Ring Light

My studio is filled with decades worth of lighting equipment and modifiers and from time to time I set up one I haven't used before and try it out. There has been an Alien Bees 'ABR800' ring light on the shelf since I've been here and I finally decided to try it out the other day. Ring lights are used for even lighting, macro photography, and the distinct catchlight they leave in a portrait subject's eyes. I tested it with some selfies(or what we used to call "self-portraits").

Rick(the retired photographer/owner of the studio/friend) told me he bought the light because it was such a great deal. Alien Bees were known for being extremely cheap but also effective. You can tell it is a piece of gear you would want to handle with care - it definitely wouldn't take the abuse of the Bowens Travelite 750's I take to location shoots.


I was able to take the selfies by balancing the camera on the back of the stand - I'm assuming it originally came with some kind of mount. If I was shooting someone else's portrait I would be holding the camera in place myself anyways though...


It comes with an easily removable grid - so you can decide how tight you want the light.

This is without the grid in.(Wow, am I going so grey!)

....and the tighter light pattern with the grid in.
This is a pretty cool light that I plan to have some more fun with. I edited my portraits with a sharp/gritty look but I would like to shoot someone else and go for a softer/glamour-type shot. I'm actually going to put out the call for a volunteer to test it on - it will make for a neat, different look in my portfolio.