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Hey all....Need some last minute advice.
I have the 22" bd. I have the silver plm....
I "think" I need to pick up a sturdy soft box for my ab800. I really want to get into more portraits and would like that soft/wrap around look. I live in Va Beach so light breezes are very prevalent. What is the best bang for your buck for a softbox that comes close to suiting these needs?
(cost.....less than $200.00 if possible)
appreciate the advice!

1downfall wrote in post #10717941
Hey all....Need some last minute advice.
I have the 22" bd. I have the silver plm....
I "think" I need to pick up a sturdy soft box for my ab800. I really want to get into more portraits and would like that soft/wrap around look. I live in Va Beach so light breezes are very prevalent. What is the best bang for your buck for a softbox that comes close to suiting these needs?
(cost.....less than $200.00 if possible)
appreciate the advice!

since you asked in the alienbees thread i assume your looking within the PCB line of products. If you want that soft wrap around light.... look at either the 47" Octabox or the "Giant" SoftBox from AB.

If your looking for suggestions from any brand... then your options are practically infinite.... but the general suggestion would be buy the biggest Octabox or Softbox that $200 will allow... which for under $200 is going to be around that 50" size.


For the wind you gotta either buy or make your own sandbags..... for a beach area with wind's.... I would say something like 30+ pounds should do it.

I've been abducted

unchman14 wrote in post #10718368
I've been abducted

suggestions for light modifiers? I've got a couple 32" white umbrellas. I was thinking either a 45" umbrella because it's cheap, or maybe a 22" BD.

I really like the light coming BD's lately... I say get a BD and a if you want maybe a grid as well.

I think I'm going to pass on the 135L for Christmas and pick up new light gear. I never thought I'd spend this much on photography!

ni$mo350 wrote in post #10718592
I think I'm going to pass on the 135L for Christmas and pick up new light gear. I never thought I'd spend this much on photography!

Better not think about it. It's a deep black hole and you need to make your own light to survive

19, and still learning--

some from earlier this week. (my fourth 'on-location' shoot ever):

sempaidavid wrote in post #10717076
I am getting ready to dive into the world of Alienbees. I have a question, what are the pros and cons of getting the battery powered Cybersync triggers vs. the AC powered. Obviously not needing to change batteries would be great, so why would someone buy the battery powered ones? Thanks.

Get the battery powered ones unless you only ever plan to do studio work. The batteries last forever so battery consumption really isnt an issue. It really comes down to versatility. The battery version can be used with speedlights or other applications that dont require access to ac power. The others do not. For the cost of a set of $3 AA's every 6 months I'll take the route that preserves my options.

JayStar86 wrote in post #10718075
since you asked in the alienbees thread i assume your looking within the PCB line of products. If you want that soft wrap around light.... look at either the 47" Octabox or the "Giant" SoftBox from AB.

If your looking for suggestions from any brand... then your options are practically infinite.... but the general suggestion would be buy the biggest Octabox or Softbox that $200 will allow... which for under $200 is going to be around that 50" size.


For the wind you gotta either buy or make your own sandbags..... for a beach area with wind's.... I would say something like 30+ pounds should do it.

yes...I was trying to stay with PCB stuff.......I will search opinions on the octabox.

ninetwentynine wrote in post #10719102
19, and still learning--

some from earlier this week. (my fourth 'on-location' shoot ever):

These are great! The last one looks like it might have benefitted from a fill light camera right, though. But great shots nonetheless. I'm certain that mother will just be fawning over these pictures.

ok, when i first started looking at Alien Bees, my thinking was that I would simply buy a receiver for each strobe I got, but now I'm thinking of just using my single receiver and slaving everything else.

what do those here with multiple AB's do? sync one and slave the rest? or sync every strobe you have?

aaron.dunlap wrote in post #10719593
ok, when i first started looking at Alien Bees, my thinking was that I would simply buy a receiver for each strobe I got, but now I'm thinking of just using my single receiver and slaving everything else.

what do those here with multiple AB's do? sync one and slave the rest? or sync every strobe you have?

I use a single receiver and three others as slaves.

So I am thinking about picking up a vagabond and a softbox/octobox.. any suggestions on the modifier? I have two b800s..

canonnoob wrote in post #10720343
So I am thinking about picking up a vagabond and a softbox/octobox.. any suggestions on the modifier? I have two b800s..

I am interested in the response for this as well....even though I need to save for the octabox first....

canonnoob wrote in post #10720343
So I am thinking about picking up a vagabond and a softbox/octobox.. any suggestions on the modifier? I have two b800s..

well im a newb.... but I have an order in for a 47" Octabox and a "Medium" SoftBox from Alienbees.... I thought this way I would get nice soft light from both modifiers.... one being a larger light source and the other a smaller one (but still big enough for a lot of applications) for more focussed lighting when you dont wanna light up the entire environment when shooting just say one person (example: light only there upper body and keep the ambient light out for rest of the area around them).

^^^ I thought that would be a versatile setup allowing a lot of different variations of lighting.... but it wasn't cheap, lol. The only thing I left out but would like to get is a grid for both modifiers. I would also like to get a strip box at some point as well... seen people do some pretty cool stuff with them on boom arm's.


The other thing to consider is a beauty dish.... very nice focussed lighting.... but not exactly all that "soft".