Portrait and wedding photography and lighting

[oak_nj]

I use mostly a Canon digital body and I have a 550EX. I am

considering buying a couple of lights with light stands, a softbox a

couple of grids, etc., to use for portrait and wedding photography. I

am leaning towards Alien Bees, either 400s or 800s. Does anybody have

opinions or reviews of one of these setups, or have an alternative

recommendation. Thanks!

[bill c.]

Joe-- Many people on this forum have written reports on the performance of the bees, and they can be found in the forum archives.

 

That being said, I have a couple of B800's to back up my high-end studio system and for use as a very light location system for portraits. I use them for exactly what you would be using them for, and they work well. However, you should know that at the lower power settings, the output will vary by up to 0.3 stops from shot to shot.

 

If you require more critical control, you might want to get the White Lightnings.

 

Happy shooting. -BC-

[meatwagon]

ditto, read the warning then do a search, alien bee questions get asked a good 10x a week, i have 2 b800s at 1st though it was enough but now i wish i had hte 1600, definately dont go with the 400s, also the vegabon is a great deal, i never leave my house without it, well when im shooting photos. anyhoo, yeah, enjoy

[karl1664877901]

I went through the same lighting dilemma you are right now.

It depends on your lighting applications. The b1600 might be too much.

Finally decided on 2 Alienbee b800s with a softbox and umbrella setup.

(I recommend getting 2 of the 13-foot HD light stands, dont bother with the 10 ft stands if you have to shoot on location)

 

I shot my first wedding on Saturday with these new lights. Last night I had a chance to look at the shots. The formals were awesome with these lights!

I was getting f8, f9.5, sometimes f11 at 200 ISO setting.