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Getting quite a buzz from Alien Bees

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Dave Weikel

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Okay, for those who have had good studio lights for years, this is not big deal, but these are the first lights I've owned that have fully variable power from down to a 1/32.

Take 3 or 4 Bees, 2 grand children, 1 Olympus E-20 and mix with a little noise for a couple of hours and what do you get? A lot of fun and a few photos worth keeping!

By the way, using 150 watt holegon bulbs for the main and fill modeling lights was good advice.

I'm really going to like these lights.







 
Looks like you had big fn David :)

Question, the bees do not have modeling lamps?
Dave Weikel said:
Okay, for those who have had good studio lights for years, this is
not big deal, but these are the first lights I've owned that have
fully variable power from down to a 1/32.

Take 3 or 4 Bees, 2 grand children, 1 Olympus E-20 and mix with a
little noise for a couple of hours and what do you get? A lot of
fun and a few photos worth keeping!

By the way, using 150 watt holegon bulbs for the main and fill
modeling lights was good advice.

I'm really going to like these lights.









--
Click to expand...
--
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mackey135/njdigitalservices.htm
'I have discovered digital photography' Livin life at 5 megapixels!
 
Yes, the Bees have modeling lamps, but they are just 100 watt household bulbs. You can use up to 150 watt hallogen in them if you want something a little more powerful.

kristi
Brian Mackey said:
Question, the bees do not have modeling lamps?
Dave Weikel said:
Okay, for those who have had good studio lights for years, this is
not big deal, but these are the first lights I've owned that have
fully variable power from down to a 1/32.

Take 3 or 4 Bees, 2 grand children, 1 Olympus E-20 and mix with a
little noise for a couple of hours and what do you get? A lot of
fun and a few photos worth keeping!

By the way, using 150 watt holegon bulbs for the main and fill
modeling lights was good advice.

I'm really going to like these lights.









--
Click to expand...
--
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mackey135/njdigitalservices.htm
'I have discovered digital photography' Livin life at 5 megapixels!
Click to expand...
 
And they even work when you spell hallogen wrong. Big oops on my part.

Like Kristi said, the Bees come with household 100 watt bulbs that can be set to stay on at full brightness or track with the power of the flash. Using the B800s for my main and fill, I had to moved the power back to 1/2 on the main and about 1/4 on the fill. The higher power hallogen bulbs helped get enough light for the auto focus to work easily and still track with the flash power.

Part of my problem here is that I'm working in a room (pronounce "livingroom") with a white ceiling and light walls, so light bounces from everywhere. I might as well be shooting inside a softbox. :)

Dave
Kristi Guin said:
kristi
Brian Mackey said:
Question, the bees do not have modeling lamps?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Dave,

I like the rich red background on the first picture. Is that a true photo background that you purchased for this purpose, or did you improvise. And, if you improvised, what did you use?

Krsiti
Dave Weikel said:
Like Kristi said, the Bees come with household 100 watt bulbs that
can be set to stay on at full brightness or track with the power of
the flash. Using the B800s for my main and fill, I had to moved
the power back to 1/2 on the main and about 1/4 on the fill. The
higher power hallogen bulbs helped get enough light for the auto
focus to work easily and still track with the flash power.

Part of my problem here is that I'm working in a room (pronounce
"livingroom") with a white ceiling and light walls, so light
bounces from everywhere. I might as well be shooting inside a
softbox. :)

Dave
Kristi Guin said:
kristi
Brian Mackey said:
Question, the bees do not have modeling lamps?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I know the feeling



:)
Dave Weikel said:
Like Kristi said, the Bees come with household 100 watt bulbs that
can be set to stay on at full brightness or track with the power of
the flash. Using the B800s for my main and fill, I had to moved
the power back to 1/2 on the main and about 1/4 on the fill. The
higher power hallogen bulbs helped get enough light for the auto
focus to work easily and still track with the flash power.

Part of my problem here is that I'm working in a room (pronounce
"livingroom") with a white ceiling and light walls, so light
bounces from everywhere. I might as well be shooting inside a
softbox. :)

Dave
Kristi Guin said:
kristi
Brian Mackey said:
Question, the bees do not have modeling lamps?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mackey135/njdigitalservices.htm
'I have discovered digital photography' Livin life at 5 megapixels!
 
Ok, I'm becoming convinced on the bees. I have a couple of questions though.

1. How portable would they be?

2. Assuming all I have is the E-20 what is all the equipment I would need to buy other than the bee kit?

Thanks & loved the photos!

Mel
Brian Mackey said:


:)
Dave Weikel said:
Like Kristi said, the Bees come with household 100 watt bulbs that
can be set to stay on at full brightness or track with the power of
the flash. Using the B800s for my main and fill, I had to moved
the power back to 1/2 on the main and about 1/4 on the fill. The
higher power hallogen bulbs helped get enough light for the auto
focus to work easily and still track with the flash power.

Part of my problem here is that I'm working in a room (pronounce
"livingroom") with a white ceiling and light walls, so light
bounces from everywhere. I might as well be shooting inside a
softbox. :)

Dave
Kristi Guin said:
kristi
Brian Mackey said:
Question, the bees do not have modeling lamps?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mackey135/njdigitalservices.htm
'I have discovered digital photography' Livin life at 5 megapixels!
Click to expand...
 
Kristi,

That's a fairly inexpensive synthetic material I got at the local fabric shop. I think it was $5 per yard at 60" wide. The white background is the same stuff. Most of what I have came from the fabric shop - it's so much less expensive. I'll be stopping by again this week, I'll make it a point to find out exactly what it's called and let you know.

Dave
Kristi Guin said:
Krsiti
Dave Weikel said:
Like Kristi said, the Bees come with household 100 watt bulbs that
can be set to stay on at full brightness or track with the power of
the flash. Using the B800s for my main and fill, I had to moved
the power back to 1/2 on the main and about 1/4 on the fill. The
higher power hallogen bulbs helped get enough light for the auto
focus to work easily and still track with the flash power.

Part of my problem here is that I'm working in a room (pronounce
"livingroom") with a white ceiling and light walls, so light
bounces from everywhere. I might as well be shooting inside a
softbox. :)

Dave
Kristi Guin said:
kristi
Brian Mackey said:
Question, the bees do not have modeling lamps?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Brian,

Yeah, that's the general idea, except I have a big coffee table to move each time. :)

Dave
Brian Mackey said:


:)
Dave Weikel said:
Like Kristi said, the Bees come with household 100 watt bulbs that
can be set to stay on at full brightness or track with the power of
the flash. Using the B800s for my main and fill, I had to moved
the power back to 1/2 on the main and about 1/4 on the fill. The
higher power hallogen bulbs helped get enough light for the auto
focus to work easily and still track with the flash power.

Part of my problem here is that I'm working in a room (pronounce
"livingroom") with a white ceiling and light walls, so light
bounces from everywhere. I might as well be shooting inside a
softbox. :)

Dave
Kristi Guin said:
kristi
Brian Mackey said:
Question, the bees do not have modeling lamps?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mackey135/njdigitalservices.htm
'I have discovered digital photography' Livin life at 5 megapixels!
Click to expand...
 
LOL, Mine has already been moved :)))
Dave Weikel said:
Yeah, that's the general idea, except I have a big coffee table to
move each time. :)

Dave
Brian Mackey said:


:)
Dave Weikel said:
Like Kristi said, the Bees come with household 100 watt bulbs that
can be set to stay on at full brightness or track with the power of
the flash. Using the B800s for my main and fill, I had to moved
the power back to 1/2 on the main and about 1/4 on the fill. The
higher power hallogen bulbs helped get enough light for the auto
focus to work easily and still track with the flash power.

Part of my problem here is that I'm working in a room (pronounce
"livingroom") with a white ceiling and light walls, so light
bounces from everywhere. I might as well be shooting inside a
softbox. :)

Dave
Kristi Guin said:
kristi
Brian Mackey said:
Question, the bees do not have modeling lamps?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mackey135/njdigitalservices.htm
'I have discovered digital photography' Livin life at 5 megapixels!
Click to expand...
--
Click to expand...
--
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mackey135/njdigitalservices.htm
'I have discovered digital photography' Livin life at 5 megapixels!
 
Juat an FYI, I dont have the Bee's just a living room studio like Dave.

I use novatron monolight 500's, they come in hard cases for transport :)

http://www.novatron.com/catalog/monolightkits/ml500-2.html

regards
PerkyMel said:
1. How portable would they be?
2. Assuming all I have is the E-20 what is all the equipment I
would need to buy other than the bee kit?

Thanks & loved the photos!

Mel
Brian Mackey said:


:)
Dave Weikel said:
Like Kristi said, the Bees come with household 100 watt bulbs that
can be set to stay on at full brightness or track with the power of
the flash. Using the B800s for my main and fill, I had to moved
the power back to 1/2 on the main and about 1/4 on the fill. The
higher power hallogen bulbs helped get enough light for the auto
focus to work easily and still track with the flash power.

Part of my problem here is that I'm working in a room (pronounce
"livingroom") with a white ceiling and light walls, so light
bounces from everywhere. I might as well be shooting inside a
softbox. :)

Dave
Kristi Guin said:
kristi
Brian Mackey said:
Question, the bees do not have modeling lamps?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mackey135/njdigitalservices.htm
'I have discovered digital photography' Livin life at 5 megapixels!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mackey135/njdigitalservices.htm
'I have discovered digital photography' Livin life at 5 megapixels!
 
Mel,

The Bees are a lot better than lugging around an old Brown Line. They check in at about 4 Lb each and have a plastic cone that covers the flash tube and modeling light. You need to carry extension cords and a trigger cord, light stands, umbrellas and modifiers - but this is the usual stuff for any light set up.

What to get? Wow - that's a loaded question. It sort of depends on what you want to do. I got 4 lights, but many people get along just fine on three. You will need stands, umbrellas or softbox, reflectors and maybe grids to make spot lights. I'd sure recommend a good tripod and flash meter too.

Dave
PerkyMel said:
1. How portable would they be?
2. Assuming all I have is the E-20 what is all the equipment I
would need to buy other than the bee kit?

Thanks & loved the photos!

Mel
Brian Mackey said:


:)
Dave Weikel said:
Like Kristi said, the Bees come with household 100 watt bulbs that
can be set to stay on at full brightness or track with the power of
the flash. Using the B800s for my main and fill, I had to moved
the power back to 1/2 on the main and about 1/4 on the fill. The
higher power hallogen bulbs helped get enough light for the auto
focus to work easily and still track with the flash power.

Part of my problem here is that I'm working in a room (pronounce
"livingroom") with a white ceiling and light walls, so light
bounces from everywhere. I might as well be shooting inside a
softbox. :)

Dave
Kristi Guin said:
kristi
Brian Mackey said:
Question, the bees do not have modeling lamps?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mackey135/njdigitalservices.htm
'I have discovered digital photography' Livin life at 5 megapixels!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Great shots...
Dave Weikel said:
Okay, for those who have had good studio lights for years, this is
not big deal, but these are the first lights I've owned that have
fully variable power from down to a 1/32.

Take 3 or 4 Bees, 2 grand children, 1 Olympus E-20 and mix with a
little noise for a couple of hours and what do you get? A lot of
fun and a few photos worth keeping!

By the way, using 150 watt holegon bulbs for the main and fill
modeling lights was good advice.

I'm really going to like these lights.









--
Click to expand...
 
WOW, such a plethora of information about the Beez. I have been eye balling them for quite some time. That and trying to convince my wife we needed to turn the living room into a studio also. hehehe I know how you hate loaded questions, so basically you are using 4 each B800 lights with 150 Watt hallogen bulbs. You said that you had the main cut down to 1/2 power, and the fills cut down too 1/4 power. Given that, do you think you could have gotten B400 and set the main to full, and the fills to half? Also, howmany lights do you have set up for main? Also, you said you use the flash on the camera to trigger the lights, are you using the built in pop-up flash, the FL-40, or something like a Metz 54? I already have the FL-40, so I am hoping you are using that. ;-D anymore advice I would love to hear. I already have a date with the local Fabric shop to pick out some fabric for a back drop, they just dont know it yet. Thnx for that tip too.

--
Sincerely,
John Talvan

[email protected]
http://www.pbase.com/talvan/galleries
 
Great shots! Also impressed with you turning the bench on it's
side for the last shot of the two children. They look very well
posed for sitting on a chair side. I've heard enough about the bee's.
I'm checking prices now Good stuff.

Dan
Rick Fleming said:
Dave Weikel said:
Okay, for those who have had good studio lights for years, this is
not big deal, but these are the first lights I've owned that have
fully variable power from down to a 1/32.

Take 3 or 4 Bees, 2 grand children, 1 Olympus E-20 and mix with a
little noise for a couple of hours and what do you get? A lot of
fun and a few photos worth keeping!

By the way, using 150 watt holegon bulbs for the main and fill
modeling lights was good advice.

I'm really going to like these lights.









--
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Dave - that's what I plan on doing for some smaller size backgrounds - didn't make it there this weekend though. I also want some large backgrounds for adult portraits and small groups that can be used on a 10" wide background stand, without seams. I found a company in CA called the Dharma Trading Company (found online - do a search as I don't have the url handy) that carries muslin in 120" width and sells all kind of dye. I ordered a sample of the fabric and it should work nicely for some homemade backdrops. You might want to check them out if you have any desire to do any custom colors or want larger sizes.

Kristi
Dave Weikel said:
Kristi,

That's a fairly inexpensive synthetic material I got at the local
fabric shop. I think it was $5 per yard at 60" wide. The white
background is the same stuff. Most of what I have came from the
fabric shop - it's so much less expensive. I'll be stopping by
again this week, I'll make it a point to find out exactly what it's
called and let you know.

Dave
Click to expand...
 
Dan,

Thanks, but I've got to give some credit to one of my favorite reference books. Jeff Smith's "Corrective Lighting and Posing Techniques for Portrait Photographers" from Amherst Media has a lot of down to earth advice including treating props as just shapes that can work for you. The bench is really heavy, no chance they could tip it over, so I just let them climb on it and ham it up. It was my grandson who found the pose.

Bees? A lot of bang for the buck.

Dave
Dan Hadley said:
Dan
Rick Fleming said:
Dave Weikel said:
Okay, for those who have had good studio lights for years, this is
not big deal, but these are the first lights I've owned that have
fully variable power from down to a 1/32.

Take 3 or 4 Bees, 2 grand children, 1 Olympus E-20 and mix with a
little noise for a couple of hours and what do you get? A lot of
fun and a few photos worth keeping!

By the way, using 150 watt holegon bulbs for the main and fill
modeling lights was good advice.

I'm really going to like these lights.









--
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
John,

I have 2 B800 and 2 B400 lights. I use the B800s for main and fill (or I use a main and a reflector) and the B400s for hair and backdrop. I really thought about just getting 4 B400s, but was concerned that when I finally get enough room to do good full length shots, I'd be short on power, and for another $50, why not just double the power now and be done with it.

I trigger one Bee with a sync cord or radio trigger and let the other 2 or 3 fire from the built in photo slaves. Easy and painless. You cannot tigger the Bees or any other studio lights from the E-20 pop-up flash - the pre-flash will dump them before the actual exposure. The same is true for the FL-40. You CAN use a little cheap strobe off the hot shoe with no problem since it will not operate in TTL mode.

Dave
Talvan said:
WOW, such a plethora of information about the Beez. I have been eye
balling them for quite some time. That and trying to convince my
wife we needed to turn the living room into a studio also. hehehe I
know how you hate loaded questions, so basically you are using 4
each B800 lights with 150 Watt hallogen bulbs. You said that you
had the main cut down to 1/2 power, and the fills cut down too 1/4
power. Given that, do you think you could have gotten B400 and set
the main to full, and the fills to half? Also, howmany lights do
you have set up for main? Also, you said you use the flash on the
camera to trigger the lights, are you using the built in pop-up
flash, the FL-40, or something like a Metz 54? I already have the
FL-40, so I am hoping you are using that. ;-D anymore advice I
would love to hear. I already have a date with the local Fabric
shop to pick out some fabric for a back drop, they just dont know
it yet. Thnx for that tip too.

--
Sincerely,
John Talvan

[email protected]
http://www.pbase.com/talvan/galleries
Click to expand...
 
Dave Weikel said:
John,

I have 2 B800 and 2 B400 lights. I use the B800s for main and fill
(or I use a main and a reflector) and the B400s for hair and
backdrop. I really thought about just getting 4 B400s, but was
concerned that when I finally get enough room to do good full
length shots, I'd be short on power, and for another $50, why not
just double the power now and be done with it.
Click to expand...
Ok, so you have 2 B800 that you have set at 1/2 power for main, and 2 B400 set too 1/4 power? As you can see i know nothing about lighting as of yet. LOL
Dave Weikel said:
I trigger one Bee with a sync cord or radio trigger and let the
other 2 or 3 fire from the built in photo slaves. Easy and
painless. You cannot tigger the Bees or any other studio lights
from the E-20 pop-up flash - the pre-flash will dump them before
the actual exposure. The same is true for the FL-40. You CAN use
a little cheap strobe off the hot shoe with no problem since it
will not operate in TTL mode.
Click to expand...
Am I under the right assumption(i know what they say about assuming) that I can use the FL-40 IF I disable the TTL by using the small piece of cardboard to disengage the little prongs from connection? Instead buying another flash. I appreciate your patience
--
Sincerely,
John Talvan

[email protected]
http://www.pbase.com/talvan/galleries
 
John,

Don't get hung up on the power settings - they'll be different for you, based on the room you shoot in, the types of reflectors you use, the distance to the subject, etc. Get a good flash meter and play around - afterall, it's digital!

Yes, if you disable the TTL, the FL-40 will trigger the Bees - no problem.

Dave
Talvan said:
Dave Weikel said:
John,

I have 2 B800 and 2 B400 lights. I use the B800s for main and fill
(or I use a main and a reflector) and the B400s for hair and
backdrop. I really thought about just getting 4 B400s, but was
concerned that when I finally get enough room to do good full
length shots, I'd be short on power, and for another $50, why not
just double the power now and be done with it.
Click to expand...
Ok, so you have 2 B800 that you have set at 1/2 power for main, and
2 B400 set too 1/4 power? As you can see i know nothing about
lighting as of yet. LOL
Talvan said:
I trigger one Bee with a sync cord or radio trigger and let the
other 2 or 3 fire from the built in photo slaves. Easy and
painless. You cannot tigger the Bees or any other studio lights
from the E-20 pop-up flash - the pre-flash will dump them before
the actual exposure. The same is true for the FL-40. You CAN use
a little cheap strobe off the hot shoe with no problem since it
will not operate in TTL mode.
Click to expand...
Am I under the right assumption(i know what they say about
assuming) that I can use the FL-40 IF I disable the TTL by using
the small piece of cardboard to disengage the little prongs from
connection? Instead buying another flash. I appreciate your patience
--
Sincerely,
John Talvan

[email protected]
http://www.pbase.com/talvan/galleries
Click to expand...
 
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