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Triggering strobes on the poolside

Started Feb 8, 2022 | Discussions
EythorArnason New Member • Posts: 1
Triggering strobes on the poolside

I have been thinking about buying Seafrogs underwater housing for my Sony a1

I would mostly be shooting in a swimming pool and therefore not be going very deep in the water. But I am also planing to connect strobes to my setup and I don't know how I can do it.

The strobes I am using are just normal studio lights (Godox ad600pro or Godox ad400pro) so they will not be going in the water and would be located on the poolside. My plan was to connect a long sync cable to the Seafrog electronic plug and on the other end of the cable have a wireless trigger above the water that would then trigger the lights. TTL would be great to work but it is not necessary.

The problem is that I cant find any solutions on how to connect the wireless triggers to this Seafrog plug! Any ideas out there?

Sony a1
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Barmaglot_07 Contributing Member • Posts: 633
Re: Triggering strobes on the poolside

Do your strobes have any sort of optical slave mode? If yes, you could use an optical trigger on your camera, plus a fiber optic cable going topside.

That said, keep in mind that SeaFrogs domes top out at 8 inches, which is very limiting for a wide-angle lens on full frame. You didn't specify what lens you're using, but since it's a pool scenario, I'm guessing that macro is unlikely. If you're using a 16-35 or a 12-24, don't expect anything resembling sharp corners.

 Barmaglot_07's gear list:Barmaglot_07's gear list
Sony a6300 Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Sony E 30mm F3.5 Macro Sony E 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS LE Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS +5 more
kelpdiver Veteran Member • Posts: 5,564
Re: Triggering strobes on the poolside

are you intended to shoot over/unders, or are you hoping these topside strobes will send a lot of light below?   I wouldn't bet on that- without the issue of reflection, UW strobes have an effective reach of 2-3m max.   They aren't nearly as powerful, but it's the water that is the issue for distance dropoff.

This is an area I have no direct experience in.  Like most of the regulars, we're shooting in the ocean, not pools.  Occasionally we see some surf photogs as well.  There is that niche of photographers that do UW pool shots that would be the experts on the use of common studio strobes.   If they don't work as I suspect, these folks would have already confirmed it.

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