hmi vs. sun

[bkh]

While this may not be a specific enough question to warrent specific answers. I am wondering what wattage of hmi is need to compete with the sun, for example to light a subject a stop or two above a sky. What would it take to darken the sky in this way during midday?

[Mike_Donis]

An alternative to lighting the subject - if you could find a way to compose your shot so the subject doesn't come in line with the sky, you could use an ND grad filter...

[taubkin]

Hard directional light as strong as the sun? Have you ever considered mirrors? Work like a charm.

[J.R. Hudson]

Wouldnt a couple 1k 's be good for DV?

[Barry_Green]

A 1k tungsten will show up on your subject, especially on an overcast day, but the color will be wrong, and once you gel it blue it'll be effectively a 250watt light, which will be of limited use in daylight.

For directional hard light you can probably get the effect you want with a 1200 HMI. *If you want to run it through a softbox or other diffusion, that's when you start getting in the realm of 4k's and 12k's...

[Guest]

You can always multiple reflectors or perhaps even a few mirrors focused into one silk will bring you inexpensively to what you want - a stop or two over even the sun.

[J_Barnes]

1.2k HMI PARs through a butterfly, or just bare. HMI PARs are always my first choice, never fresnels.