I'm Not sure... AB's & 580EX

Okay so on the technical side of things I am clueless... I can learn almost anything though..

I have one AB800 flash unit
I have a remote trigger thingy that attaches to my hotshoe to fire the slave.

I want to add a background light to light a white vinyl backdrop for a high key look. I'll be shooting little people, like 1 - 3 years old..

Will my 580 be able to be triggered by the AB trigger thing if I switch it to the slave setting? Is it strong enough to illuminate the backdrop enough to make it really white rather than grey looking?

If not, what you you suggest as an inexpensive alternative... I can't buy another light right now because I just dropped my budget on a very nice lens.
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The 580 would be strong enough, but no, it won't be triggered by the AB.

Hmm...not sure what else you could use. You need some type of infrared trigger to fire your flash remotely. The good news is, AB's can be triggered by infrared as well. DOn't know what's out there other than the ST-E2, though, so maybe someone else will chime in.

Sorry I can't help more!

You can try attaching the trigger on the 580ex (manual mode) and when you trigger the 580, the AB should also fire through its optical slave.