john_sarsgard1

I think the universe is random. The portraits I did Monday night won't work with patch tool.

The landscapes I did Tuesday with the same camera work with patch tool. Both are sRGB

jpgs. Working on background layer in both cases. I think I will spend a few hours in the wet

darkroom working on my B&W work where I know what I am doing! Or at least what the

equipment and materials are doing. Thanks again.

Thanks to all for the input. I continue to try to figure out what else might be different since

patch worked for me. I think I'm on to something....it works fine on old scanned images, but

not with digital camera images! Does this give anyone a clue? Thanks again. John

I'm using Photoshop CS with Mac OS x 10.4.3 Tiger. The patch tool doesn't work, and Adobe

says there are lots of tool problems with Tiger. No idea of a fix or what to do for a

workaround. Anybody else have this experience, and any idea of what to do next? thanks.

I need to find a book or other source showing lots of options for matting and framing

portraits. I'm soon going to market my portrait work more to individuals, and need to see

some good options for showing a portfolio to customers. Any ideas? Thanks!

I'm one of those film Luddites that's late to the digital party. I mostly do portraits and some

documentary photography, in 4x5, 645, and ancient Canon 35mm FD stuff. I'm starting to

do considerable work for websites, and am very tired of getting film developed and scanned.

I love film, and print all my B&W work myself, but the web work has convinced me I need to

get started with a digital kit. Since I don't need ultimate anything for the web, I'm leaning

toward getting an older Nikon or Canon camera (Digital Rebel or D100) but an excellent lens,

probably zoom 28-90 or so in full frame terms. My thinking is that digital may at some time

graduate to full frame 35 sensors, and I want an excellent lens that will cover it, so at least

something I buy has a long life. I would love suggestions, help, or just comments that I have

my hat on backwards. Thanks in advance.

I don't understand. Amazon sells a new Canon 20D with the EF-S 18-55 zoom lens for

1478.94. Later in the marketplace listing they give you when searching on this camera,

there is a third party (actually several, slightly different prices) that offers this camera and

lens for 499.99. Amazon seems to vouch for these merchants, and offers a guarantee on

their behalf. I was not born yesterday, and can usually figure out the catch. But what is

going on here???

I'm working with my old 2000P to make inkjet negatives, and would like to lay down as

much ink as possible. Anybody know which media setting lays down the densest ink?

Well, figured this one out myself, so will pass along for benefit of other Mac users. I was

on the right track, but did not go far enuf. If you go to file menu, look at file permissions,

start by marking as read-write, as I noted above. "But you also have to click on details,

which gives you the choice of clicking on something like "apply to enclosed items" which

does the trick. In other words, you are applying read-write permission not only to the

folder itself, but also to the items in it. Everything works great now!

I'm trying to manage images from a scan to CD (done by my lab, they have a new scanner)

within Photoshop CS using the file browser. the images all show up in the browser with

little padlocks on them. PS won't let me move anything to another folder, and if I try to

delete one, seems to work but does not go away. The folders on the CD were marked

read-only, but I changed them to read-write. Didn't help. BTW, I am using files I dragged

onto the desktop....not trying to modify the CD-R! I'm working on a Mac using OS X

Panther. Anybody know what's going on, and what I have to do to be able to trash the

bum images and build one good folder with the good ones? thanks.

The 75mm "normal" lens for my Pentax 645NII is driving me crazy. Consistent bad

behavior can be compensated for, but occasional sins are difficult to accommodate!

When I press the shutter release part way down to focus and hold the focus while I

compose the image, with this lens the focus sometimes changes when I re-compose.

Drives me nuts. When the camera is set on "S" for single focus, instead of "C" for

continuous, it is supposed to hold the focus once achieved. It usually does this, but

not always. Do others have this problem? Or am I nuts? While I'm at it, does anyone

else hate the tiny MF/AF switch for which you have to fumble and in the process

probably unintentionally reset the f stop? Any good ways to deal with this much

appreciated as well. For those not using this camera, please don't interpret this as a

big slam. I love the Pentax 645 very much, but nothing is perfect.

Recently saw a wonderful show at the Richard York Gallery in NYC of New England

work by Paul Strand and paintings by his friend John Marin. It's titled "John Marin and

Paul Strand: Friends in New England." It's up until January 10, so if you're in

Manhattan and like either or both (as I do!) it's quite a few pictures from each, and

great to see. The Gallery is also quite accessible, on E 65th near Madison.

Now a question...other than buying a very expensive copy of Strand's "Time in New

England," does anyone know of another source of Strand's beautiful nature closeups?

There were many the show, and I would love to find a book that showed off more.

Thanks.

I had the same problem. It was two things...polarity, first. I am using older Balcar

strobes. Try reversing polarity. Second, the sync voltage on many older strobes

including mine is much too high for the Pentax. Try a Wein safe-sync. I had to do

both, and now all is well.

Maybe I just have junky old cable shutter releases, but just curious. None of mine

easily screw into the socket on my 645NII. Does Pentax want me to buy some kind of

"special" cable?

Got a Schneider componon-s 135mm enlarging lens on ebay for a real

steal, but having a hard time figuring out right lensboard for my

Beseler 45. The thread is just a slight bit larger than the leica

39mm on my 50mm lens, and not nearly as large as the hole for my

Schneider 100mm. Can't seem to find the right lensboard hole size in

stock at B&H, Adorama, etc. Any ideas?

Just got my new 645NII, and am immediately impressed. So far, the

multisegment metering seems so good, I'm afraid I'll be lulled into

not thinking any more. Has anyone experienced situations where it's

significantly fooled? Or where it just isn't appropriate? Since the

book doesn't really explain how it takes into account six readings,

and since it seems to work so well, just would feel more comfortable

with experiences of others. thanks! John

I have an old (very) Dagor 300mm marked "Berlin Dagor." It seems to

produce consistently slightly mushy images when stopped down (f32).

I seem to remember hearing that Dagors sometimes exhibit focus shift

when stopped down. True? What would be the optimum aperture for

sharpness? Does one need to refocus when stopped down, or is this a

result of optical properties like spherical aberration? I could

test, but if somebody knows, would allow me to take real pictures

instead of testing (hate it). Thanks.

I've been attracted to the somewhat minimalist landscapes of Koichiro

Kurita lately. Saw the first one in the Aperture issue on American

landscape photography a couple of years ago, then an exhibit that just

ended at the Stevenson Gallery (formerly Platinum Gallery) in New

York. At the recent show, he exhibited 16x20 platinum prints on

handmade Japanese rice paper...gorgeous work. Does anyone know how he

works? Wet darkroom or digitally enlarged negatives? Or, assuming a

well developed weight lifter as assistant, a 16x20 view camera?

In the workshop I took from Jock at Palm Beach, he described it in

detail and demonstrated...to the extent you can in the dark! Tri-X

8x10 negs, 16-20 at a time, in 8x10 trays, conventional "shuffling"

technique, HC110. He also uses lots of photoflo! in the developer to

prevent scratches. And although his assistants print under his

supervision, he develops every one of his own negatives. I strongly

recommend him as a workshop teacher.

I use 400NC and a 210 for available light portraits with a 4x5, and

like the combination. About the 35mm option...people seem to enjoy

working with a view camera. The experience is different, a little

like having your portrait painted, an experience they can share with

you. You don't have to be behind the camera when you're actually

photographing them. It is really a very different experience than

having yourself snapped with a 35, althought that certainly has its

place. With the large negative, you can easily crop (heresy, I know)

a good headshot out of a larger view and still have a comfortable

working distance and reasonable perspective with the 210. You can

shoot type 52 polaroids (I rate those and the 400NC both at 320) and

collaborate with the people to create a portrait together. I also

like the backlight with fill very much, but find that it's also easy

to do with reflectors. You need either a stand to hold it, or chair

or something, or somebody to help to light 'em up, but no question

about exactly what the light is going to look like, and you can just

meter it with an incident meter. Just a few thoughts...

Shadows and highlights must always have detail. Everything must be in

focus.

I attended the Palm Beach workshop with Jay, and totally agree. Jock

is a terrific teacher. If you want to learn to work quickly and

efficiently with a large format camera, and are interested in people

photography, he will be VERY helpful. He's definitely not an

equipment addict...8x10, one lens, no light meter, few gadgets.

Natural light with reflectors. Simplicity with a very natural style

of execution...little posing. As Jay said, lots more. He doesn't

teach in most workshops because he spends the Summer on the beach in

France making more pictures.

135mm Rodenstock APO Sironar S. Unbelievably sharp, very convenient

focal length.

I would just get one of the new Kodak single sheet holders, a box of

100VS readyloads, and go out and shoot a few times with the Xenar.

Then decide what to do. For years, I've had a disease called, "if I

just had a $%^&R$%^%&^%^$%^, all my problems would be solved and I

would make great pictures." Glad I'm over it. Or will be as soon as

I get one of those great Gitzo carbon fiber tripods...

For me, the first thing I intend to say with a photograph is "I have

something I want to show you." That something is a photograph, not a

building or a tree or a flower or a person, although those real world

things might participate in the photograph. I want it to be printed

well, but it might be a grainy image, or selectively focused, or have

black shadows, depending on the role those choices might play in what

I want to show you. For me, every part of the photograph needs to

have a role, from top to bottom and left to right. When I do my best

work, I start with something that attracts my attention, but I need to

make lots of further decisions to get from there to what I really want

to show you. FYI, to thank those who have helped, when I do all this

well it's because I'm remembering what Michael Smith and Paula Chamlee

taught me. And when I remember that I'm showing you a picture, not a

building.