Today is my birthday and I decided to buy myself a gift

[Suburbanmom]

I bought an Alien Bee. Just one (the 800 in alien green), but I also bought the large softbox and the carrying case. I've been going back and forth for months about buying some portrait lights and I finally did it! I thought about getting the beginner bee package, but in the end, I decided I'd rather have a softbox than an umbrella, and I already have a light stand that I can use.

SO...wish me luck. I've been dabbling in portraits. Here are some I took recently using window light and my reflector.

My 12yo
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k311/AmyandMark/Kevin_0018_5x7.jpg

My niece
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k311/AmyandMark/Emma_0048_8x10.jpg

My sister with both her kids
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k311/AmyandMark/Rudds_0110.jpg

and my nephew
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k311/AmyandMark/Liam_0121.jpg

So, I'll take any advice from anyone who has any tips about portrait lighting. I'm completely new at this but am really really excited.

[npmommie]

I love your pics!!! great job,
I don't know anything about portrait lighting, but you did a great job with those pics!

[Steve's Girl]

These look great! Where did you place the light and reflector? Did you use your on camera flash at all?

[DVC Jen]

Happy Birthday!!!!!:yay:


What a great gift to yourself. You will love your AB800 - I have two of them as well as two 400's and I LOVE THEM.

Just one thing that may come as a shock to you - those softboxes (I have the large not the extra large) are HUGE and HEAVY - especially on a stand with the actual light. Make sure you have a heavy duty stand that can easily handle the weight without tipping over.

I purposely bought their heavy-duty stand for the AB800 with the large softbox. I am able to use my old cheapie hot light stands for everything else - but I can't imagine that light with that softbox on one of the smaller less sturdy stands.

Maybe yours is a better quality than mine - just don't be suprised when you get it if you need to go back and order the stand as well.

:goodvibes I am so excited for you. I can't wait to see what you get and how you like your AB when it comes. Keep us posted.

[Suburbanmom]

These look great! Where did you place the light and reflector? Did you use your on camera flash at all?

Thank you!! I didn't use my camera flash. I have a large window and it was a very bright day, so I positioned the background at a 45º angle from the window (it's on the left side of the camera). About 45º on the right side, I hung my reflector on a light stand and had it about 3 feet away from the subject. I tried to keep my ISO as low as possible (200-400) and my f-stop around 5.6/f. The shutter speed was slower (30-60?), so I do have some blurry shots because it's hard to keep everyone from moving :banana: .

[iluvdisnee]

Very NICE! DH bought me the Digi Bee Package with 1 B800 and 1 B400 and a softbox for Christmas but I havent set it up yet! I'd love to see how your setup looks when you get around to it!



I bought an Alien Bee. Just one (the 800 in alien green), but I also bought the large softbox and the carrying case. I've been going back and forth for months about buying some portrait lights and I finally did it! I thought about getting the beginner bee package, but in the end, I decided I'd rather have a softbox than an umbrella, and I already have a light stand that I can use.

SO...wish me luck. I've been dabbling in portraits. Here are some I took recently using window light and my reflector.

My 12yo
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k311/AmyandMark/Kevin_0018_5x7.jpg

My niece
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k311/AmyandMark/Emma_0048_8x10.jpg

My sister with both her kids
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k311/AmyandMark/Rudds_0110.jpg

and my nephew
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k311/AmyandMark/Liam_0121.jpg

So, I'll take any advice from anyone who has any tips about portrait lighting. I'm completely new at this but am really really excited.

[Suburbanmom]

Happy Birthday!!!!!:yay:


What a great gift to yourself. You will love your AB800 - I have two of them as well as two 400's and I LOVE THEM.

Just one thing that may come as a shock to you - those softboxes (I have the large not the extra large) are HUGE and HEAVY - especially on a stand with the actual light. Make sure you have a heavy duty stand that can easily handle the weight without tipping over.

I purposely bought their heavy-duty stand for the AB800 with the large softbox. I am able to use my old cheapie hot light stands for everything else - but I can't imagine that light with that softbox on one of the smaller less sturdy stands.

Maybe yours is a better quality than mine - just don't be suprised when you get it if you need to go back and order the stand as well.

:goodvibes I am so excited for you. I can't wait to see what you get and how you like your AB when it comes. Keep us posted.

This has occurred to me, and I probably made the wrong decision about the stability of my light stand. I don't think it's industrial-strength strong, just kinda average. I was just having sticker shock (I knew I still needed to buy a light meter). I'm going to check some local stores for stronger stands, but I can see me having to get having to buy a different one and I'll wish I had ordered it at the same time as the light to get the AB discount.

Thanks for the encouragement! :goodvibes:

[Furgus]

I found this awhile back to show lighting set ups.

Lighting Setup psd (http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic2/446987)

If you Photoshop you can use this templete to show your lighting setup. Thought this might be good for this post if you wanted to share. :)

Cheers.

[My2Girls66]

Nice job! and Happy Birthday:cheer2: