If you ever do any kind of studio type shooting, the Alien Bee is absolutely one of the more affordable units to start with. They come in different max output powers with the B1600 being the most powerful of the “B” line. I rarely use full power, but have on occasion when shooting into very strong back light (such as a sunset). There is also a very portable battery pack you can purchase (See below) for on location shooting, and each of the units has a “slave feature” meaning it will trigger when the main flash fires.

My only criticism on the Alien Bees is that Ive had the plastic switch break on me, but they will repair it and their customer service is wonderful.

For a long time I only had 2 of these units, but when I got into High Key Shooting I got a third. At $360 it is a steal of a deal, and the B400 and B8 models are even more affordable.

Highly Recommended