So today i went to Lincoln High School for an "on location" shoot of the wrestlers that qualified for the Sectional tournament. This was my first on location shoot with strobes, so it was a learning experience. It was a pretty basic set-up. I flew an Alien Bees B800 with the 64 inch Extreme Silver PLM Umbrella at about 45 degrees and 10 feet up. I tried to compress the background by using my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. I think it turned out ok. The lighting diagram is below.
Lessons learned: At first, I wanted to create some rim lighting by using two additional Alien Bees strobes behind the subjects. The first problem I ran into was that I didn't have any way to power one light to the right of the subjects without running a 100 foot extension cord, which I didn't have. The other problem I had was that I couldn't get the second strobe to fire in slave mode. I guess that the angle of my key light wasn't direct enough to trigger it. Solutions: I immediately purchased two extra CyberSync receivers so I wouldn't ever have to rely on slave mode again. I also purchased a Vagabond Mini Lithium portable power pack so I never have to worry about power outlets again. The Vagabond will also allow me to take a strobe in the middle of nowhere, which is nice for outdoor portraits.
All in all, i think it was a good experience and the Photo turned out pretty nice. Let me know what you think.