Alienbees - Digibee Package - WOW!

[jimcook]

After much reading here and elsewhere (thanks everyone), I decided to shell our $600 and get the Digibee package. It comes with two AB400's and they are more than plenty powerful for my bedroom studio. The photo below was taken at setting of 1/16 power. So I can't imagine needing anything more powerful for a small studio. The recycle time was fantastic as well. It will shoot at that power level as fast as I can push the shutter. I am really impressed with the setup and highly recommend them to anyone wanting an entry level flash setup.

Being clueless about what exposure was needed for photos it took a little trial and error to get the exposure close to being correct. I still think the lights were a little hot and I needed to make further fine adjustments. But here is a photo right out of the camera. I will tone down the hot spots with photoshop later on.

http://www.pbase.com/image/43352764.jpg

[defordphoto]

Not too shabby. Lighting looks good. Her face is shiny, but she just needs a little powdering. The background however washes out the boy's suit. Black BG doesn't work here.

I gotta get shooting with my lights! Also bought Bees.

[mjordan]

Not bad for your first shots. Although she does have a reflective face, it looks like you used the shoot through white umbrella and it's aimed at her face... that would mean the light is feathered on his face because he's quit a bit higher than she is. That's probably why his face is a good exposure.

When you shoot couples like this and their heads are not near the same level and plane, you have to consider your light and where it falls. Just like with any light, umbrellas will create hot spots. The softest light from the umbrella actually comes off the edges and you will get the strongest light when it's aimed directly at the subject. That's why you will see people feathering their umbrellas a little (turning it away from the subject) so that the edge light is what falls on them. It takes a little practice to know how much to feather for the light you are looking for.

Also, the larger the umbrellas, the better. While the 48" are better than the 32" for a main light (in most cases, but not always), a 60" umbrella is even better. When I'm not using softboxes, I use my 60" umbrella for the main light. You just have to have room to be able raise the light with it since it is so big. The reason you want a larger light source is that the larger the light source, the softer the light. Which is usually what you want with people. Even younger ones that haven't gotten their wrinkles yet. :D Also, how close you have the umbrella to the flash tube makes a difference. The closer you slide it towards the flash tube the smaller the light source the umbrella creates and the harsher the light will be. I like to keep my umbrellas as far out on their rods as possible from the flash tube. This allows the light from the flash to spread more before it hits the umbrella.

And the black background actually does work for a black tux... you just need to provide some seperation light, either a background like or a light behind the subject to create a small rim light effect to give some seperation. A hair light with a little bit of spill on the back shoulders (don't let it come to much over the shoulders) will give some speration as well. The whole idea of the background is to leave the faces as the most visible part of the image... since that is what the portrait is all about. So a background that is close in tonal range as the cloths will not cause a contrast clash and take attention away from the subjects.

Have fun and keep taking pictures. The more you use them, the more you will learn.

Mike