So, I picked up a piece of equipment that I am pretty excited about using. Not a camera, or a lens. A battery. But not just any battery. A Paul Buff Vagabond Mini battery. This battery is going to change the way I shoot senior portraits and location portraits.

So, it is a battery, big deal. Well. It really is. I already have two shoots planned for this summer that this battery is going to change totally. They will take place on a soccer pitch, and will hopefully be with a lovely deep blue sky, mountains in the background, and some action. These are portrait sessions, so normally, I would have 1 to 3 hot shoe flashes, which would work to a point for what I am visioning for the shoot, but using more powerful studio strobes would be so much better. Better light coverage, more power, but typically, it would mean hundreds of feet of extension cords to power the strobes.

In steps the Vagabond Mini. I can use this device to power up to 4 of my Alien Bee B800 strobes, giving me enough light to overpower the sun and make some really dramatic images. The Vagabond Mini comes with a clamp to attach to a light stand, or has a shoulder strap to hang it from a support. It has two power outlets (I can even hook my laptop up to it to extend my computers battery life) and a USB connection so I could charge my iPhone or iPad if I need to.

I will report more on the Vagabond Mini when I get it out into the field, but I am really excited about using it.