large octobox and 3 strobes indoor and outdoor

[BuDWiZe]

Just wondering some reccomendations i am looking at the elinchrom 53" octobox a strobe for it and 2 mroe strobes i can use for lighting both sides of a persons body/face. i might use a stripbox with those or even bare bulb

I want to do both indoor and outdoor shots. Ive had a hard time in regards to researching the lights to use that i can use both inside and outside

Ill be taking headshot and full body model portrait shots both male and female

ill also at times want to use a beautydish with 1 of the strobes after i but it also

IS that octobox a good size? what about the type of strobe light to get. i looked at elinchrom 600rs but i think they are studio only?

[Wayne]

The 53" Octa is a good size for full length body shots, you can almost get away with the 39" but fall off is noticeable. One thing to remember for outdoor location work is that these large modifiers are like a sail in event the slightest winds, so either a heavy duty wide based stand and some ballast weight or an assistant is often necessary.

Regarding strobes, a 3 light setup is a pain although often necessary when using the Elinchrom portables like Ranger Quadra or RX, simply because the power packs only support 2 heads per pack, so you need to buy 2 sets which is pretty expensive. In order to back or sidelight you can use 2 heads on the Elinchrom pack and a speedlight, but then balancing the speedlight with them will be a bit tedious without a flash meter and for backlighting, often you will need the Elinchrom extension cable for one of the heads as the standard cables are not long enough to have one head in front or on a ring flash with the 2nd behind the subject.

Elicnhrom kits can be bought in single or dual head so if you were to buy 2 kits to get 2 packs, then 2x2 head kits would be better value than 1x2 head and 1x1 head.

You can use studio strobe monobloc heads, but you still have to either carry a power battery pack with an inverter or a dedicated purpose built one like a vegabondII which is the same thing or a genset and both require power leads running all over the place. One of the big downsides with mono's is that you will find it harder to move location outdoors given the bulk and weight in addition to having 240v power and cords all over the place which is a serious risk anywhere near water or in the rain. This is where the Ranger units show a huge advantage over studion mono's.

The Ranger Quadra is a 400ws setup, and will be fine for most outdoor situations, however, shooting into mid-day sun or in very bright conditions, you will struggle to overpower the sun, and this is where the Ranger RX packs shine as they are 1100ws which is also more powerful than many studio mono's.