Dual Strobe Idea

[scootermcq]

I have been fighting with this for a while.....

My big arse studio strobes are big, heavy, expensive and a pain to lug around at outdoor shoots for weddings.

My little fleabay 180 w/s strobes are almost perfect.... small, light, cheap (read disposable if broken) and easy to lug around, but sometimes I need a little more power to knock down the sun.

I was looking at my phottix softbox today and thought, "I bet I could stuff two strobes in there." So, I did.....

Here is the beauty to my plan. If I need lots of light to knock down sun, I can shoot both at full power and get 360 w/s, with less weight than the 400 w/s studio strobe..... but if I need less power it gets really good. If they are at half power, they obviously recycle faster and two at half power equals 1 at full.

Now here is the really cool part. I use the phottix stratos II triggers. One strobe is on channel A and one on B..... if I need lots of light, I could turn on both via the trigger, if I need less, I select just one. It gives me a remote control over power for either half or full power without walking over to the light. From that point, I can tweak using aperture. It should cause a lot less messing with power settings and walking to the lights.

I will let you know how it turns out after Saturday's wedding

Here is how I did it.

I used this clamp:



I used a speedlight umbrella mount for the soft box and used the clamp to mount both strobes in the soft box like this:



And she fills the box with light like this:



This idea should work with either Westcott or this Phottix knock off.

[sk66]

Should be absolutely no issue with it...it's done all the time with flash units.
Just watch out for heat with them that tight to the fabric..

[scootermcq]

Originally Posted by sk66

Should be absolutely no issue with it...it's done all the time with flash units.
Just watch out for heat with them that tight to the fabric..

For sure... kinda where I got the idea from. My thought was it equals 4 or so flash units for the less than the price of one and I only have to worry about a single battery pack, not 16 double A's

[Bruce A]

Good idea - just don't leave the modeling lights on (if you use them). Sometimes the softboxes are sold to withstand a certain temp - or at least I recall one ad that did. You don't want to inadvertantly be the pyro display guy at a wedding

[scootermcq]

Originally Posted by Bruce A

Good idea - just don't leave the modeling lights on (if you use them). Sometimes the softboxes are sold to withstand a certain temp - or at least I recall one ad that did. You don't want to inadvertantly be the pyro display guy at a wedding

Yeah.... I thought of that. I wouldn't be anyway, running off of battery, kills it too fast

[zona5101]

Nice work, MacGyver.

[autofocus]

You are one crafty guy Scott! Looks like a great solution, and nicely executed

[scootermcq]

OK, based on concerns of flame, explosion & sudden death, I went back to the drawing board.

Most of my life, I have adhered to moto, "If they don't find you handsome, they had better find you handy"

In that light (pun intended), here it is now.

[Doug Sundseth]

Nice job, Red. The boys at the Possum Lodge will be impressed.

[sk66]

Originally Posted by Doug Sundseth

Nice job, Red. The boys at the Possum Lodge will be impressed.

I dont see any duct tape.......not impressed.

seriously though, nice, and better.
BTW, I wasn't so much concerned about "you"... you do know how flammable hairspray is don't you? I was envisioning some bride's hair on fire to be put out in the punch bowl...
That might be "worth it" if you could capture it on film and had good enough insurance....