The Aliens have landed

I've been chomping at the bit to get a new set of Studio Lights after looking at the quality of light given off by different strobes, especially when photo editing is involved.  I purchased some RPS Monolights exactly a year ago and have been really happy with their performance.  In fact, all my Studio Portraits taken to-date, including at the Help Portrait event, were done using these lights.  So why look at something else?  Easy, first of all they only stop down to 1/8 power, which means the lowest f-stop I can go to is 5.6 at ISO 100 and 1/125 shutter.  Secondly, my garage isn't that large so distance from the light-to-subject and subject-to-background is an issue.  During the Help Portrait shoot, Jim (a.k.a. Weldon Shooter) used a set of AB800s and had them relatively close to the subject and also at 1/16 power.

 So I couldn't resist and I purchased an AB1600 and a 64" Parabolic Light Modifier, basically an umbrella.  The picture of Drew was shot with the PLM about a foot and a half away from his face at 1/32nd power, f/3.2, ISO 100 and 1/125.  He is less than three feet away from the background stand and yet it is nice and blurry. Also shooting through the umbrella created a nice soft diffused light without any hotspots.  This shot was done without any reflectors and yet the shadow side of his face isn't blocked up.  The next shot was done with two strobes, the AB1600 shot through the PLM camera right at 45 degrees angled slightly downward and one of my RPS Studio monolights as rim light approximately 110 degrees camera right with a grid and barndoors.  I forgot to mention, my girlfriend bought me a four pack of Pocket Wizard Plus II transceivers for Christmas, and I have to admit they work really well.  I'm not sure I'll use them with my Speedlights since they don't respond to TTL, but with group shoot,s where I bring my monolight,s they'll be indispensable.

What Did I Learn?
1)  Use that Light Meter - cant's stress it enough, especially when in the studio.  Lighting rations just work so much better.
2) Buy Good Studio Strobes,  especially if you have limited space, and make sure they have a variety of light modifiers.

 I have a shoot tomorrow, at 3:00 PM, so hopefully I can put the light to the test.  Be safe and enjoy the time you spend with loved ones.  That's A Wrap!!!