al_derickson

<p>In the first picture if I reduced the exposure to retain highlight detail the faces would be too dark. In the second there is some blown white on her waist but it's unimportant and the rest of her is well exposed.</p>

<p>Another</p><div></div>

<p>Ok, here they are:</p><div></div>

<p>It is pretty contrasty. You have to be careful not to blow the highlights. A couple examples:</p>

<p>I agree with A.T. that it would approach rudeness to presume to provide a teaching point to a stranger. But then I am getting pretty old also. In fact I am often offered the comment "Oh look! An antique camera!" when I am out with my 1971 Rolleiflex 3.5F, a camera I purchased new and don't think as an antique at all. I usually respond with "Well I am an antique".</p> <p>It does usually seem to be attractive young women who notice and comment about the camera. I've never understood why that is.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>For your own photos I'd say don't worry the scratches will have negligible effect. If you are worried about resale value then switching lenses will have far more negative effect than scratches.<br> Al</p>

<p>It appears to be a pretty good implementation of a grain reduction filter, at least to my taste. I use Neat Image in my own scans, set to remove half the noise, mainly to counteract the effect of capture sharpening with Focus Magic.</p> <p>I wonder if you can also ask for no sharpening.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>The Smartcurve plugin hasn't been updated for a while and doesn't work on the newer 64 bit versions of Elements. One of the advantages of Smartcurve is it allows you to work in L*A*B color mode which is nice if you use the Margulis techniques.<br> The Curve tool in Elements+ works just like it does in full Photoshop (minus some options, I believe).</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>I just checked mine and it is also oblong and it is not an optical illusion.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>Nikon Scan NEF's do indeed open in LR 5.7 at least. They are not true raw files, however. They are just a TIFF in Nikon's wrapper.<br> Al</p>

<p>I have the same scanner and after trying several products settled on Neat Image for film grain noise reduction. It allows you to generate a profile for each film type. I use the plug-in version and generally set it to remove half the noise to retain detail.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>I'm just thinking out loud here but if a time exposure is possible, possibly "painting" the rain with a handheld flashlight might be an experiment you could try.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>If you go to the expense of booking a studio, be aware that amateur or freelance models are notoriously flakey. I and other photographers I have talked to have had no-shows.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>Ditto what John said (I have the same scanners).</p>

<p>You can buy a nice Nikon F4 and a data back (MF-22 of MF-23) for well under $500. Check out KEH.</p> <p>Al</p>