PHOTOGENICPOWERLIGHT 600Versatility in aSelf-ContainedStudio FlashUnitby Jack and Sue Drafahl

Lighting equipmentand lighting tech-niques have alwaysbeen a "trendy"

part of studio photography. With theold masters, it was hot, incandescentlights for Rembrandt lighting, com-prising key, fill, background, andhair lights. The lighting setup wouldtake hours, as the photographer dili-gently worked to perfect every shad-ow and highlight. Then came um-brellas and softboxes, which allowedone to soften and eliminate shadows.Photographers found soft lighting tobe much less complex, since the de-sired effect could be accomplished

PHOTOGENICECLIPSE

Webster's defines the word"eclipse" as an interception of thelight of one heavenly body byanother; to obscure or hide; to sur-pass. The interception of light alsoholds true when photographing sub-jects—whether they're "heavenlybodies" or not!

Light for photographic purposescan be intercepted in many ways, notthe least of which is with the use ofa bounce umbrella. The soft, diffusedlight a bounce umbrella creates canmake almost any photograph appearto have been shot in a studio!

However, a common problem at-tributed to many bounce umbrellas isthe loss of a percentage of usuablelight due to inadequate design. Itseems that most of the umbrellasavailable today lose this percentageof light because of their shape, andthe fact that they are made of trans-lucent materials.

The Photogenic Machine Compa-ny of Youngstown, Ohio, however,just may have come up with an an-swer to this problem. A recent prod-uct introduction, called the Eclipse,is an umbrella that reflects a moreeven distribution of usable light, vir-tually eliminating light fall-off to-wards the outer edge of the lightspread. The umbrella provides aspread of light usually attributed tomuch larger umbrellas. The reason?Because it is flat throughout its cen-ter. The curved outer edge of theEclipse also helps to achieve a "wrap-around" effect reminiscent of smallerlight-spread umbrellas, making it de-sirable for portraits. The combina-tion of these two features gives theuser advantages commonly foundwhen using two separate umbrellas.

Covered with a removable blackblocking material on the outer sur-face, the Eclipse is also designed toeliminate loss of light through thetop of the umbrella. Another feature:The reflected outline of the umbrel-

la's ribs when shooting high-glosssubjects has been eliminated. The in-side of the Eclipse is covered with awhite, satinlike material that hidesthe umbrella's metal ribbing, thuseliminating a common problem whenshooting things like vases, or close-ups of eyes.

Photogenic's Eclipse measures ap-proximately 41 inches across whenopened, and its shank is 27 inchesfrom top to bottom. The length of theshank makes the umbrella quite port-able. A brass tip is located at the bot-tom to resist crushing when theshank is attached, via clamp, to alight stand. In the closed position,the umbrella is secured tightly witha strip of Velcro*.

As mentioned earlier, the blackblocking material can be removed.Because the ribs are located on theouter side of the umbrella, there isstill no reflection of them within aglossy surface being photographed.However, the removal of the light-blocking material enables the um-

30 PHOTOgraphic/August 1990

quickly with only one or two lights.To complete this newer type of

studio lighting, we add the final in-gredient—electronic flash. At first,studio strobes came with large, sepa-rate power packs that operated mul-tiple flash heads. Each flash head hada large cable connecting its controland power lines to the main powerpack. Today we are seeing a move to-ward the self-contained flash head,which has its own power control,flash head, sync, and slave control in-corporated in a single unit that at-taches to a light stand.

Photogenic's entry into the self-contained studio flash market is itsPowerLight 600. This compact andpowerful flash unit boasts a variety offeatures that help make studio light-ing a snap.

BASIC LAYOUT

On the front of the PowerLight600 you will find the lamp and reflec-tor section. A small socket is locatedat the very center, and is designed tohold a single 100-watt quartz lampthat serves as a modeling light.Around this socket you will findthree large flash-head sockets thatwill take a glass-enclosed, circular,600-watt flash tube. When both themodeling light and flash tube are inplace, they align on the same axis, sothe modeling light will provide theexact same effect as the flash tube

when it is fired.The reflector is attached to the

front of the flash head using twoquick-release clamps. Umbrellashafts fit through a small hole in thereflector and then attach to the baseof the flash head. A heavy-duty light-stand mount is located on the bottomof the PowerLight 600 flash head, al-lowing it to be attached to almost anylight stand on the market. Thisheavy-duty bracket has a lockingscrew for attaching the head and po-sitioning it in a specific direction.Just above the locking screw you willfind a control that allows you to piv-ot the flash head up and down on thelight stand. With these two controls,you have unlimited movement anddirectional control of the flash head.

The back of the PowerLight 600 isthe control center for all flash-headfunctions. Starting at the 9 o'clockposition, a red, lighted rocker switchturns the unit's power on. The mod-eling-light selector is located at the10:30 position, and has three posi-tions: adjustable, off, and full-power.At the 12:00 position, an orangelamp housing indicates where thephoto slave is located. Two slide barsare located on the right side of thepanel, allowing independent controlof both the modeling light and theflash, from full power down to Vfcpower.

The sync jack can be found at the

brella to be somewhat translucent-passing approximately 25% of thelight through its top. This light canbe bounced around the room, creat-ing an even softer effect.

The black fabric is easily snappedin place via double tips located at theends of the ribs. It is also secured inplace at the top of the umbrella bymeans of a screw-on tip. The Eclipsecan be purchased with or without thelight-blocking material attached.

After testing this product on nu-merous subjects, I discovered that itlacks one very desirable feature. Theinside material only comes in a whitesatin fabric. In this writer's opinion,a gold inside material version wouldreally round-out the versatility of theEclipse umbrella line. The suggestedretail price of the Eclipse with re-movable light blocking material(model EC45-BC) is $40. The EC45(without blocking fabric) is $20.

Photogenic Machine Company,P.O. Box 3365, Youngstown, OH445l2.-Don Garbera. D

6 o'clock position, and uses a stand-ard phono-jack sync cord. The greenready light and test-fire button are lo-cated just above the sync jack andallow the photographer to take testreadings of the flash before makingthe final exposure. The power-cordjack is located at the 7:30 positionand operates from 105-125 volts. Asafety circuit breaker and thermalswitch is included inside the unit andcan be reset via a button located atthe 8:00 position on the back of theflash unit.

KEY FEATURES* Quick-change clamp for all Photogenicaccessories.* Easy-to-replace plug-in flash tube.* 2-3-second recycling.* Individual variable control of modelinglight and flash.* Built-in slave.* Voltage regulation of ±1%.* 600-W/S power rating.* Circuit-breaker protection.The PowerLight 600 lists for $495.Photogenic offers a wide variety ofaccessories such as stands, booms,diffusers, softboxes, umbrellas, andbarndoors. For further Information,contact Photogenic Machine Company,P.O. Box 3365, Youngstown, OH 44512; orcall 1-800-682-7668.

SETTING UP

Setting up the PowerLight 600 foruse is very quick and simple. Firstyou set up a light stand and lock thelegs into place. Unscrew the light-stand locking screw on the base ofthe flash head, and set the head onthe light stand. Retighten the screwwith the flash head aimed in the de-sired direction. Make sure that thepivot knob is tight so that the flashhead has no movement. Check tomake sure the power switch is off be-fore attaching the 100-watt quartzmodeling lamp to the center socket ofthe flash head. Try to use cottongloves when installing any type oflamp into its socket. Oils from directcontact with your hands will de-crease the life of a lamp.

The base of the three-pin flash tubeis configured in such a way that itcan only fit into the sockets in oneway. To insert the flash tube, holdthe back of the flash head with onehand, and press the tube into placewith the other hand. The reflector isinstalled by squeezing two levers atthe top of the flash head and slidingit into place. Releasing the leverslocks the reflector in position. Final-ly, the umbrella shaft is slid throughthe hole in the reflector and into a

PhOTographic/August 1990 31

clamp at the base of the flash head,where it is locked into place. Attachthe power cord, turn on the power,and you are ready to go.

USING THE POWERLIGHT 600

Turn on the power, and set themodeling light to "adjustable." Posi-tion the flash head(s) for the desiredlighting pattern. We recommendstarting with the Vi setting to achievemaximum depth of field and veryshort recycle times. Press the ready-light lamp once to ensure that theflashes are operating correctly, andto clear the first charge. Using a flashmeter, take a flash reading. Adjustthe power setting accordingly, andstart taking pictures.

If you don't have a flash meter, butdo have a standard light meter, shoota test roll, noting the f-stop readingfor the modeling light, and how itcorresponds to the power-level set-ting on the back of the flash. Processthe roll, and adjust your meter sothat the modeling light gives you ex-posure values for the flash itself. Re-member, this only works if you al-ways keep the modeling and flashsliders on the back of the flash pro-portional to each other.

Photogenic has worked to makestudio lighting simpler and morecompact. The Photogenic Power-Light 600 is a necessary tool, wheth-er your studio is located in your ga-rage, den, car trunk, or down on Sun-set Boulevard. The PowerLight 600works great for all types of photogra-phy from formal portraits to photo-graphing inanimate products. Theexact alignment of flash tube andmodeling light removes lightingquestions and truly provides what-you-see-is-what-you-get lighting. Goget yourself a Photogenic Power-Light 600 and see what dynamitelighting results you can get. ffl

Top: All controls are conveniently locat-ed on the back of the self-containedPowerLight 600 unit. At left, top to bot-tom, are the modeling-light switch, mainswitch, reset button, and power cord. Atcenter, top to bottom, are slave, readylight/test button, and sync-cord socket.At right are sliding modeling-lamp andflash power controls.Center: Umbrella reflectors attach easilyto the PowerLight 600, for soft and effi-cient lighting.Bottom: The PowerLight 600 employs acircular, 600W flash tube, and a centrallylocated 100W quartz modeling lamp.

32 PHOTOgraphic/August 1990

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