In the last several years, speedlights have been roped into tasks that have traditionally been filled by studio strobes. The underlying premise is that speedlights are much more compact, and easier to bring to and set up for a location shot. Combined with their TTL and high-speed sync capabilities, plus their lower upfront cost, speedlights do offer practical advantages over studio strobes.
At some point though, we run into barriers that remind us of the natural limits of speedlights. The most significant limit is of course power. Another is the speedlight's reflector design, which sends light only forward.
It is possible to engineer solutions around those obstacles. For example, if we need more power, we can
combine two or more speedlights. However, sometimes those solutions create problems of their own. If we gang four speedlights, we indeed get more power but then we limit our options for light modifiers (there are only a few softbox designs that can accommodate 4 flashes).
Instead of going to extreme lengths to stretch our speedlights, however, perhaps we could reconsider using a studio strobe instead. One particular studio strobe stands out for its dependability and very high power-to-cost ratio: AlienBees. Hit the jump to learn more about AlienBees and whether they are right for you.
