greg jansen

<p>I use my Nikkor 85mm 1.4 a lot. I use it on one body, with a 28mm 1.4 on the other body.<br>

The 85mm 1.4 Nikkor is heavy, big, and expensive. <br>

You may want to try the NIkkor 85mm 1.8. It is about 1/3 the size, price, and weight. The focus is not as quick, but you are getting about 98% of what you get with the 1.4. It's a great portrait lens. Couple that with a 35mm f2, and you have a nice range, light weight and quality prime set for not too much money.</p>

<p>Shoot everything with two shots when you can. Wait for a good shot, shoot and immediatly shoot another.<br>

I have found when I am pushing the limits of hand holding or the subjects moving during a longer shutter speed, it seems the second shot turns out better than the first most of the time.<br>

I think the hands are more steady after firing the fisrt shot.<br>

When you are shooting more risky stuff, you need to increase the amount you shoot- just for safety.</p>

 

<p>Hi Everyone.<br>

I posted this last year, and have had a few more requests for it. <br>

It is a monthly expense sheet done in Excel.<br>

<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.gregjansenphoto.com/excel/template-expenses.xls" target="_blank">http://www.gregjansenphoto.com/excel/template-expenses.xls</a><br>

Feel free to download it and use it.</p>

<p>Greg Jansen</p>

<p>I picked up a used Sigma 14mm 3.5 a few years back. It's small, so easy to keep in the bag at all times. Comes in handy for those ultra wide shots here and there. A nice compromise between nothing at all and a big expensive lens. Image quality is fine.</p>

<p>Hi<br>

I really like the Albums Australia slip-in allbums, but thy are a real pain to order. You have to use their software, shipping is expensive, etc.<br>

They have one with a leather spine and aluminum cover that sells well.<br>

I would like to find a U.S. source for a similar album.<br>

I am looking for slip-in albums. Plain leather on the outside, nice mats on the inside that hold either 8 x 10's or 11 x 14's.<br>

Nothing frilly, nothing embossed, no peel-and-stick albums, just plain, well-made albums where you slip the photo in the mat.<br>

Any suggestions?</p>

 

<p>Not in my bag, but I carry a cake cutting set (knife and server) in my trunk. <br>

At least once a year the B&G forget that little detail. They</p>

<p>Here's mine:<br>

<a href="http://www.snapzphotobooth.com">www.snapzphotobooth.com</a></p>

<p>Funny. <br>

I like the line where the client wants a discount and the photographer asks if the magazine employees took a pay cut.</p>

<p>Hi Tolik<br>

I own a photo booth rental company and can tell you it is not an easy thing to make or run.<br>

It is very similar to doing instant portraits and printing on the spot. If you have never done it before, you will be in for a long night of glitches, demands, technical prblems, etc. You need to do a few events before you develop a flawless system that works for you.<br>

Be prepared to spend every single minute tending to the booth. There will be problems, questions, confused people, people wanting duplicate shots, people not leaving the booth to let others use it, people taking someone else's pictures, etc.<br>

It is NOT the kind of thing you can just set up and leave alone.<br>

People are very hard on the booths. They will cram as many people as they can in it, stressing all the components. They will spill drinks all over, set drinks on any level spot, Try to rock it when people are in it, etc.<br>

This happens at even the nicest of venues. There is always some in the crowd that get too rowdy.<br>

You are going to be way better off just renting one from a reputable company.<br>

If you want to try building one for fun, test it out a friends party or something, not a wedding.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>A pro quality dye-sub is the only way to go. I have done quite a few events like this, and the good quality dye-subs are the only printers that can handle the speed and quality.<br>

A good used dye sub is better than any new ink jet for the reasons stated in the above posts.<br>

I like the Mitsubishi 9550, which was replaced last year with the 9800. There are quite a few of those out there, and you may be able to find one used for $500 or so.<br>

My favorite is the Sony Snap Lab. It's light, fast, great quality prints. It can print up to 6x8. I almost always print 5x7 from it, then put the images in nice folders.<br>

Think of your first gig as an investment. Apply the money from it to a good printer, then make your money on future bookings.<br>

I've had my Snaplab for about 5 years, and it has performed flawlessly at maybe 30 or 40 events over the years.<br>

Last year I started using Lightroom, with a watched folder and the camera tethered. Nice. Take 2 or 3 of each couple, large images on screen make it easy for an assistant to select the best one, then send it to the printer. Smooth.<br>

Once you get your settings for shooting and printing set, it's easy to get through the event without any fussing or glitches.</p>

<p>I have a D700 and a D3. I like having a standard zoom on one, and a telephoto on the other. What I DON'T like is switching between the two cameras.<br>

The ISO, zoom preview, and other buttons are in different places. It's confusing.<br>

I like the way the D3 handles and the viewfinder better than the D700. I also really like the ability to change the aspect ratio (for shooting stuff that will be printed, I.E. group shots). Other than that, image quality is the same.<br>

Get two of the same bodies would be my suggesstion.<br>

Spend the money on lenses if you need to.<br>

Or get another D700 with the extra battery grip. One with, one without.</p>

<p>Most labs use a digital printer, which needs to make a scan of the negatives before printing. It is usually inexpensive to get that digital file saved to cd.<br>

I shoot weddings on film. I use some simple tackle-box style plastic bins to store the shot and unshot film.<br>

After the wedding, I bring the shot film box to the lab. I have them process, scan, and print everything 4x6. The best of the 4x6's I put in a 3-ring proof album that uses Printfile 4x6 pages that hold 3 prints on each side. I also give the bride the unused (not in the proof album) 4x6's- the not so good ones, and back-up shots during formals, etc. Bride gets a copy of the CD for smaller reprints (up to 5x7). Bride needs to bring the negatives in when printing something larger.<br>

Simple and easy.<br>

Portra is always great. I like NC (lower contrast than VC) because most labs have a tendancy to boost the saturation and contrast up too much.<br>

For B&W try color film (C-41), but printed B&W. That way the bride can always get it reprinted color is desired. WOrks good as a back-up for color group shots in case the color roll (printed in color) gets msessed up in some way.</p>

<p>The Flora Allure albums are great. Traditional, yet clean lines. Black or white. They are about $140 each for a 30 page 8x10 leather album and slipcase.<br>

I print 8x10's in-house on a dye-sub printer.<br>

Gone are the days of going to the lab or cursing inkjet printers.</p>

<p>Check with the airlines online. Basically, you want to get a carry-on sized camera bag to store your computer and camera gear. X-rays will not harm CF cards.<br>

When travelling with camera gear, just like clothing, you want to pack light. You may want to leave the heavy, fast glass at home and get by with less stellar gear.<br>

I just shot a wedding last weekend out of town. I shoot Nikon, and brought a 24-120 3.5-5.6, a 70-210 F4, a 50mm 1.4, two bodies, two flashes and spare batteries. That's all I needed, and it fit in a small bag (Think Tank disguise something) including my laptop. <br>

I used that bag as my "personal" bag (needs to fit under the seat), and then had my carry-on sized suitcase for clothing. Put chargers in your clothing bag to save weight and space.<br>

Don't over do it.</p>

<p>Yes, I shoot Nikon. I agree with Mark. Probably too expensive to have 3 catagories of lenses, I.E. consumer, pro, pro light. There is a plethora of those kit and consumer lenses. Maybe some day there will be room for my wants.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Depends how you shoot. I like to have two bodies on me when shooting, one with a 24-70, one with an 80-200. I found it too confusing using one APS body and one full frame. Got another full-frame.<br>

If you tend to use one body at a time, I don't think it would be too confusing.</p>

<p>Typically we have two choices with zoom lenses: a fast, heavy, big 2.8 constant aperture, or a cheapish, light, plasticy 3.5 - 5.6 zoom.<br>

I wish manufacturers would make some quality constant aperture, not-so-fast zooms.<br>

Example: I have an old 70-210 F4 Nikkor. Older lens. Nice optics, constant aperture, small, light, and very close focussing. It's about a third the size and weight of my 80-200 2.8.<br>

It would be great to have an updated version of that, metal body, new glass, and to pair that with a 28-90 or so F4 zoom.<br>

All day with a 24-70 2.8 and 80-200 2.8 gets heavy.<br>

Good quality F4 zooms would be all I need in 99% of applications.<br>

It would also be great if they did the same for primes. Some good quality F2 primes, like a 28mm or 80mm.<br>

Most manufacturers have a lens or two that fit the above descriptions, but not a whole line.<br>

I hate choosing between a variable aperture o.k. lens and a great quality but big and heavy constant aperture lens.<br>

Anyone in the sae boat?</p>

<p>I'm a fan of the semi-pro lenses for travel. The 24-120 has a nice range and is light. Couple that with a cheapy 17-35mm any brand or the nice Nikkor 18-35mm and you are set.<br>

I travel often, and lightness is key when you are walking around all day.<br>

I use a very wide lens much more when travelling than I do on jobs at home.<br>

I think for a zoom 28mm is not wide enough for a leave it on most of the time type lens. 24mm much more useful.<br>

The newer Nikon small flash that bounces (forget the name) is great. Sb-800, 900 too big for walking around with all day IMO.</p>

<p>As a side note, if you do decide to bring film, take the canisters out of their boxes and put them in one of those clear plastic divided boxes. Makes it more checkpoint friendly. Ask or a hand inspection. Throw one roll of 1600 or 3200 in there so they can't say it's safe to 400 or whatever.</p>

<p>Most labs will offer "preview" size scans at the time of processing for a small charge. I pay $3 per roll. THe 35mm scans are 4x6 @300 d.p.i. I forget what the 6x6 scans are in size.<br>

The 35mm 4x6 scans are fine for up to 5x7. Anything bigger you need the negatives.<br>

Think of the CD as a conveniance item, not something that all enlargements come from. It is great for emailing friends, posting on Facebook, etc.<br>

When it comes to larger,higher quality enlargements I tell the clients to take the negatives in to a good lab (I suggest a couple) to get the nice few enlargements that will be displayed at home on the walls.<br>

Most labs will not charge extra to re-scan the negatives at the size of the finished enlargement.<br>

The lab I use uses a Fuji Frontier. It writes a code on the back of the prints with a file number on it. It is the same file number that is on the CD. Everything is cross-referenced. It is very organized, and very easy.<br>

I enclose an info sheet with the negatives on how to get the best enlargements. Negatives are slipped into 120 clear pages and labeld, then put in an archival ring binder box.<br>

Works great, is very easy.<br>

Most clients don't mind making the one trip to the lab to pick out their enlargements. A good lab will walk them through where/how to crop each enlargement, if to add a border for a matte, etc.<br>

My attitude is labs are the pros for printing. Let them do it.</p>

 

<p>On a larger note, I find it helpful to keep the image folders in a whole seperate hard drive; away from system folders. Makes backing up easier. C: drive is for programs, temp files,misc. stuff, D: drive is only wedding images, E: drive is other images (non wedding jobs) and documents.</p>

<p>On a larger note, I find it helpful to keep the image folders in a whole seperate hard drive; away from system folders. Makes backing up easier. C: drive is for programs, temp files,misc. stuff, D: drive is only wedding images, E: drive is other images (non wedding jobs) and documents.</p>

<p>I've noticed typical wedding imagry has gone more and more to a heavy Photoshop'ed look, while general advertising imagry has not followed that trend.<br>

I think the wedding stuff has gone too far, and is at the risk of having a dated look to it.<br>

Think soft-focus filter stuff of the 70's.<br>

Ten years from now when you looking at the over Photoshop'ed images of today, most people will cringe.</p>

<p>Both Nikon and Quantum is best for me. I use the SB-800's for general coverage and candid stuff. Sometimes I use a second Sb-800 at reception (dancing), fired via Nikon's wireless TTL. The Nikon TTL is really nice, especially for large aperture fill-in.<br>

For formals I use the Quantum. An older Q-flash is just fine. I use it set on manual only. It has more power than the Nikons, and has the nice recycle "beep." I use an umbrella style softbox. Very nice light out of the Quantum. Camera on tripod, Qflash fired by Pocket Wizards.<br>

I power the Quantum with a Turbo 2x2. I can also use the Turbo battery to power the SB800.<br>

I have never liked the setup of the Qflash and Turbo together on a roving type set-up. Just too bulky, too many cords.</p>

<p>I would love a constant F4 zoom set for travel and just keeping things light. 24-80 f4, and a 70-200 f4.<br>

AFS would be great. For keeping things light and smal, I use an older 28-105 and a 70-200 f4. THe 70-200 is optically pretty good, but the focus is real slow. It does focus closer than the 70-200 2.8 VR AFS. If they could update that lens it would be great. My 70-200 F4 is about 1/4 the weight of the 2.8, and about 1/2 the size. <br>

My regular heavy kit now: 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8 afs VR, 28mm 1.4, 85mm 1.4.<br>

My light kit: 28-105, 70-200 F4, 35mm f2, 85mm 1.8. Would love to replace the zooms and primes in the light kit with newer, better build, faster foccusing lenses. I would pay a premium, too.</p>