greg_reinacker

<p>I wrote a blog post a while back on simulating candle light with strobe, in order to work around some of the obvious issues with shooting at such low light levels. You said no flash, so this might not apply for you, but I thought I'd include a link in case it's helpful...<br>

<a href="http://www.gregrphoto.com/blog/2006/12/21/simulated-candlelight/">http://www.gregrphoto.com/blog/2006/12/21/simulated-candlelight/</a></p>

<p>To echo what Alec said - I've done 1800 shots on the BX's in an 8-hour period, modeling lamps on almost the whole time, with no problems at all.</p>

<p>Hmm. Not sure exactly what the rules are, but I've traveled with a Ranger RX as checked baggage and didn't have a problem.</p>

It's not hard to put together and break down; the frame is aluminum, and the joints are plastic. Sometimes they're a little

hard to get stuck together, but it breaks in with use.

 

FWIW, the "3/4 stop" diffusion is actually about 1/3 of a stop (at least it was when I got it, and when I got the replacement

hoping it would be more like 3/4).

Your RX monolights require AC power; you could use a generator, or a battery/inverter.

 

Elinchrom's Ranger RX battery pack is designed for Ranger heads (or other heads with an adapter)...it will _not_ power the RX monolights.

I've used a pocket wizard with a Nikon P5000 before, and it worked fine; not exactly what you asked, but at least a data

point for you...

Where to buy - I've picked it up at Home Depot (only up to 3x6 though)...there are other

sources as well, try local glass companies and they might be able to point you in the right

direction.

 

As for cracking - a couple of things. Put it on a solid surface - not on carpet or something.

And also, don't use acrylic, as this will crack very easily, especially if your model is wearing

heels. Try polycarbonate (Lexan is an example brand) - much stronger, although more

expensive.

I'm not positive, but I think I remember having to put in a fuse prior to charging and using it. I'm not in front of a Ranger pack at the moment, but I think the fuse goes on the top of the battery, or else inside the pack (look in the bottom with the battery out).

The Ranger is a pack/head system; it requires specific heads to work with it. Your RX600's are self-contained monolights - they are designed to work independently, and don't work with the Ranger.

 

Most portable lighting systems work this way - Profoto 7b, Hensel Porty, etc.

So you're saying you have the key/hair lights at f/6.3, fill at f/3.2, and the background at f/36? That's about 5 stops hotter than your key light - you're going to see a LOT of spill. Take your background down to f/9 or f/11, and things will be a little more under control.

 

I wrote about shooting on a white background on my blog at http://www.gregrphoto.com/blog/2007/01/shooting-with-white-background.html, if it's helpful.

When you absolutely, positively, need your strobes to fire EVERY time, Pocket Wizards.

I wrote about this a bit on my blog, with a couple of possible solutions: http://www.gregrphoto.com/blog/2007/01/shooting-with-white-background.html Greg

I use the Ranger RX Speed AS. You are correct - it always sends power 1/3 and 2/3 to the two heads. If you only have one head connected to the A port, it sends 100% of the power to that head; if you only have one head connected, and it's connected to the B port, it will get 1/3 power.

 

As for the heads, that depends what you want to shoot. Even the S head is relatively fast - 1/2310 sec if connected to the B port. You'll need to decide for yourself what kind of speed you need; if you're typically shooting stationary people, it's not going to make any difference. If you're trying to shoot sports action or fast-moving fashion, you may need the A heads.

 

Hope this helps...

 

Greg

 

http://www.gregrphoto.com

You don't need two stops - the key is to evenly light the background. This is very difficult with less than two lights on it, however.

 

I wrote a blog post about one way to light a white background here:

 

http://www.gregrphoto.com/blog/2007/01/shooting-with-white-background.html

 

Also, the brighter your background lights with respect to the subject, the more spill you're going to get on the edges of your subject. One thing you can do is move your subject further away from the background - 4' is pretty close. Do you have room to double that?

 

Greg

Light falls off with the square of the distance. What this means for your case is, you want to get the lights as close as possible to your subject, and have your subject as far as possible from the background. The larger the ratio between lights-to-background-distance and lights-to-subject-distance, the less light (relatively) will fall on your background.

 

Also, umbrellas tend to throw light all over the place, so you're going to see a bit more light spill on the background using them over, say, a smaller softbox.

 

Greg

 

http://www.gregrphoto.com

I use Elinchrom myself. The AB's have some issues, IMHO, for shooting fashion if your style is at all fast-moving; I tried to document those issues here:

 

http://www.gregrphoto.com/blog/2006/12/white-lightning-x1600-mini-review.html

 

Hope this helps...

 

Greg

 

http://www.gregrphoto.com

I use Elinchrom myself, but I used White Lightnings previous to that. I wrote about my experience with the WL's here:

 

http://www.gregrphoto.com/blog/2006/12/white-lightning-x1600-mini-review.html

 

The issues I mentioned all apply to the Alien Bees as well, with the possible exception of power consistency (I never had the AB's, so I don't know if they're better or worse in that area).

 

Hope this helps...

 

Greg

The frame is made out of rectangular metal with plastic joints on the ends to clip them together. Once the frame is together, there is velcro all the way around on one side with which to attach the fabric.

 

Not sure what the fabric is made of...

 

Greg

 

http://www.gregrphoto.com

Ricardo - just for a data point, I use an Elinchrom Ranger RX AS Speed battery system. Compared with speedlights, there are lots of advantages:

 

- much more power (1100 ws)

 

- fast recycle times (worst case is 3s at max power)

 

- easier to mount accessories (standard elinchrom mount)

 

- batteries will last longer

 

Only real downside, other than cost, is it weighs about 17 lbs - but that's quite a bit lighter than say the Profoto 7b pack.

 

Hope this helps...

 

Greg

 

http://www.gregrphoto.com