For those of us photographers that travel internationally a lot, things could change drastically soon. With the recent failed terrorist attack on December 25, 2009 there is a lot of chatter on the internet about TSA potentially banning all electronics usage in-flight on American bound flights from outside the USA. This is pretty lame but if it happens it could mean for a lot of boring long distance flights. Check out some of the chatter here and here.
About this time last year, things changed for those of us using lithium batteries. Although the rules are counter intuitive to actual potential dangers, it’s another poorly thought out knee-jerk reaction to some previous problems with some lithium batteries catching fire. For more information about the lithium battery restrictions check out http://safetravel.dot.gov There is a fair amount of information there regarding lithium batteries on domestic flights.
So, although this is old news…a year old in fact I’m still posting this for a pretty good reason. My power packs for my Elinchrom Ranger RX AS Speed and my Alien Bees strobes use SLA and NiMH batteries. NiMH, Alkaline and SLA (Sealed Lead-Acid) batteries are still fine to put in your carry-on luggage. Sure, you know this. But do you have a pdf proving to the TSA village idiot you can to include in your Pelican case your strobe pack is in to make sure you don’t have a problem? I just spent the last half hour looking for mine, and fortunately I found it. So I thought I’d share it. Download it, print it, put it in your case/bag.
View the document here
It’s a good idea to read all of this. Know the rules, have a copy of them. Chances are if you get an idiot asshole TSA agent none of the guidelines matter and you’ll be stuck waiting for a manager that knows what the rules actually are, but sometimes you can actually convince the TSA village idiots that you are obeying the rules and that you aren’t a terrorist. Just a photographer with a bunch of gear.
However, all of this being said, if you are someone that happens to have a Hensel Porty strobe kit then you are in for it. Your Li-ion battery for your power pack is too big and not allowed on the plane at all. You’ll have to ship it. Funny since it would be shipped, in a 747 just like you’d be flying in.
Filed under Everything else and Photography thoughts. |
This photo was one hell of a production to pull off. Last April in the midst of the biggest storm cycle the Wasatch Mountains has EVER seen on record Julian Carr brought up the idea of shooting some cliffs at Brighton at night. We were fortunate enough to get some help from Brighton Resort to get a last chair up so we could wait for the sun to go down in a nice and toasty lift shack. I hadn’t shot night cliffs before. I was super stoked to try it out but it was a bit of trial and error but fortunately I had Austin Holt out to assist me on the shoot. There was no way I could have pulled this shot off without an assistant. All three of us went out each with a pretty loaded backpack of photo gear and were out there for four and a half hours with help, we probably would have been out till 2AM without help and who knows how that would have gone either!
This is one of the more unique shots I’ve taken, and although I rolled with my style of using gels, I got to do it a bit differently this year and I hope everyone digs it as much as I do.
The gear I used to put this together was quite the laundry list.
Now I don’t normally talk about something like a headlamp used for a shoot, however in this situation with the night shots, they are pretty important. The Black Diamond Icon is a really powerful headlamp that is very necessary out in this kind of situation. A normal LED one just won’t do. It’s really nuts how much light the Icon puts out.
Filed under Recently Published Photos and Winter Sports Photography. |
So I’ve been using Alien Bees with their original Vagabond power pack for a few years. Last year I decided to split up the Vagabond so I could have one pack per head, so I wouldn’t have to run extension cords, and have more capacity for each head as well. Recently I found a very good bag to put the inverter and battery into that makes this work a lot better! Here’s a run-down of how to make your own power pack for a Alien Bee, White Lighting or any other monolight strobe.
What you will need:
- 16 Gauge or thicker wire. Speaker wire can even work, although it’s good to have one side black, one red when you are putting it together.
- (2) Anderson Connectors – Slip-fit connectors that are simply amazing. You can find them at hobby shops and at specialty electronic parts supply stores (NOT at Radio Shack, they are worthless for these types of things.)
- (2) inline fuse holders.
- (2) wire nuts
- (2) crimp fit terminal connectors (battery connection)
- 25 amp blade fuses that fit in your fuse connectors. They make mini ones, which are nice and small. Also out there are fuses that have a LED on them that light up when your fuse is blown. Sometimes this just happens and when you are trying to setup lights in the dark, it’s nice to be able to see that in the case that you blew out a fuse. Can save some frustration!
- 12 Volt Sealed Lead-Acid battery. 15ah suggested for Alien Bee 1600’s, 10ah could work for AB 800’s, 7ah can work for a AB 400. I get about 250 pops or so at full power from the 15ah battery with an Alien bee 1600. Lead is expensive right now, you are basically paying the same at most battery shops locally that you would buying online these days.
- True / Pure Sine wave inverter, 150w continuous output (or more)
This is the best I’ve found it’s , small, light, 300w capacity –
AIMS 300 Watt PURE Sine Wave Power Inverter
- American Tourister toilitries bag from Wal-Mart. This bag fits perfect for the 150w inverter and 15ah battery that come in the original Paul Buff Inc. Vagabond power pack. You could probably find something that fits better with the smaller inverter listed above and a smaller battery but for the parts I’m using it fits sung and well.
I have a set of Anderson connectors at the end of the wire going to the charger. I’ve cut the wire coming out of the charger and put Anderson connectors on those as well for a quick connect to the charger. As for a charger you can just get a car/marine battery charger at any store. I go for the 2-4-6 amp chargers. If you have a 15ah battery you can charge at up to 6amps, 4 amps for a 10ah battery, 2 amps for a 7ah battery.
Other than that, just follow the wiring diagram and you’ll be all set.
If you want a faster recycle time, then you can get a larger inverter. If you want more capacity you can get a bigger battery. It all depends on the size and weight you are willing to lug around.
Power pack specs:
12.2 lbs (15ah battery, Samlex 150w inverter)
10″x10.5″x4″
I am not an engineer, electrician or by any means qualified to design any sort of electrical systems. Use this information at your own risk.
Filed under DIY. |
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