Lighting up part of a tropical silhouette,

Gentlemen, (I haven't seen many ladies in here, but forgive me you are one / want to be one!?!?)

Finally, I am in a situation whereby I can start spending some serious money on some serious lights and so....

I am trying to acheive a stereotypical (photographic) upward shot of silhouetted divers above very well lit soft corals, with the sun in the background........ with a video camera!? (PDX10)

So then, any serious gearheads / physicists out there who can recommend how many millions of watts / lumens I will be needing to fight a fair battle with tropical midday sunlight?

an example.......

http://oceanic-impressions.com/images/9reef10.jpg

(don't worry Mark is a friend and won't mind me using his pic as an example......)

So then, whatdyall reckon???

Is it achievable?

I know that getting closer to the subject matter is better etc... so hold the advice on that one...... just numbers / figures levels of achievability, please......

Tell me that it's as simple as 20W HID and I'll choke - I get the feeling that we're in the 200W HMI range (plus more!)

If so, I'll forget about it and go and open a buffalo farm in Chiang Mai......

Look forward to any advice received.......

Cheers lads (and lasses)

Chris

Hello Chris.

I would say that unless you are very close to the corals/diver, then you will need very powerfull lights indeed. A flash of a strobe is many times more powerfull than a 20-wat HID.

Good luck.

Cheers Wagsy,

Couldn't agre more, like in the HMI 200W range feel!?!?!

How about comparing the flash value of a strobe... What does one's average strobe pump out as a maximum effective wattage nowadays....... Are the figures used in Strobe specs directly translatable into a video light equivalent?

Chris

I'll bet you could get a very similar shot with video using 20w HID's, but not at mid-day. Mark's photo was shot either in the early morning or late afternoon. Look at the angle of the sun. With that angle, the foreground (reef) would be very shadowed. HID lights close up with a wide angle lens should be sufficient. Strobes range from just a few watts to upwards of 200 watts, but still cameras generally need a lot more light than video. I think you would definitely need HID to closely match the color temp of the background (sun). Try it and find out.

Dan, you are quite right, Mark's photo does have a low angle of sunlight in it.... merely using it as an example of the type of effect I'll be looking to acheive......

Problem is that over here, most dives are between 10.30 and 11.30 am and then about 1 to 2pm latest..... Usually revolving around the midday timezone unfortunately......

Do you reckon that I'd be screwed then?

Mainly looking at what minimum level I should be aiming for - Halcyon's bad-boy Apollos have some serious stats racked up in their favour........ though they include a socking great battery pack to clip to your waste or somehow afix to the housing......

mmmmmm........ one ponders further........

Cheers for your advice, though,

Chris