alienbee 1600 Overkill?

I bought two AB 1600's thinking I would need it to overpower the sun. I was shocked to learn that most of my shots were at 1/2 power or less--in broad daylight no less. Because I don't like the magenta color shift at low settings I plan to sell my two AB's for two Einsteins. Lesson well learned. Too much power!

I've never really gotten the appeal of killing the sun.

TheBrick3 wrote in post #13011691
I've never really gotten the appeal of killing the sun.

Well not to kill it but at least use it to light the model. If not you get the shadows under the eyes.

TheBrick3 wrote in post #13011691
I've never really gotten the appeal of killing the sun.

Here is a 'creative' use...

Close portrait shot being taken outdoors at a location with a fairly distracting background...by 'overpowering' the sun you can make the background -1EV or -2EV compared to the subject illumination, therely causing the distracting background to 'vanish' from catching the viewer's attention rather than being bright and very visible.

An Alien Bee set to 1/2 power will recycle faster than set to full power.

I find that useful when shooting models outdoors with an AB 1600.