A few things to keep in mind:
1) The bulk of the light comes out of the sides of the bulbs, not the tips. If you want t be able to direct the light you must create a reflector that bounces the light emanating from the sides of the bulbs to the surface you want to illuminate.
2) Any light that emanates from a bulb and strikes another bulb is lost, so I would guess that the 8000w of estimated power is actually less. This is why good flou fixtures (like Kinoflo) have a gap between bulbs and reflectors that bounce the rear emitted light out of those gaps. You might be better served by removing the center bulb and adding some type of chromed cone or tube to reflect the light from the four other bulbs out. Crumpled aluminum foil with something non-flammable under it to give it shape maybe...
3) Tungsten equivalent ratings are very liberal, rule of thumb is about 80% of what the packaging claims.
What you could do with what you have is to hack up a softbox and attach it to your fixture. The silvered interior of the softbox is designed to bounce light around until it eventually finds it's way out, so you may end up with a 3000W softbox. I actually am planning something similar to drive a softbox, but I want the bulbs on a 45 degree angle with respect to the diffuser.
Bob
1) The bulk of the light comes out of the sides of the bulbs, not the tips. If you want t be able to direct the light you must create a reflector that bounces the light emanating from the sides of the bulbs to the surface you want to illuminate.
2) Any light that emanates from a bulb and strikes another bulb is lost, so I would guess that the 8000w of estimated power is actually less. This is why good flou fixtures (like Kinoflo) have a gap between bulbs and reflectors that bounce the rear emitted light out of those gaps. You might be better served by removing the center bulb and adding some type of chromed cone or tube to reflect the light from the four other bulbs out. Crumpled aluminum foil with something non-flammable under it to give it shape maybe...
3) Tungsten equivalent ratings are very liberal, rule of thumb is about 80% of what the packaging claims.
What you could do with what you have is to hack up a softbox and attach it to your fixture. The silvered interior of the softbox is designed to bounce light around until it eventually finds it's way out, so you may end up with a 3000W softbox. I actually am planning something similar to drive a softbox, but I want the bulbs on a 45 degree angle with respect to the diffuser.
Bob
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