Arena Lighting?

12 years 2 months ago #200861 by Powell Pink
I do a lot of rodeos and horse shows during the summer months when they are held outdoors during the day, but I have to turn a lot of work away during the winter and at nights as they are held indoors and I don't have a lighting system.

What kind of lights should I buy? I know I need at least 2, and some pocket wizards. I am just clueless here... Would the 1600 AlienBees be powerful enough? The conditions are ranging from very, very dark outdoor arenas, to dimly lit indoor arenas. They are all action shots too, so they need to be bright enough to stop action. And yes, like most of us, I am on a budget... name brands are good.. then at least I'll know where to start looking .
ANY thoughts or ideas are appreciated


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12 years 2 months ago #200866 by Brushet Pics
I don't know much about rodeo photography or horse arena photography, but I do know that the arenas are large areas,and the throws from the flash units to the action would be quite a bit longer than in many indoor locations. I looked at the Alien Bees specification page
and I see that the 1600 models with the 50 degree 11 inch reflector is listed as having an ISO/Feet guide number of 450 at full power. So with the light set up at 90 feet from the action, the aperture at ISO 100 would be 450 divided by 90, or f/5.0.

Bumping up the ISO on the camera would allow you to shoot at a smaller aperture, or with a slightly lower flash power setting for faster recycling time. If you REALLY jack the ISO up, to say 1,000 or 1250 AND use flash, you'd get really fast recycling and your flash pops would be very short, less-noticeable pops. A portable battery/pure sine wave inverter like the Innovatronix Explorer XT will give you two AC outlets to plug in two lights, and reasonably rapid recycling--especially if you use higher IOS settings and thus reduced flash output.


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