cdtidy Posted July 16, 2007 Author Share Posted July 16, 2007 Typically between 6 inches and 2 feet. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekij Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Do you think one 223 pointed at the ceiling will be enough, or do I need two?I would recommend two (or more) sources, not so much for twice the power but because that gives you the ability to fill in shadows with a second source from a different angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Studio flash by Bowens, Strobe, Elinchrom and many others will have a modeling light built in so you can see the effect and still take the pic by flash. I seriously suggest you look at a photography course somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdtidy Posted July 16, 2007 Author Share Posted July 16, 2007 Studio flash by Bowens, Strobe, Elinchrom and many others will have a modeling light built in so you can see the effect and still take the pic by flash. I seriously suggest you look at a photography course somewhere. As far as I'm concerned, lighting is preferable to flash because you can see exactly what you're getting before you take the picture. I think either of the options you suggest would exceed what I'm wanting to spend. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 The modelling light built in to these devices is in a different location, and is a different type of lamp, so although it does give a pretty good idea of the end result, it isn't exactly the same as you can see with the naked eye - and I guess, could be disappointing. That said, of course, once you get used to your equipment, you can predict the end result quite well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p.k.roberts Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Typically between 6 inches and 2 feet. In that case, bouncing off the ceiling is going to be a very inefficient way to do this; it's too far away and the spread of light will be too great once it arrives at your object and so, as you are finding, you are not getting enough 'grunt'. Get a decent sized bounce board CLOSE to your object; this will make it more efficient and give you a softer source. Then use the light source so that the the beam width 'fills' the bounce board, so you are not wasting any light. I'm sure that with this set up your 500W builders light will give you enough light. If you are still struggling with a white bounce board, try something like Lee 273, or the side of a 'silver' flight case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Judging from the recent comments - er, how bright are you intending to go? I've still got half a dozen 243BPs on a bar and the heat they create is amazing - I suspect the efficiency is very low - but the big lense is useful. I get the impression, the kit is becoming more important than what comes out of it. If you want really soft light, then how about a load of cheap flu fitting in a compact panel with some CT and diffuser? Be nice and bright and cool? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Most florries tend to be very "green" unfortunately, so are very poor sources for photography. They suffer from phospor selection issues:The 'real' photons emitted by the filler gas are monochromatic UV, so the visible light is created by a selection of phosphors coating the inside, each of which emits a particular set of light wavelengths.By choosing a large enough number of different phosphors, an approximation of a 'blackbody' source can be created, but they always suffer from 'holes' and 'peaks' in the output.The particular output varies between models and manufacturers, as each try to find the smallest set that is 'close enough' for their purpose. "White" LEDs suffer from the same issues, but it's a bit easier for them as they have a point UV or Blue source to start from, rather than a gas-filled tube! Shame really, as otherwise the very long linear nature would be perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdtidy Posted August 12, 2007 Author Share Posted August 12, 2007 Hi folks, Thanks for all the advice regarding lighting equipment for photography. After a bad experience buying a pair of Strand Pattern 743 fresnels, which cost me a lot of time and money (I'll go into detail if people are interested), I bought a pair of Strand Harmony F fresnels from Paul Need at http://www.10outof10.co.uk/. They do the job perfectly. Many thanks for the advice! Best wishes, ChrisModeration: moved to the end of the original topic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Need Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 Cheers fella - glad we could help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirkenstein Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 After a bad experience buying a pair of Strand Pattern 743 fresnels, which cost me a lot of time and money (I'll go into detail if people are interested), I would be interested, as I rather like 743s for stage purposes and wouldn't mind knowing what problems you encountered- were you trying to fix them up yourself? I can't imagine they'd be particularly usable for photographic lighting but I'm surprised that the Harmony is that much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdtidy Posted August 14, 2007 Author Share Posted August 14, 2007 I would be interested, as I rather like 743s for stage purposes and wouldn't mind knowing what problems you encountered- were you trying to fix them up yourself? I can't imagine they'd be particularly usable for photographic lighting but I'm surprised that the Harmony is that much better. Hi Dirkenstein, No, it was to do with buying a rather expensive pair of 743s, which got damaged in shipping, and the company's response to the damage. I've posted a thread about it for you here:http://www.blue-room.org.uk/index.php?showtopic=21612 The Harmony Fs work just fine for photographic lighting with an 80A colour correction filter. I find it much easier than trying to use flash. Best wishes, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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