Thinking about purchasing an alienbee.....

[JETA]

Hi All,

I know this is in the "what camera should I buy realm", but after much reading and research online I'm just confused.

All my portrait work is outside and have found a flash bracket, speedlight and lastolite diffuser to get me the results I like.

Lately, I'm getting more and more requests to shoot business headshots. I'm finding the above setup to be a bit lacking for indoor work. I think it may be time to purchase some lighting. However I do have a very tight budget, but do not want to buy something that I will regret and need to upgrade.

What I'm wondering is would one alienbee monolight be enough for now? I've looked at the cheaper lighting kits and have come to the conclusion I should invest in something better, but can only afford one alienbee kit.

Something things I'm wondering are...

Will one ab be helpful or do I need two for even light?
Umbrella, softbox or octobox?
If umbrella do I get white/black trans, or silver?
Paul C. Buff - Umbrellas
If softbox which one?
Paul C. Buff - Softboxes and Octaboxes
I think I would eventually like to use the alienbee for individual sport portraits. Would I need the b1600 or b800 if using outdoors?
Can I use the alien bees with my canon 580exII?

Headshots with current setup.



Any and all information, thoughts etc welcomed with much gratitude!

[Asylum Steve]

Hey JETA. First of all, I gotta tell you the portraits you posted look pretty decent with the equipment you have now. Not bad at all. They're a bit "hard" for commercial business portraits, meaning the contrast and shadows are a tad harsh. Thing is, you may be able to clean that up nicely simply by using a large white reflector down below your subject's face pointed up, and moving the subject further away from the backdrop to eliminate (or soften) that bg shadow.

That being said, if you are set on buying a new monolight, and have the $$$, I certainly won't discourage you, as it will make these jobs much easier and give you much more flexibility and power with your lighting. So let me answer your questions. You're bound to get different opinions on this. This is mine...

I think you definitely can get by with one AB unit, especially if you plan to modify it with an umbrella or softbox. You should be able to use your Speedlite with the AB, one as a main, the other triggered as a slave.

There is an almost endless argument over umbrellas vs. softboxes. IMO (depending on the setup), the basic light quality from each is the same. The main difference for pros is umbrellas have much more light "spill", and give very different "catch lights" in the subject's eyes than softboxes. Something to consider. If you do get an umbrella, I would get a translucent white one with a black cover. That gives you more lighting options. And consider that a larger umbrella or softbox will make group shots easier.

As for power, the rule of thumb is, get the most powerful unit you can afford. ABs are all "variable power", so you can "dial it down" if you need to. Using a flash unit outdoors for anything more than a fill sometimes requires a LOT of power.

I think that covers most of what you're asking. If you have any other questions, let me know...

[JETA]

Hi Steve,

Thanks a million for this great reply. I reread it too many times to count before I came back at you with more questions.

At the lowest setting do you think the ab1600 might be too bright indoors? (sorry if these are totally lame questions)
Will I need a hand held light meter?
What setting would I use on my flash if I use it with an alien bee?
How do the catchlights differ from a softbox to umbrella?
Would you use the flash or ab as the main light source?
Any ideas on the setup? I'm thinking I just need to get one and start working with it.

Thank you and thank you for looking at my headshots and for your critique. I need them!

[armando_m]

Very good results with what you got !

I've used the AB1600 outdoors, in bright sunlight with a large soft box and it worked wonderfully

For indoors you'll probably use at the lowest setting most of the time, likely you'll be using ISO 50 instead of ISO 320 and smaller aperture than F/2.8 as you used on the portraits above

If to bright you can add another white cloth to the soft box / umbrella to lower the intensity some more.

[JETA]

Very good results with what you got !

I've used the AB1600 outdoors, in bright sunlight with a large soft box and it worked wonderfully

For indoors you'll probably use at the lowest setting most of the time, likely you'll be using ISO 50 instead of ISO 320 and smaller aperture than F/2.8 as you used on the portraits above

If to bright you can add another white cloth to the soft box / umbrella to lower the intensity some more.

Thank you!

Would an aperture of f/2.8 be ok? I'm not following if you are saying I have to go wider (smaller number) with the alienbee on the lowest setting.

Any suggestions for a set up with my flash and one bee?

What sort of white cloth?

Thank you!!

[armando_m]

I mean F8 (maybe )
any white cloth can work

An actual recommendation is impossible to give, once you figure the right exposure it will be almost the same every time you use in the same settings, (power, softbox, location in the studio)

[JETA]

I mean F8 (maybe )
any white cloth can work

An actual recommendation is impossible to give, once you figure the right exposure it will be almost the same every time you use in the same settings, (power, softbox, location in the studio)

Thank you! I now understand what you were saying. I would really like to shoot at f/2.8 for some of the headshots I do. Maybe a 800w would serve me better? Thoughts?

[armando_m]

Maybe you can rent one and experiment ?

I do not own one, I have used it, outside and inside, it worked really well, but we used F8

the guy that owned the ABs had additional stuff in the front of the softboxes and inside to tame down the 1600's when used inside so he could use whatever aperture he needed. Maybe ask the supplier about this ... they sure look helpful.