun's contribution. I agree with Stan about getting strobes but I would suggest getting a hybrid like a Profoto 600b that runs off its own battery while still pumping out 600 watt seconds. It can be a life saver for those times that your want to use a softbox or octabox.

The other thing is to learn to control the natural light. If you put a scrim up over your model you can reduce the effect of the sun by up to two stops. Then even hot shoe model flashes have the chance to compete.

The secret is to select backgrounds that are in the shade.

Good luck with it.

Cool, thanks for the tips!

I'm gonna continue with the battery pack and strobe.
Sunlight isnt what i'm after for my style.

Thanks guys ( :

Here's another approach, starting with a question: why go on location?

I've spent some time experimenting with Chromakey and dropping in scenes to suit. For example, a regional store wants to show clothes (on models) in different settings given sales and weather. Rather than shoot something new each time, changing the scene digitally suffices. Admittedly that's a make-do strategy that addresses cost, but the paradigm can solve many logistical issues.