How much do you drag your shutter?

[picturesque]

Here is the location of the information. I guess I spelled it wrong.

 

http://eosdoc.com/manuals?q=NEVEC

[fotografz]

Bogdan, the image above was to demonstrate that the flash can freeze the moving subject,

and register detail even thought the shutter speed is slow ... it has less to do with

being color or B&W.

 

Here's a B&W one using an even slower shutter speed , second shutter, and panning with

the subject ...<div></div>

[afs760bf]

Now that's a great shot, Marc. I bet you didn't get any complaints from the client on that one. Who said wedding photographers weren't artists? Oh, sorry, that was another post.

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

I like using "shutter drag." I did this with sports photography back in the 60's whilst in College. I'm getting back into it with weddings, particularly with the dancing. To me it shows action, mood, happiness, motion, emotion. I'm also twisting the camera for some images and fooling around with the zoom whilst the sutter is open. My clients like this as I've had numerous orders from folks who seem to agree with me. This is what I like about digital, I can check what's going on instantly, adjust, re-adust, play some more, get up, get down, get moving around! Fun!<div></div>

[rtrace]

Marc, yes I know. I was just curious to see it in color. I was also speaking in general that I prefer color vs. B&W with panning-type shots - that B&W seems more static to me for those shots. I don't know. What do you think of these two? Color or B&W? Thoughts?<div></div>

[rtrace]

B&W version<div></div>

[fotografz]

Both work Bogdan. I'd take a look at splitting the channels ... take the red channel mono,

and maybe layer it over the green channel and fade the layer... it sometimes gives you a

closer version of the color in terms of dynamics ... plus it often helps separate the subject

from the background a little more. Like this:<div></div>

[picturesque]

In case anyone is interested in the NEVEC story...I just tested my 20D and it does "do" NEVEC with both evaluative and averaging FLASH metering patterns, and evaluative ambient metering.

[rtrace]

Marc, thanks for the tip. I have to say that one of my biggest frustrations with digital

(which is what I mostly use these days) is trying to achieve a good B&W look. I'm sort of

Photshop stupid. I've read on Greg Gorman's technique, channel mixing, etc., but they

seem to take too long for so many shots. I've seen many plugins but I would love to create

an action that could work on most pictures after I desaturate them in ACR, because it

would certainly speed up things. With CS2 and ACR 3.1, I do 90% of my editing in ACR

directly. I hardly use PS now, except for minor things. I love it! And even in ACR I know I

can play with the hue/saturation sliders once I desaturate, but that's slow too. What's the

solution? Or is it one pic at a time? It seems like it almost has to be, but I'm not adept at

knowing how to mix things to make a good B&W. What's your workflow for B&W?

[fotografz]

Try using the temp and hue controls in ACR after you desaturate. They sort of act on the

channel level like a filter would when shooting B&W film.

[rtrace]

Thanks Marc. I've been messing with that. I have to just mess some more ;) At least I've made the migration from a JPEG workflow to a RAW one with ACR 3.1 finally. I'm slow with these things, but willing to experiment and actually do all the time. But when it comes time to process pictures I get overwhelmed in a way with all the choices. I need to simplyfy, but to get to that stage I have to go through it all it seems. Just like I did with RAW. I feel my pictures are OK, but I need to improve my Photoshop/"developing RAW" skills. I'll get there eventually. I'd like to forget that though and still concentrate more on shooting, compositiong, angles, flash, light, but these are wild times!

 

I still shoot film, but more for fun now. And it's like I just wish I could get such nice B&W prints from digital. I saw a recent post by Jeff where he said he's switched to 1DMKIIs and prefers the B&W control he has. So *I* need to get better. Soon I plan to get a 1D or 1Ds body/bodies and get even more serious. It fun and frustrating at the same time.

[fotografz]

Bogdan, if you go for a 1DMKII (like Jeff is now using) contact me first.