thinking about getting rid of speedlites

[notelliot]

So title pretty much says it.

I love how easy it is to pack up two or three Sb-800s and go anyway with a few lithium AAs. But I don't really like the light or the shadows. Sometimes it's nice to have one for events, but I find that I just don't like to use them anymore.

What I was thinking about doing was selling one or two Sb-800s and buying a battery back for my alien bees. They will be useless at most events, but I find that I get better results indoors and out, night or day and much more quickly that fumbling around with speedlites. It's not too bad to carry around, i can get up to 4 heads and stands with two foldable softboxes into a large suitcase, with two more softboxes in a carrying case. weighs about 50 or 60 pounds, but on wheels.. ehh not that bad.
If I had a battery, I could go anywhere I need to. I would just need to think more about space and such. Without softboxes, used to bounce they take up very little space.

What do you guys think?

 

[KOrmechea]

Have you checked out the Strobist Blog? There's some great stuff on there, all using off-camera flash.

A quick overview: Lighting 101

Also, the On Assignment section is good.

 

[Antithesis]

Meh, I'm not sure lugging around 50-60lbs of gear is even on the same page as a few strobes. If your using bare strobes and not liking the light, I'd recommend some umbrellas or a couple big soft boxes. If you already have the soft boxes, just rig them up to your speedlights, you'll probably like them a lot more.

I assume if you have three strobes, you've probably seen strobist. If not, you should get on that before you even consider lugging around a bunch of alien bees. If the gear is too heavy, you'll be far less inclined to use it IMO.

 

[JimmyO]

Do what you like
If your looking for someone to take them off your hands PM me, haha.

 

[Garbz]

Every carried alienbees and a battery pack up a mountain? Yep they will give you better results. But they exist for the same reason you wouldn't take a medium format view camera into a nightclub for party shots. If you've given up on taking the photos that they allow you to take, by all means get rid of them. Just don't think a battery and full sized strobe will give you anywhere near as much versatility as a few hotshoe strobes.