DeVaul Photography wrote:
Trying to use strobes out doors is very new to me and and I really like the dramatic effects of overpowering the sun.  I just don't know what I can accomplish with what portable equipment I have.

There are plenty of different factors involved - amount of ambient, what modifiers you use, what distance you're working at, what you want your light to look like, etc. Play with it and find out.

StephenEastwood wrote:
you have enough power if the flash is close enough to the subject to give you the proper amount of light,  The 800 should work with the flash at about 6 feet from the model.

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

I'm guessing you mean the AB800 and not the ABR800 or the SB800(this where the laughing smilie would go if I could figure out that too)

( ANT ) Mgaphoto wrote:
can you achieve that affect without a nd and circular polarizer filter?

Depends on what f stop and what time of day, its easier to control the light with the CP and ND than have to shoot at f 32 or greater to get a bright afternoon sky to be black.  The reality is the sky will be correctly exposed at 100iso, at 100th/sec at f 16  to make that dark you first speed up, than add light to the subject if you can shoot 200th and stay at f16 you are already starting to make the sky a bit darker but if you check the chart on that page you will see you need a very small aperature to get the sky real dark.

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

( ANT ) Mgaphoto wrote:
can you achieve that affect without a nd and circular polarizer filter?

The benefit to using a neutral density filter is that you can use a larger aperture so you have a sharper shot (less diffraction) and shallower depth of focus.

DeVaul Photography wrote:

I'm guessing you mean the AB800 and not the ABR800 or the SB800(this where the laughing smilie would go if I could figure out that too)

well the sb800 is probably as bright as a alienbee 800 flashhead, or one stop more than the 400ws alienbee, so you could use it straight on closer in to get enough light, or if your camera has a high speed sync that works with it.  The ab ring is about teh same as the alienbee 400 in power so it may need to be closer.

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

StephenEastwood wrote:

Depends on what f stop and what time of day, its easier to control the light with the CP and ND than have to shoot at f 32 or greater to get a bright afternoon sky to be black.  The reality is the sky will be correctly exposed at 100iso, at 100th/sec at f 16  to make that dark you first speed up, than add light to the subject if you can shoot 200th and stay at f16 you are already starting to make the sky a bit darker but if you check the chart on that page you will see you need a very small aperature to get the sky real dark.

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

cool... thanks for the info because I am going to buy an inverter and try using my acute ring light outdoors or maybe my profoto 600 mono but I saw in another post a while back about the power issues with getting this affect

Corey Ward wrote:

The benefit to using a neutral density filter is that you can use a larger aperture so you have a sharper shot (less diffraction) and shallower depth of focus.

Excatly why I recommend them,  its always better to be able to set DOF for the look and feel and not because you have to stop down or up to make it work.  I am a believer that you should choose speed and aperature for the look and effect than adjust your strobe accordingly.

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

( ANT ) Mgaphoto wrote:

cool... thanks for the info because I am going to buy an inverter and try using my acute ring light outdoors or maybe my profoto 600 mono but I saw in another post a while back about the power issues with getting this affect

600ws should be plenty so long as you do not want to put the light 10 feet away through a double diffuser softbox, you may need to bring it in closer or use it more direct relfector.

There is also an ability to run dual or triple conversions making the sky almost 2 stops darker so long as you don't blow it out and get some detail in it.

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com