Ok, I’m back with another note regarding the campaign that I assisted on last week.
Tonight, I’m giving the WordPress iPhone app a trial run. (I think) I can post a picture from my phone, and it gave me an idea that sparked Part 2 of the story which I think you’ll agree has a sort of completed circle vibe to it. ( if that doesn’t make sense, hopefully it will by the time you read the story and if not, hopefully, I will come up with a more sensible analogy for you by then.)
During the four day shoot, I snapped a number of photos on my iphone - in all honesty, I wished I’d had a P & S in my hand, for more control (ie manual settings) however, the job was assisting not shooting, and I was travelling as light as possible.
Anyway, I was flipping through the pictures while on the train today, and one of them is the one below. (that must have been taken while the phone was en route to my pocket)
The orange colored device is called a Vagabond II Portable Power System. This job was my first experience with them. The Vagabond is essentially a battery (cell) with a built in Inverter which provides AC power - outlets - from which you can power a laptop or re-charge a battery, or, in this case, power the lights we were using.
I’d first heard of this model battery pack from my good friend Dilip. He told me how great they were (a lot of bang for your buck) and if I didn’t already own the Dyna-Lite XP1100, I would definitely be considering these Vagabond units.
These are my thoughts - the pros & cons of the two.
I like the Vagabond, however, I got the sense that they were a bit limited power-wise - they were being used heavily at times but still, I think that the Dyna-Lite is the way to go if you want more power.
Another thing that I really like about the Vagabond is that it comes with a carrying case (complete with shoulder strap) - this is something that the Dyna-Lite could use - It’s horribly cumbersome which is my only complaint about it.
The Vagabond comes in at about a third of the price of the D-L (less capacity and less weight too) and it’s a solid choice. Of course the Vagabond is a couple of years younger and wasn’t available when I got the D-L.
One alternative you might consider for remote power is a generator. If your lights don’t draw heavily, and especially if you intend to be shooting for prolonged periods of time, you should consider a generator - we were using one for portions of the shoot which was remarkably quiet. It was made by Honda - the model was an EU1000i I believe. One bit of caution, the thing about generators is that they tend to deliver power insurges and you run a risk of overloading your lights or power packs (which prefer nice and steady sources). My pal, Pat, used to keep a set if lights designated for days when we were going to run a generator, and probably still does. (it was his most grusome pair of pack and head - the big ole 2400 black Speedos - the Darth Vader of strobes - they were a great system as long as you weren’t the assistant who had to carry then around all day! Boy were they heavy and bulky.).
So there you go all wrapped up with a bow on top - full circle if you will - my first wireless post is about a powerpack that allows shooting (or camping) or being out someplace and having a little bit of power. Well, alright, it’s not exactly wireless and wireless in this case, more like… Apples and oranges! Two kinds of fruit, both of which allow us to work in the middle if Central Park, or anywhere else for that matter.
But, that little MBFGW reference has spawned my idea for the Part 3 post.. Wireless and wireless.
This is going to be a great way for me to pass some time when I’m on the subway - I’m excited about things!
This concludes my first post with my iPhone.
I hope the spell check hasn’t messed me up too badly, like the time…
(well, it’s getting late, I’ll save that for a day when the tanks on fumes and we’re not in mixed company…)
mdl
Tags: blog, iPhone, photography, wordpress
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