Alien Bee B800

[SnappingShark]

Finally decided that I wanted some continuous lighting instead of my speedlights, so I've gone and purchased the B800 - with a view to a second, with either a beauty dish or a grid.

Reasoning - I'm looking to set up my own studio (this time, I'll get to it, I've been given the garage by my wife) - it'll just take a few weeks to clean out! I'll be blogging about that project!

So, question - do you have a B800, and if so, what else in your studio? I am eager to see who has what and for what piurpose!

 

[tirediron]

Ummm... just a small point of order; a B800 would be a strobed or monolight NOT a continuous light!

I have no AB gear at all... I'm a Speedotron guy as far as lighting goes, but in terms of modifiers, I've got a few.

Umbrellas (36-48") in white & silver reflecting as well as shoot through

Grids & barn doors & socks for all my reflectors (5 -14")

21" BD

10x20 muslins in thunder grey and a variety of mottled dark blue/grey combinations

pop-up background in mottled blue-grey and dark-grey

Lastolite Triflector Mk II in silver/white (BEST. PORTRAIT. ACCESSORY. EVER!)

Enough grip gear to choke a horse

softboxes from 24x24 to 48x54

60" brollybox (beautiful light)

LOTS of reflectors in round, square & triangular...

 

[SnappingShark]

Ummm... just a small point of order; a B800 would be a strobed or monolight NOT a continuous light!

Yes, you're right - I meant to say something with a modelling light, as opposed to having to keep my DOF pressed for the speedlites I have.

So, I was looking at barn doors, and I was curious just how versatile they were! What do you think?

 

[tirediron]

...So, I was looking at barn doors, and I was curious just how versatile they were! What do you think?

They're as versatile as any other modifier; I like to use them dramatic edge light in place of strip boxes. This is one light on each side with a set of barn doors narrowed down to about 3/4" on each with a 5" reflector:

 

[Trever1t]

I have 4 ab800's and a ton of soft boxes, umbrellas and such. I'd also recommend the PCB vagabond battery.

 

[Big Mike]

I don't use them as much as I used to, but I've got two B800 and two B400 lights.

If you are setting up a portrait studio space, I would suggest that you'll want 4 lights. One to be your main light, one to be your fill light.....the other two could be backdrop lights when you need a bright and even background, or they could be hair/accent/kicker lights.

At first, I tried mixing mono-lights with hotshoe type flashes, but the hotshoe flashes took much longer to recycle and it was a huge PITA. Going with all mono-lights made things much easier. (I still use Speedlites when outdoors or on the go).

I've got a softbox, several umbrellas, and a set of honeycomb grids.

 

[jeffW]

So, I was looking at barn doors, and I was curious just how versatile they were! What do you think?

I've got a couple barn doors from Paul Buff, while I like their lights and recommend a set of grids I'm not a fan of their barn doors. They are sloppy, tricky to put on and or keep on if moving the lights around. They spill a lot of light so I am constantly wrapping them with foil. My suggestion buy an extra light stand(s) to put a flag(s) in front of the light to control it