Garage Makeshift Studio

[eddie2197]

I have a two car garage (although it would be tough to fit two cars) and would like to have a makeshift studio.

I am thinking of buying (2) AB800's and (1) AB400. The 800's would be for the main and fill and the 400 for background or hair.

Is this overkill for such a small space.

I will add, I want to take the lights on the road occasionally for shooting head shots/portraits at different locations.

Thanks in advance.

EB

[rippanics]

I'd go with three eight's and it's not an over kill, you can turn these lights down!!

[doidinho]

I'm no expert, but as has been mentioned in another post, the AB's color temp drops quite a bit as you lower their power. Assuming you will have some sort of modifiers on the main lights (soft boxes, umbrellas, etc), you will have to turn down an 800 quite a bit for a hair/BG light (assuming no modifiers on this light). This will create an inconsistent WB between the lights. I think 3 400s would be fine for your garage; however, as you want to shoot location, two 800's would serve you well. I would go with the 2 800's and a 400 like you were planning.

[eddie2197]

Are the 800's powerful enough to shoot larger groups? By larger lets say 20 Band members in a gym?

[eddie2197]

Thanks for your help.

Eddie

[Wilt]

Let information provided by Buff himself guide the decision...
http://www.alienbees.com/specs.html

f/11 vs f/16 thru a softbox whose surface is about 5' from meter...so GN55 vs. GN80. If you drop power to 1/4 (so the AB power setting color shift is not yet an issue) you are at f/5.6 vs. f/8 (GN27 and GN40). In addition to reducing power, move light to 10' (don't forget this makes effective size of light source get smaller) and you are at f/2.8 vs. f/4