Umbrella Kit for Automotive

[I Haz Camera]

I'm looking to get some sort of umbrella kit to shoot cars at night. I can't figure out how to get power to the kit though. Do I run an extension cord to a power converter inside a separate vehicle? A lighting kit seems like a cheaper and esentially more effective alternative to buying a bunch of hand help flashes. Thanks for the help.

-Charlie

 

[KmH]

They make battery packs like the Vagabond II so you can take power where ever you need it, if you are going to use 120V AC, studio strobes.

AlienBees: Illuminating the Galaxy with Professional Photographic Lighting Equipment

The key is making sure of having a pure sine wave inverter, otherwise you can damage the electronics in your lights.

 

[Village Idiot]

By the way, umbrellas aren't exactly the best modifier for shooting automotive photography. They won't control the light as well as you need it to be controlled.

 

[ghache]

You could use bounce back umbrellas of at least 46 to 60 inches but i dont think 1 could be enough to light a car correctly depending on the effect you want.

 

[Village Idiot]

You could use bounce back umbrellas of at least 46 to 60 inches but i dont think 1 could be enough to light a car correctly depending on the effect you want.

Not to mention the horrible reflection and possible spill. Umbrellas have their uses, but for cars, I much prefer boxes and reflectors.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

I shoot cars in the studio which is about the equivalent of your doing it at night, no ambient light, and unless you're going for some special dark look, no light kit is going to be cheap.

I use a minimum of about 30 strobes with a big chunk of them in a huge softbox hanging from the ceiling. The softbox is larger than the cars so that you don't see it on the car's surface.

If you are not doing some sort of special effect, I would stick to shooting in daylight.