Did some experimenting

[GregW]

I made a 4' long tube with 2 rows of RGB leds inside. This first shot has the tube flashing from red to blue and back. Frequency of the change was about a half second. It is off camera right and was waved around during the exposure which was about 2 seconds. Yana, the model, was able to hold really still for this shot. Some of the other shots were kinda scary and disturbing.
I bought the dress for it's shiny silver quality which reflected the light colors accurately.

 

[GregW]

This second shot, I changed the color to be solid blue. Again a 2 second shot. The tube started above Yana at the beginning of the exposure and was drawn downward to the ground. There is a person standing behind Yana working the tube. He is in dark clothes and is moving so the camera doesn't see him.

 

[Sherlock]

Interesting photos, being brave with a long exposure...

 

[GregW]

Interesting photos, being brave with a long exposure...

Thanks James. They do get longer. This one was six seconds long. The light streak seen is a commuter train going by. I wanted to add some flash fill and maybe a hair light but it was cold out. We had to wait over five minutes between trains so you just stand there with the chill seeping in.

 

[Sherlock]

Thanks James. They do get longer. This one was six seconds long. The light streak seen is a commuter train going by. I wanted to add some flash fill and maybe a hair light but it was cold out. We had to wait over five minutes between trains so you just stand there with the chill seeping in.

That's nothing, one photographer I know of used to do cold weather portraits in the far north of Northwest Territories, with people not wearing parkas, and ladies wearing dresses... One trick is to have the model wear a coat in between photos, but even still... He now lives on the east coast of Canada...

 

[GregW]

She did have a coat between shots. This was in December. Still, not Canada or where she grew up which was Siberia.

 

[DrEntropy]

Nice, Greg! Remarkable she held for that last one.

 

[GregW]

Ohhhh, she didn't. I had a strob with a softbox to keep her sharp. On the first shot of that setup, I told she could step out when she saw the flash. Problem was the train lights bled through the exposure where she had been making her transparent. For the next couple shots she stood there just to keep the train from messing things up.

 

[DrEntropy]

Ha! The earrings and eyelashes shoulda been a giveaway. Good placement and balance for the softbox!

 

[GregW]

Thank you sir. Always room for improvement.

 

[DrEntropy]

WRT strobe use, have you looked at Sarah Fox's flash unit info?

I think I've about cornered the market on Vivitar 285's... going to use her info and convert a few.

 

[GregW]

If you're using older 285's, it looks like you don't want to use them on the camera's hotshoe. The 250v of the flash could fry some of the camera's electronics.

 

[DrEntropy]

Yup. All on remote triggers, RF.

A thing that amuses me is how inexpensive some of the gear is. A remote shutter release (aftermarket) with a six foot cable was $10. Same with an RF remote release. The RF flash transmitter and several flash receivers, under $25. Back-when, can't say what I'd paid for similar equipment but it was substantive by comparison.

 

[DrEntropy]

Oh! And I got a counterfeit softbox for pennies on the dollar what the Softbox, Reflectasol or other traditional makers got back-when. The light doesn't know the difference!

 

[Basil]

Some nice shots, Greg. Could you post a picture of the LED tube?

 

[GregW]

Here is a video using a preset from the app. There is a wifi controller built into the handle of the tube. The controller links to an app on my phone. I can control the colors, the rate of change and the brightness of each color. Powered by a 12v battery.

 

[GregW]

WRT strobe use, have you looked at Sarah Fox's flash unit info?

I think I've about cornered the market on Vivitar 285's... going to use her info and convert a few.

I have, but only from your link. She has some nice photos but I question her engineering on the softbox alteration. It looks like the head of the 285 is larger than most speedlight. However, looking at a schematic it looks like you can remove the zoom housing. I wonder if that would reduce the head size to fit into a more universal softbox mount. Failing that, an L bracket where the flash sits outside the softbox should work. I've bought c channel aluminum and it isn't cheap at a standard hardware store. Seems an L bracket is cheaper and you don't have to build anything.

 

[DrEntropy]

First thing I used was the square aluminum tubing in Reflectosol umbrella kits. Seemed sturdy enough to support the rig. Will explore other more compact options. Already disassembled a couple of the 285's, replaced a capacitor in one. And the zoom hood can be removed. But the Fresnel diffusion will be lost. Not done "playin' around" yet, though.

 

[GregW]

Can the zoom hood go back on easily? Like it is a feature? The Bowens flash mount can just barely fit my Flash Point strobe. I have seen similar mounts that look like they have larger openings.