Alien Bees users check in!

It looks like the white lightning is quite a bit more.

Manish, thanks for the info. I will go this route if I do choose the 1600 over the 800.

Cmizzle - Is there any reason you would recommend the 800 over the B1600?

David S wrote in post #7512342
Manish, thanks for the info. I will go this route if I do choose the 1600 over the 800.

Anytime. I'm still doing my homework. One thing I will add to the arsenal is a 3-6 stop ND filter, in a 72mm size for a lens.

I will say this about users of the bees...they definitely have some edgy photos. Keep the pics comin' ladies, and gents. I admire 'em.

ND filters on the lens are certainly feasible to use outdoors to shoot at wider apertures to blur backgrounds, but you have to be careful indoors. If you dont have really good light with modeling lights or ambient, it becomes a pain to get autofocus, and your viewfinder is so dark you can miss some details in darker areas.

I use a sheet of 3 stop ND gel over the strobe for that. I do lose the modeling light, but I tend to shoot with portable power most of the time anyway (yes even indoors) and dont use the modeling lights much. A huge sheet of gel is like $6.50 from BnH.

I figured as much, Eli. It'd only be for outdoors anyway. Indoors, why bother...unless the images have to be pretty dark...even with gels on the strobe. And at that point, it's probably already too dark.

David S wrote in post #7512342
It looks like the white lightning is quite a bit more.

Manish, thanks for the info. I will go this route if I do choose the 1600 over the 800.

Cmizzle - Is there any reason you would recommend the 800 over the B1600?

Personally, I've only used my B800 on full maybe 3-4 times over the 5 months of using mine. It kinda depends on what you're shooting I guess.

Any true GWC worth his weight in lens caps knows you are suppose to use articles of the models clothing draped over your modifiers to lower the light output, anyway!

Ugh.. we are still at f8, we need to be at 5.6. Sorry to say it, but I am gonna need that bra now.

epatt250 wrote in post #7513258
Any true GWC worth his weight in lens caps knows you are suppose to use articles of the models clothing draped over your modifiers to lower the light output, anyway!

Ugh.. we are still at f8, we need to be at 5.6. Sorry to say it, but I am gonna need that bra now.

Slick.

When I shoot outdoors, the b800 that is in the beauty dish is usually on full. I'd really like a b1600 to use in the beauty dish. Having a bit more light would be helpful for certain situations.

inthedeck wrote in post #7510360
Uhh...she's a female photog.

BTW, you got some nice ones up there, as well. How much PP'ing went into them?

I usually don't do much. All of the editing I do is in LightRoom and there's a few things that I look for in the histogram that helps get my photos to look the way I want. I'm a dork...I study the way pics look in the histogram and see what causes them to look the way they do.

Hey, whatever works, right? Theory is the reason behind cause and effect.

jcp2000 wrote in post #7465389
yea aha cmizzle i believe you play pb also since i have seen that same sn on pbnation as well lol. me and mrerico are so cal ballers our selfs

I know there's english somewhere in this sentence, somewhere.........

jcp2000 wrote in post #7472552
soo guys i was wondering do the bees beep when there done charging?

nope, they just go Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.!!

(you had to KNOW that was coming....)

i_b_fittin wrote in post #7491674
Im really curious what colors everyone has - Im thinking of an orange(obviously) and green -

Black B800's but I'm thinking I might have liked to have gotten the orange ones.

David S wrote in post #7511443
Thanks for the input Manish. I would get the 1600 but still worried about it being too powerful for small indoor shots.

Any 1600 owners have input and examples of 1600 shot indoors?

I have a B1600 and yes it works great outdoors. It can be a pain to use indoors, even on the lowest setting if shooting in a small space.

GA_Teg wrote in post #7514800
I have a B1600 and yes it works great outdoors. It can be a pain to use indoors, even on the lowest setting if shooting in a small space.

Hey thanks for the input! I am going to stick with the B800 and pick up a 1600 either it be from WL or AB in the future.