Alien Bees users check in!

DerekW wrote in post #9829902
Although this may be "smallish" not "mediumish".

You could use something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com …:MEWAX:BID#ht_3​864wt_1523

with something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com …414abfa431#ht_6​063wt_1231

Wow, those are great prices, how good are they? Do you own them and use them?

robert.depalmo wrote in post #9830431
Lucis is garbage, people have mistakenly pegged it as the operative ingredient in the work of some very very talented photographers/photo manipulators (which it is definitely not), same thing with HDR. I only use photoshop and/or lightroom (no plugins) personally. It really is all about learning how to light a scene and bring out those effects in post.

PREACH!

ChrisMc73 wrote in post #9830533
Wow, those are great prices, how good are they? Do you own them and use them?

I've got a similar softbox a speedlight bracket and it works great, this one's better as it has a second diffusion. Haven't tried it with an AB speedring, though i might just see if I can jerry rig one though.

I just unboxed my Vagabond and plugged it in to charge. It's making a high pitch scream, is this normal?

Was on a shoot today, plugged in my two B800s to my Vagabond II same as I've been doing, and it blew up. Made a few loud popping noises and poured smoke out of the top compartment. Not sure what happened, but it's been making a humming sound for the past two hours and won't work at all. Luckily I bought it new about a month ago so it's still under warranty. Such a headache.

showtm490 wrote in post #9831320
I just unboxed my Vagabond and plugged it in to charge. It's making a high pitch scream, is this normal?

Yeah, it goes away after a little while. I also said WTF when mine started doing it, lol

showtm490 wrote in post #9831320
I just unboxed my Vagabond and plugged it in to charge. It's making a high pitch scream, is this normal?

Many people have reported that as being normal. Mine did the same but it went away after a little while.

thanks, i'm afraid to leave it plugged in now though while i'm out.

GenuineRolla wrote in post #9831027
PREACH!

Thats right man hahah!!!! I know you know what to do!!!! that last shot you posted was dope!

DerekW wrote in post #9831194
I've got a similar softbox a speedlight bracket and it works great, this one's better as it has a second diffusion. Haven't tried it with an AB speedring, though i might just see if I can jerry rig one though.

Here's a tip.... Try shooting without the diffusion panel... Trust me
on this one. It's all about directing light...

Actually, it's worth trying all 3 ways, 1, 2, and no diffusers, it all depends on the look

spesmeadeus wrote in post #9828763
Thanks, any idea on how to whiten a background when the people are standing very close to it?

Is there any way to back light from behind the backdrop?

Sure, if your backdrop is translucent enough. Use white ripstop nylon, a few yards from the fabric store and drape it over your background stand. If you have a large enough softbox for the type of photo you're taking, you can use it as a background as well (e.g. for head-and-shoulders shots).

Really your problem here is with ratios. Some of your pics have a fairly white background... white enough that I wouldn't notice anything wrong with it. Others, it's more of a light gray. Your background light power needs to be set in correct proportion to the power of your front lights in order for the background to show up as white. So if you are using a hotshoe flash as the background light, you need to turn your Bees way down and shoot at a lower f-stop but keep the background light as high as it will go. Keep adjusting your aperture larger and your front lights lower until you get a consistent white background. If you do this properly, your background will turn white no matter how far away your subject is from the background. But you will receive higher amounts of "wrap" if the subject is very close to a very relatively bright background.

Here is a quick photo I just took of myself to give an example of using a softbox as a backdrop. I have an AB800 at full power through a large foldable softbox (both baffles installed) directly behind me. I am standing so close that I am practically touching it with my shoulder blades. For front lighting, I am holding two white sheets of foamcore board in front of me to either side to reflect the light back into my face. You can see the edges of the foamcore boards on either side of the photo. You can see how I have a pretty large amount of "wrap" around my face and neck, and elsewhere as well. This was shot was taken at f/14. Obviously there are issues with this photo, but it's just to illustrate the point.

Got a chance to play with my Bees for a few mins again tonight and tried out my Expodisc for the first time as well. I used a second Bee this time with barn doors and the beauty dish as well.

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

badger - Good idea! I wish I had the large softbox...

Pogi - Nice shots! They look happy!

Jeremi - That is a nice crisp and sharp image! Nice work!

I had another shoot today and just finished a few edits. Let me know what you guys think! There are more on my flickr and facebook pages!

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR