An Alien In The House

Now that I have moved into my new house, I finally have an office/studio that can accommodate an actual studio lighting system. After much research and internal debate I chose the B800 kit from AlienBees. I wanted a system that would provide ample lighting for my limited budget. The B800 hit the target perfectly. Since this was my first foray into professional lighting, I wanted to start with a single light with the possibility to expand later. I don’t foresee doing any location shooting with this unit, but if that does come up the handy travel case that came with the kit will do the trick. The unit itself seems durable enough to handle mobile situations. With 320 true wattseconds and 800 effective wattseconds, controlled over a 5 f-stop range from full power to 1/32, the B800 gives me plenty of light for my needs. In fact my 15x14 room requires little more than half power for most situations at f8. The only thing I decided to change when I received the B800 kit was to replace the 100 watt modeling light, with a 150 watt light (max). Otherwise this baby was ready to go right out of the box. Once on the tripod I attached the 32” Brolly Box that I ordered with the kit, connected the 15-foot sync cord to my Minolta Maxxum 7, and got started.

Since I only have the single light I use a 48” collapsible reflector for fill. I configured a contraption for hanging interchangeable backgrounds and have just enough room to effectively use a 100mm lens for portraits. Using a Sekonic L-358 meter with the B800 is effortless and I was metering and test shooting in my little make-shift home studio the same evening the AlienBees light kit arrived on my doorstep. So far I’m happy with the results and can’t praise these lights enough. The fast recycle time and stepless power control allow for quick alterations. There will always be someone who has different opinions and experiences, but at this juncture, for my budget (or lack there of) the lights provided by AlienBees satisfy my needs.