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Actually I love all Mr Sandaval retouched pictures, however this one at 1st glance it seems like it was overly done .. I actually thought you had sent this one out because its so unlike the ones you have posted in the past .. it looks like you went hard on the highlights and skin smoothering ...

but nevertheless hot picture

I believe that that is serious high-end retouching. It's an industry demand, to a certain extent...which is why I figure he did it that way. There's many in the retouching business that will go even beyond that, because at the end of the day, it's all about creating art...through lots of different retouching techniques...of which the most common is the D&B technique.

Feel free to disagree with me, here, but it's just what I see.

just orderd my AB800 orange and a BD

CANT WAIT TO START POSTING HERE.....

again i cant thank this forum enough.....i think i love you guys

hahah

One question for all of you ...

I have

1 AB1600
2 AB800
1 Giant Foldable softbox
1 Giant Foldable octabox
1 Barndoors (never used)
1 set of grids (10-40 never used)
Receivers and Transmitters .

a few misc stuff

Should I get rid of all this and get a profoto pack?

Pros/Cons??

RiKaN HaVoK wrote in post #8741375
One question for all of you ...

I have

1 AB1600
2 AB800
1 Giant Foldable softbox
1 Giant Foldable octabox
1 Barndoors (never used)
1 set of grids (10-40 never used)
Receivers and Transmitters .

a few misc stuff

Should I get rid of all this and get a profoto pack?

Pros/Cons??

If the 'quality' of light is important to you, then yeah go for it. Can't beat the quality/consistency of a good pack/head combo. If it's not, continue with what you have. Does what you have disappoint you in any way? Is there something the bees aren't doing that you'd like them to do?

I guess once things become more critical in nature, and your clients are demanding better light quality, then you know it's time to change your gear. Just remember that parts aren't going to be as cheap/easily replaceable as they are on the bees. So, better be careful while on set, or location. Don't want to bust a flash head or modelling lamp on one of those lights, it'll set you back big time. May want to take that into consideration for the long term.

RiKaN HaVoK wrote in post #8741375
One question for all of you ...

I have

1 AB1600
2 AB800
1 Giant Foldable softbox
1 Giant Foldable octabox
1 Barndoors (never used)
1 set of grids (10-40 never used)
Receivers and Transmitters .

a few misc stuff

Should I get rid of all this and get a profoto pack?

Pros/Cons??

If the money is not an issue go Profoto
If your clients are going to finance the gear go profoto...

otherwise you have enough gear to create quality images

Gear is like cars we know that a bentley is better than a Honda Civic that goes faster,ect etc etc BUT if all you need it to go from poit A to point B...Honda does the trick

I know I went a bit heavy but the Agency liked it. and me too...

Nowdays you see that kind of PP in High fashion...Again I love the natural stuff....just trying diif stuff..

RiKaN HaVoK wrote in post #8741375
One question for all of you ...

I have

1 AB1600
2 AB800
1 Giant Foldable softbox
1 Giant Foldable octabox
1 Barndoors (never used)
1 set of grids (10-40 never used)
Receivers and Transmitters .

a few misc stuff

Should I get rid of all this and get a profoto pack?

Pros/Cons??

agree with everyone.. if you can afford it.. go for it. what were you looking at in the profoto side?

btw heres one i got last night

Only thing that Im getting mad about is that I continue to have little problems with the bees I already told you about the octabox accidents .. the the little sticker on the size AB800 came up .. one of the light bulbs went out and I dont even use them like that ..

Also one of the receivers stop working and it wasnt even the battery one and stuff like that .. I know the service cant be beat but little accidents get annoying at times ..

Motofreak429 wrote in post #8741609
btw heres one i got last night

Woo!!!

RiKaN HaVoK wrote in post #8743121
Also one of the receivers stop working and it wasnt even the battery one and stuff like that .. I know the service cant be beat but little accidents get annoying at times ..

I've got a CSR that went out on me too, I have to call and get a replacement. It has power and it receives the signal (the red light flashes when the transmitter is activated) but it does not trip the flash in any case, with the transmitter or with the test button. Annoying.

On a different note, last week I picked up a bunch of used lighting gear from a photog that went out of business. This included 4x White Lightning 10,000s and 2x White Lightning 5,000s (the very first Paul C. Buff strobes). The 10ks are 250WS and the 5ks are 125WS, so they are roughly comparable to AB800 and AB400 respectively. The trick is that they are only adjustable to 1/3, 2/3 or full power. They also have a funny mounting system so you can't use any of the newer PCB speedrings. There are special speedrings that fit these, but they are kind of annoying to use. Also, there is no cooling fan, so you have to be a little more careful about running the lights continuously for long periods in a softbox or such that blocks airflow. But I think they will meet my needs pretty well, as I am happy with my 2 AB800's and just needed more strobes for background and hair lights, etc. I don't need an infinitely adjustable 5-stop range in those applications. The package also came with 2 PCB barndoors and a LightMod base, both of which fit both the old lights and the standard 7" AlienBees reflectors.

The package also came with two Photoflex MultiDome medium softboxes and the special speedrings for the WL's, although one of the softboxes is missing most of its attachments. The MultiDomes are kind of neat, as they are highly configurable. On the interior of the softbox, the standard material is just white. But there is velcro all around the edges, and you can put reversible silver/gold reflectors to cover up the white (so you could do half and half gold/silver if you wanted to). Also of course there is an optional second baffle, and there is velcro around the outside baffle for grids and such (the package came with vertical louvers, which are basically a grid that only runs one direction). Also there are a couple of masks to apply to the outer face: one which is circular, and the other which gives a long rectangle like a stripbox. All in all, a pretty neat softbox. I wouldn't pay $200 for one, but I can see why they charge that much, as there's a lot of versatility there. I guess I should test out the white vs. silver vs. gold interior reflector choices and see how they look different. You would think that being diffused through white fabric there wouldn't be much difference, but I guess you never know.

Lastly, the retiring photographer had a Profoto 8 Foot Reflector. Apparently this is a slightly older model and it is not a true parabolic. However, being a Profoto, it ran about $2400 new from B&H. There were some broken parts and I am waiting on replacements from Profoto, but I will be ordering an 86" PLM to do a direct comparison (and then I will sell the Profoto to recoup some of my costs). So look forward to that, although depending on the results of the testing, I might not post the results until after I've sold the Profoto

TheAztech wrote in post #8740012
Done last week....I have a HUGE backlog....My eyebags keep getting bigger !

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I'm so loving this shot. The BG makes the photo look 3D.
Are you putting any light on the BG, or is it just spill from the mains that make it that grey? Also, it's white seamless, right?

My guess is that it's gray seamless.

Motofreak429 wrote in post #8741609
btw heres one i got last night

Nice exposure. I am seeing a lot of ear. Its a nice ear, but I might have feathered the light off it a bit.