Using outlet umbrella lights outdoors

[maddycorbin]

I do in-studio shots with two umbrella lights. I have a shoot at an outdoor orchard next week and would like to use my lights again but they must be plugged into an outlet to use and there won't we any power sources available.

What are my best options?

 

[480sparky]

A generator or a battery bank w/inverter.

 

[table1349]

A generator or a battery bank w/inverter.

I vote for option #2 unless you have one damn long extension cord so you don't have to battle the noise, fumes etc.

 

[dennybeall]

You can use car batteries and an inverter and during breaks charge up the car batteries with the vehicle or a nearby a/c outlet.
Small or large inverters work well but large ones will suck a dc battery dry fairly quickly.

 

[480sparky]

A generator or a battery bank w/inverter.

I vote for option #2 unless you have one damn long extension cord so you don't have to battle the noise, fumes etc.

There are gennies that are quite quiet. I was wandering around a farmers market a couple years ago and as I walked away from one of the vendors tent, I almost tripped over their generator........ it was THAT quiet.

 

[Derrel]

Tronix makes some nice battery+inverter packs Tronix Explorer

Paul C. Buff company also has some remarkably small "Vagabond" units. Paul C. Buff - Vagabond Portable Power

 

[table1349]

A generator or a battery bank w/inverter.

I vote for option #2 unless you have one damn long extension cord so you don't have to battle the noise, fumes etc.

There are gennies that are quite quiet. I was wandering around a farmers market a couple years ago and as I walked away from one of the vendors tent, I almost tripped over their generator........ it was THAT quiet.

Very true, and for the really quite one's very expensive.

 

[480sparky]

Very true, and for the really quite one's very expensive.

No one ever said this was a cheap hobby!

 

[table1349]

Very true, and for the really quite one's very expensive.

No one ever said this was a cheap hobby!

True and at $3,500 to $4,000 for the really quiet ones I think I would just get a regular old noisy one and 200' of 14 gage extension cord.

 

[TCampbell]

Rent some battery powered lighting... e.g. Profoto makes a number of battery powered products (look at the "B" series... e.g. B1 moonlights or B2 strobe kit, etc.)

LensRentals.com - Rent Canon Lighting Profoto (to get to lighting you first have to pick Canon or Nikon, I picked Canon, but they also have these for Nikon. You'll also notice they rent the "Air Remote" transceivers and these come in generic (non-TTL) or Canon-TTL or Nikon-TTL.)
or
Profoto Rental

 

[table1349]

Rent some battery powered lighting... e.g. Profoto makes a number of battery powered products (look at the "B" series... e.g. B1 moonlights or B2 strobe kit, etc.)

LensRentals.com - Rent Canon Lighting Profoto (to get to lighting you first have to pick Canon or Nikon, I picked Canon, but they also have these for Nikon. You'll also notice they rent the "Air Remote" transceivers and these come in generic (non-TTL) or Canon-TTL or Nikon-TTL.)
or
Profoto Rental

Good idea. Our local brick and mortar store rents Profoto lighting setups. The only thing I wish is for OP's with such questions would be for them to include in their profile Where THEY ARE FROM!! Might be hard to do if the OP lives someplace like Angle Inlet, MN or Marfa TX.

 

[TCampbell]

Profoto Rental

Good idea. Or local brick and mortar store rents Profoto lighting setups. The only thing I wish is for OP's with such questions would be for them to include in their profile Where THEY ARE FROM!! Might be hard to do if the OP lives someplace like Angle Inlet, MN or Marfa TX.

The second link (the one I left in my own quote above) links to Profoto's "rental" webpage. It lists brick & mortar stores. I was looking at the US site, so if the OP is from another country they'd need to set that before checking the rental page.