I make no claims as to the quality of these & some are quite old but they're what I have to hand! They might give some idea of what kind of kit you need to overpower daylight in varying light conditions with a high intensity reflector.
The high intensity reflectors do give more light (in a narrower beam) than a standard 7" dish, and considerably more than a softbox, but there are a few things you should note:
- Some are better than others
- The standard Godox S-fit bracket lets a fair bit of light leak backwards
- The shadows can be very unforgiving, which makes the lighting inflexible. Head (etc) angle becomes much more important.
All that said, I suspect that what you really want to do is create more appealing light on your subjects rather than totally defeat the ambient?
I have got an HSS capable speedlite - a Godox AD685 - but unfortunately I don't have any examples of pics taken with it. Whenever I've wanted to use HSS I've gone straight for the AD360 'cos it's so much more powerful and more convenient.
I'll say again, I'm not an HSS expert but I suspect that ordinary speedlites will really struggle in HSS mode to do what you want. The Godox AD200 is probably the cheapest HSS light with enough power to be useful. I'm sure others will put me straight if I'm wrong.
On to the pics..
1. Taken during a workshop. 600Ws strobe in an Elinchrom Maxilite hi intensity reflector just before midday in the Summer. Strobe was about 3m from subject.
You can see the contradictory shadow directions but the model's pose means that it doesn't matter in this case.
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2. From the same workshop, early afternoon.. sun high in the sky. Again, 600Ws in Maxilite at about 2m.
Note that even this isn't enough to default bright sunshine - you can see distinct unsightly double shadows
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3. AD360 on max power in similar high intensity reflector with modified bracket to increase output. Taken just before dusk in Autumn with overcast skies. This was nearly enough to defeat the daylight. You can see some of the sky just showing through the trees.
(Note 2 gelled speedlites & smoke in the background too)
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4. Godox AD360 in HSS mode in a vertical strip box, pretty close to the model. Probably on half power. I suspect I left one of the diffusers out to increase output, and I was using my modified bracket again to prevent the light leakage. Mid morning, Summer, hazy skies.
I reckon I could have got very similar results with a handheld silver reflector.
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