brien_szabo

Here's an article I wrote based on observations over the years that helps aid in finding dramatic light but is by no means a guarantee. Enjoy.

 

http://www.photomigrations.com/articles/0403300.htm

This is a post about hoping but I do hope that KM comes out with a

12MP (or in that arena) camera by Christmas. I've been slow on

buying a DSLR because I know as soon as I get a 7D, they'll announce

the 9D. I'm one of those who would rather wait and get on the wave

than fall behind it. The 6MP is already slightly behind compared to

all its 8MP counterparts and I know the difference is minimal but I'd

rather invest in the top end camera and have that a few years before

it becmones ancient history. Any thoughts on a 9D out there?

Epson seems to be the benchmark printer for photographers but I'm

going to imagine there are other printer makers out there who make

comparable printers if not superior ones. I own an Epson but I'm

looking for options to the Epson 2200 or in that range of printers.

Are there others out there that are worth trying?

You only need one train to get to NYC - Penn Station/Madison Square Garden. The you are on either 6th or 7th Ave depending on which side you get out on.

 

The train line you want to get back to Newark Airport would be the NorthEast Corridor line. It is a very popular line that runs quite frequently.

 

The link below is from the B&H website.

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home;jsessionid=Chz46p0LBr!2006167845?O=RootPage.jsp&A=getpage&Q=SuperStore.jsp

 

Click this link and then scroll down to see the map of the area (it's a good reference map). If you want to go to Central Park for a few hours, you have to head up town towards Port Authority. You can walk the 30 some blocks up 6th or 7th ave and the roads run pretty much right into it. The whole area is safe for walking, you go through the theatre district, which can be interesting in itself. It's a nice walk, safe. You never have to worry about being alone on this walk. There are cops every other block or so if you are uncertain of your whereabouts. In NYC the Avenues go north and south and the Streets go east and west.

Here's a reasonable place to shoot birds, butterflies, and flowers. http://www.meadowlands.state.nj.us/index.cfm

 

I've done some shows here and it is a nice tucked away place safe from crime!!!! It's about 20/30 minutes away from the airport, about 3 miles off the Turnpike. Newark Airport is also off the Turnpike, so it's a relatively straight shot.

 

Don't get to worked up about the stereotype of Newark, the bad areas aren't really near the airport and this enivironmental center is on the other side of a nice safe industrial park of office buildings.

 

You'll be fine.

I'm sorry - I don't have the 7D but was thinking how I needed to finally make the plunge into digital. I have the regular film 7 camera body.

Here's something new.., for me anyway. I went to use my flash unit,

a Sunpak Power Zoom 4000AF with my Minolta 7D and when I depressed

the shutter half way down, the flash units makes this loud buzzing

sound. The unit doesn't seem to recognize my 100mm lens (which it

did three days ago.) and a (-) appears on the fstop portion of the

units window. It's very strange and it will sporatically register as

attached to the camera. For a moment the crooked arrow is there and

then it is gone. The unit has new batteries and it also makes the

noise when I use the off camera flash chord and the wire shutter

release. Could my unit have spit the bit or could this be something

in my camera? The unit is about 7 years old as well.

I've been thinking about purchasing a digital projector for slide

shows and talks. With all sorts of prices and products, I just

haven't been sure what to look at. So instead, I thought budget.

The number of a thousand dollars is about a cap I can deal with at

the moment. The question is then, can a good reliable digital

projector be had for under a thousand dollars? If so, which ones

tend to perform the best?

Well my system crashed and I had to reinstall Windows - thanks

goodness I had done a recent back up of files but did not make a

backup for my favorites of which I lost countless bookmarks.

 

Since I was so used to just clicking favorites, I forgot all the web

addresses - so begins a new journey. I was wondering if anyone can

supply me with the Navy(?) sunrise sunset page - I've seen it posted

here in the past but cannot find it. Also, I am looking for the Tide

Chart Calculator for the Northeast - it also served other parts of

the Atlantic Coast as well.

 

Any help would be great as I try to recover an awful lot of lost

sites - thanks all.

First - I wouldn't be so public about traveling alone - especially once you're on the road. As a woman by yourself traveling, never mention you are alone and when talking with strangers about going from place to place,speak in "we" whenever possible. This is all for safety because you just never know what freak thing can occur - God forbid.

 

Secondly - if you want to start marketing, try it on the road. If you have a cell number and an e-mail address, start making up cards and brochures for yourself. I try to always have them, because I can't tell you how many times I've handed them out while striking up conversations with lots of folks that you will run into.

 

Keep a pad and pen at the ready for all creative ideas.

 

While you are out and about, stop into galleries and such and see what they are selling and start practicing selling yourself. Practice your self marketing, your personal salesmanship on the road. Smile, shake hands, ask questions, look folks in the eye, talk to them - be engaging. Grab as much info from these folks as possible. Bring a long a small portfolio as a backup - you never know - you might strike up some buisness. You could hand them a promotional piece. A big key to this is branding yourself, practice now, practice always, practice on the road. Don't 'want' to be a pro - be a pro - carry yourself as such - you'll believe it and so will others. Get some of the kinks out now, so when you finally get settled you'll have more than a year on the road and lots of good photo's, you'll also have picked up some business smarts as well.

I have an Epson Stylus 2000P. The printer has been great. But

lately I've notice some light smudges on my prints from what looks

like dirty rollers. The ink comes out well and I've cleaned the

heads/maintenance, etc.., But it looks as if a couple of rollers

might be dirty. Is there an effective way to clean these (diluted

rubbing alcohol?) And is there a way to get at them, so I can left

them up a bit from their current set position?

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Bob - As far as the "greens" go, you should be there at a perfect time. The woods will be ripe with fresh greens, so if you are shooting Velvia, you'll have plenty of pop in those greens.

My Minolta 7 has been a horse of camera since I got it. But last

week while shooting, it automatically began to rewind my film after I

took a shot on the 19th frame. I thought I might have done something

and didn't think much of it. I shot a few more rolls with no

problem. Then, this Saturday morning, on the 12the frame, it rewound

for no apparent reason. I reloaded the film and continued shooting,

then bam, on the 34th frame, it rewound again. It is odd. I don't

know if a sensor might need to be cleaned? And if it does, where is

it? Is it the three thin elongated metal strips beneath the shutter

blades? I'm not quite sure how to appraoch this. I have a shoot on

Sunday, so I'll see but I guess I may have to call Minolta on Monday.

Gloria: The following website is a great resource for backpacking and hiking in the Northeast. You can gather/get info for other regions of the country as well but this one specializes in the northeast.

 

www.viewsfromthetop.com

 

Brien

Has anyone tried the Epson Online Experience for digital printing? I

was wondering if anyone cared to share their thoughts. I'm a pretty

good printer, but I'm always looking to improve upon my skills. Is

this tutorial insightful or does it bascially gloss over a lot of

well known territory?

I have a Nikon Coolscan IV. A fine scanner all in all but it gives

me (or I'm giving it) problems when it comes to scanning snow scenes

properly. What happens more times than not, is that I get too much

blue in the outcome of the scan. I try adjusting blue on the RGB and

play around on the lightness but it seems I'm always retaining a more

blue than what is actually on the slide. Does anyone else have this

issue and what can be done to scan whites white?

I'm looking for opinions on the Fuji CMW 125mm 5.6 lens with an image

circle of 204 for a 4x5 camera. It's a reasonably priced lens. If

it's worth the investment, then it would make the purchase of a

longer lens in the near future much more doable. I shoot a lot of

wider 35mm scenes in the 28-35mm range - so I was thinking 125 is

both affordable at this time and in the range of area that I work in.

I've never done "high-end" art shows but I know some shows want to see a picture of your set-up (tent and pic display) when you apply.

 

A friend of mine does art shows for a living and she found more success after developing a niche for her work as oppossed to general landscape work.

I will be making a jump into 4x5 and know basically the two lens

focal lengths I want to work with 90 and either 180 or 210. I will

primarily want to shoot landscape but some people and buildings as

well.

 

My question is - I there a huge quality difference between the

Japannese lenses and the German lenses (i believe they are German)?

 

The Fuji Nikon lenses are priced a fair deal cheaper than the others

and I wasn't sure if this was because of name and reputation or is

there really that much of a difference between the two?

 

I can come closer to affording two Japannese lenses than I can two of

the Rodenstock/Schnieder.

 

Thanks.

The Manasquan Reservoir in Howell NJ, Monmouth County has Bald Eagles as well as a pretty good variety of birds. Just about any of the shore beaches can provide good opportunities. The Tundra Swans will be coming into Whitesbog soon, if they aren't already there.

I use ND's. Soft edge nd's are as close to seamless as one can ask and you won't see any transition if applied and executed properly. I prefer to shoot in the field and get it right there. I will often bracket tougher nd situations and make any tweeks needed in PS later. I've also done the merging of two images bit - it works well enough but I don't want to spend that much more time on the computer as it can be a long process depending on the complexity of the image.

Many times I just use a bounce to fill the darker area's. I've also shot flash through a diffuser for softer more subtle effects.

I wanted to get an L Bracket/Plate for my 7 but can't locate one.

Kirk doesn't offer one and neither does Really Right Stuff. Anyone

have any suggestions?

Pick up David Middleton's and Bruce Morrison's, The Photographer's Guide to the Maine Coast. Not only will it give you all the interesting locations to seek out but rates them as to how good they are in each season. A great pick up to save yourself a lot questions.