Continues lightning question

[Drew Wiley]

I apparently misunderstood. You are intending to shoot outdoors and need something
to replace fill flash? Or do you mean you are using natural window light and need to
supplement that? And if outdoors (implied by your mention of a battery), why can't you use small reflectors to target highlights? Maybe I'm naive, but sounds like a lot
of work for a simple problem.

[Anonomatos]

Yes, I'm working outdoors. Reflectors do work partly, and they are fine. But I'm looking for a light that works, even if the sun goes behind a cloud, to highlight a bit.

Big studio lights are too much light and it's outdoors, I don't have a wall-socket nearby.

It's just for a bit of highlighting. Maybe I'm just no good with reflector screens and just focus on learning that... But I'm always into alternatives

Am I being a bit clearer now?

[jamesklowe]

if you're only looking for just a bit of highlighting, a mirror would be perfect- assuming reflectors aren't giving you enough

[jp]

Some small flashes like a vivitar 284/285, Nikon sb24/sb800 et.al. with manual controls are frequently used with reflectors instead of studio flashes/monolights for outdoor use. The only downside is the slower recharge time and the need for lots of AA batteries. The recharge time shouldn't be an issue for LF use. There's a big internet community for people who do creative things with these sort of flashes.

[Anonomatos]

A mirror might be a good idea too. Anyways, this enough info for now. Thanks a bunch for all the reactions.

The next time I'll try to make myself a bit more clear. Expressing myself in English is still challenging for me!

Thanks again, this LF forum has lots of helpful people dwelling around!

[21tctrade]

Hi,thank you for posting this .Acturally I am wondering this too.So thank you for all the guys' replies

[domaz]

*edit*
I've worked with reflection-screens (white and silver) but I'm looking for a constant light source, I don't want to be dependant on the sun or other people holding reflection-screens.

10-watt- even with LEDs- is nothing outdoors in daylight. Replace all your 1-watt luxeon with the 5-watt models and maybe you could get somewhere with it. But then your costs go sky high along with current consumption and the cost for a suitable constant-current power supply. Still 50-watts of Luxeon LEDs would give you 1600 Lumens- about the same as a 100-watt bulb. Probably still not going to get you anywhere.

[mandoman7]

Continuous or tungsten lighting are the terms I'm familiar with.

Its fun to build things that are used for shooting, but I would suggest that you find a way to test your idea first. Earlier in my career I spent a lot of time trying to supplement existing light in portraits with various techniques and it almost always ended up looking artificial to my eye. Maybe that's what's desired in this case, I don't know. But, in general, multiple light sources will often create telling shadows.

This may not be the answer to your question, but I've found that for outdoor portraits where the sun is high, there's nothing better than a diffusion panel with the subject placed in front of a darker background somehow. This is the method in use by most movie and fashion shoots, I believe.