OH YEAH, That One Guy

Hello everyone. You all know me......I'm that one guy......you know.....that one guy who is a friend of that other guy......lol

This forum seems like a very educational place for a newbie to photography, like me, to be. I say newbie, but I have been around film SLRs for about 2yrs and DSLRs for about a yr. But I am new to lighting and i am very interested in learning about photography.

OK, I have a lighting question for ya here, but first let me tell you about my camera/equipment and then what kind of photography I would like to do.

Cameras: Digital rebel XT & elan 7e
Lens: for DSLR: the kit lens 18-55mm. Film SLR: sigma 70-300mm and sigma 18-55mm
Strobe: britek 500ws strobe ( which i cant use yet because i am not sure of the sync speed on it )...bought on ebay and currently trigger it with the internal flash......though none of my pics turn out at all with it and i think sync speed may have something to do with it.

type of photography i would like to do: portrait and buildings, landscapes, etc.....mainly portraits.....i would like to open a studio someday.

here's my question:
I have about $800 to spend on lighting......should I go with a couple of alienbees (B800) or a couple of speedlites?

The reason I threw the speedlites in is because I like the idea of it being portable and I could use them both on cam and off. Price-wise they are both about the same.

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated.
Thank you and have a nice day

 

What speed have you tried for your strobes? 1/125 is too fast? Or is your aperture way too small?

 

honestly i didnt even think about aperture. i will play around with it tonite and see what happens. i bought this strobe on ebay and it does work but for some reason it doesnt show in the pics and i cant find any specs on it.

i will try again going thru the speeds and with different apertures.

thank you for the suggestion sideburns.....much appreciated

 

If you are doing preplanned portraiture, I would say go for the bees. If you are doing weddings, photojournalism, go speedlights

 

thank you for the reply. i think i will get the bees

 

I figured out my britek strobe......works great

I will add a b800 bee and 1 speedlite now that I got my britek working.

thanks to all who have replied. Have a great day.