Alien Bees users check in!

Well the limited flame orange color was the deciding factor in getting the 800 over the 1600. Got the vagabond 2 and some cybersyncs. Now the UPS waiting game begins. The shots in here were enough to convince me to start looking into shooting with strobes.

Just found this thread and after reading EVERY post on it (yeah it took a while), i have a few questions. I currently have a AB1600 and a 2 different size umbrellas (both are white and black and are either reflector or shoot through). I'm wanting 2 more bees due to an upcoming photo shoot with a celebrity and several of his cars. Here are my questions-

-I was looking at the AB400's and wonder if they are enough power for outdoor shots yet enough for indoor studio type shots?

-Will they be bright enough for automotive photography? (which is my main line of work but have used natural light up to this point)

-is it possible to just use an 12volt inverter to plug 3 AB's into instead of using the battery pack? I always have my car near the shoots i do so i wasnt sure if it would pull too much power.

I'm sure i'll have more questions once these are answered! LOL

1) No, the b400's will not be enough to work with outside. You'll nee at least a b800.

Cannot use just a 12 volt inverter because what you need for the AB strobes are a pure sine wave inverter. It's made to handle the kind of power that the AB's take when they recycle, without hurting the strobes internals.

Thanks for the info! I was wondering if it would be worth the extra $$ or not. I'll just use extension cords for now then get the vagabond down the road.

My main thing is the big shoot i have with one guy and a few cars in the background, but i'll use them in the future a ton im sure.

aha i was going to ask you today gr how you shoot cars since i have some people wanting me to shoot theirs. hmm interesting you just shoot the ab's bare?

You really don't need soft lighting for cars. If you use an umbrella or softbox, that just means if you do have hotspots in the paint, they'll just be larger. Shooting bare is just fine and you'll get "more" light out of them. You won't have to worry about a modifier taking any light.

Here's a shot from today's shoot:

care to share the set up and possibly the settings for that last shot in teh playground? Thats awesome! I just orderd two 800's a vagabond II and cybersynces to go with the AB1600 i currently have.

I wish I could trade one of my b800's for a b1600.

Very basic set up. Not sure if I took a shot of this set up. I'll look.

Beauty dish boomed out over them. B800's to the right and left to rim

Well it's done! Just ordered two orange AB800's (figured i would get the special editions...LOL), one trigger, two AC receivers, one battery receiver and a vagabond. And two cary bags for the lights. Damn the wife is gonna kill me! LOL BUt now i got a full set up it looks like.

Whats the deal with weights on the stands for outdoor use? I know inside on a flat floor its not an issue, but what about outdoors, etc?

that is for if its windy the stand will not be knocked down.

I like to keep my vagabond on the stand which the boom arm is on. Keeps the stand weighed down a bit more. Good thing to have.