joann

<p>Hi Wei Wei,<br>

So sorry for not writing sooner, I haven't been following this thread. This background actually came with a DVD Tutorial from Richard Ramsey where he teaches how to create the digital backgrounds. <a href="http://web.mac.com/ramsey616814/Site/%22Painterly_Backgrounds%22_DVD.html">http://web.mac.com/ramsey616814/Site/%22Painterly_Backgrounds%22_DVD.html</a><br>

There is a specific brush used that came with the CD included in Jeremy Sutton's book<br>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0240809297/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0240809297/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books</a><br>

Hope this helps. Jo Ann</p>

<p>Hi Bethany, there are mixed opinions as far as taking your rolls of seamless with you on location. The two problems I see with that are first, you will probably need to limit yourself to the 5' roll so you can be sure to have enough location space to set up the stand and room in your vehicle to transport the roll. Second, you will need a solid surface on the floor if you're going to have someone stand on the paper. Carpet and grass will cause the paper to wrinkle and bend and that's not pretty. For inside the studio, I love using seamless. The colors are such fun to work with.<br>

<img src="http://modelmayhm-5.vo.llnwd.net/d1/photos/060226/00/44014c4eac38f.jpg" alt="" width="427" height="640" /></p>

<p>Hi Bethany, there are mixed opinions as far as taking your rolls of seamless with you on location. The two problems I see with that are first, you will probably need to limit yourself to the 5' roll so you can be sure to have enough location space to set up the stand and room in your vehicle to transport the roll. Second, you will need a solid surface on the floor if you're going to have someone stand on the paper. Carpet and grass will cause the paper to wrinkle and bend and that's not pretty. For inside the studio, I love using seamless. The colors are such fun to work with.</p>

<p>Here's a place you might look:</p>

<p>http://www.tinyprints.com/?gclid=COGp_dTB4J4CFRxJagodzG70KQ</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hey Theresa..Photoshop is exactly right. I wish that wasn't necessary but even if you feel you got a great shot...there might be one member who doesn't like the way they look or the look of their child so head swapping is something we do often. I wonder what photographers did before swapping heads was an option. Not only that, our clients these days know what can be done in PS and aren't afraid to ask us to lessen their tummy size, lengthen their legs, and remove entire people from the group.<br>

One thing that helps soooo much when there are children, is for the adults to remain posed and ready so that when the child returns that perfect cherubic grin, everybody is ready. Parents like to keep telling their children what to do which knocks the entire grouping out of whack, It's better that they let the photographer interact with the children.</p>

<p>Hi Theresa, seriously, I didn't spend a lot of time on this because it was just a small jpeg so I couldn't really get detailed about it. I'm glad you liked it and seriously, I am happy to give it the full treatment with a larger file. I'm looking forward to seeing your reshoot!<br>

Thanks and I'll check back with you :)</p>

<p>Hi Theresa, I emailed you earlier about painting in a different background. I didn't spend too much time on this small file but I changed the background completely and painted the girls some. I too love the dresses and your girls have such beautiful blue eyes!<br>

<img src="http://www.schowphoto.com/girlspainted.jpg" alt="" width="462" height="648" /></p>

<p>Sorry this is late but Alberto V05. It's been around for decades - my mom always used it and the fly aways just stay put and adds a nice shine to hair. A little tiny dab.<br>

http://www.walgreens.com/store/store/product/product_details.jsp?id=prod8861</p>

<p>Hi Lance, sorry for the delay in responding. Yes, this was a three light set up in addition to window light. You can light with just two lights, one main and one background plus daylight from from a window. Without the ambient light, you could use a reflector to bounce some light back toward the subject. I really enjoy working with the white background but it does get tricking getting the light just right without using a meter.<br>

Also, here's one that was done with just one light.<br>

<img src="http://www.modelmayhem.com/pic.php?pid=113573%5d%5bimg%5dhttp://modelmayhm-5.vo.llnwd.net/d1/photos/050711/01/42d20c6e5a381_m.jpg" alt="" /><br>

<img src="http://www.modelmayhem.com/pic.php?pid=113573%5d%5bimg%5dhttp://modelmayhm-5.vo.llnwd.net/d1/photos/050711/01/42d20c6e5a381_m.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>http://www.modelmayhem.com/pic.php?pid=113573%5d%5bimg%5dhttp://modelmayhm-5.vo.llnwd.net/d1/photos/050711/01/42d20c6e5a381_m.jpg</p>

<p>Hi Lance, I have a lot of experience with mobile children. http://www.schowphoto.com/elderjonathan/<br>

That's my grandnephew and grandniece and I pretty much just let them do their thing.<br>

They are in and out of the frame a lot but you can see what changing the aperture can do to blur the background :)</p>

<p>Oh, how adorable!<br>

Open up your aperture to at least f5, that will help to blur the background. And move your model (son) away from the bg to about 5 feet and that will also help. Charles told you how to set your lights.<br>

You could do a lot of work to this photo to make it better, including adding highlights to his eyes but since you have a captive model, I recommend reshooting and hope you can get that beautiful small again :)</p>

 

<p>Hi Tonio, if you want to put together a slideshow, I highly recommend ProShow Gold or ProShow Producer depending on how elaborate you want to get. You can send a client a DVD they can watch on their TV or computer. http://www.photodex.com/</p>

<p>Hi Kevin. No, you don't need a light meter but you should become familiar with your camera's histogram to be sure you aren't under or over exposing.<br>

Your lens is very versatile. For portraits, I would avoid the widest end of the lens to avoid distorting and vignetting. If you have a family portrait and need to use the 28mm end, make sure you have the group well inside the frame.<br>

As Paul and George already mentioned, a reflector for outdoor portraits is going to be very useful - white foam board is a very good reflector in bright sunlight. Good luck and have fun!</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I have had the same problem with my Fujifilm S5 before I realized that the monitor was set on the bright side. I have come to rely on the histogram to let me know if the exposure is correct. So, I recommend you use the histogram.</p>

<p>Your D60 has 7 levels of brightness to set on the display. I'm sorry you had this problem, I know..I've been there.</p>

 

<p>Because you want something that travels well, I recommend a brolly box. I use one with my flash - SB-800 - on a light stand. It's great because it folds up like an umbrella.</p>

<p>http://cart.owens-originals.com/40-SHOOT-THROUGH-UMBRELLA-SOFTBOX-BROLLY-BOX-p/vp-sb1005ub.htm</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hi Jay, I have done the same as Robert in placing boards on the carpet to create a hard floor.<br>

Seamless paper comes in shorter widths that might be something for you but the best thing is to place your subjects 5 to 6 feet in front of the backdrop and use a narrow enough DOF to blur the background.</p>

<p>Candice, Your photos are beautiful. There is so much criticism about flash sites with music that you would think it was not good practice to use flash and music. Out of curiosity, I looked at each photographer's site on this list:<br>

http://www.popphoto.com/americanphotofeatures/5260/top-10-wedding-photographers-2008.html<br>

Most were Flash. But only one played music when opening the site.<br>

It was interesting to me how large the images were being presented -- like yours.<br>

Each of these sites is beautifully orchestrated, whether static html or flash driven. I'm sure when yours is done and all of the kinks are worked out, it will reflect your five figure asking price :)<br>

Please, make sure you get a license for your music, if you still want to use it. Another place to find good music to license is triplescoopmusic.com, oh, and readbeardmusic.com<br>

Wishing you well,<br>

Jo Ann</p>

<p> </p>

<p>If only you could take your flash off camera but I do have one suggestion, not ideal and it will take a little work to get it right. Have a reflector just to your side and slightly behind so that you can turn your flash toward it to bounce that light onto the subjects. You'll get an softer, indirect light. <br>

I'm not familiar with your Canon flash but can't you get a hotshoe adapter that will allow you to use your flash off camera? Truly, an investment like that will make all the difference in the quality of your portraits.<br>

Good luck!</p>

Hi Jon, I sent you an email with links to some of my weddings.

 

Thanks!

Jo Ann

If you have a choice of just one, I would recommend Photoshop. If your budget will allow both, go for it but just one, go with PS. Perhaps my LR2 skills aren't at a level to use it 100% but each photo I edit in LR, I finish in PhotoShop.

Not only that, PS has so many other tools that LR doesn't. I don't believe you can create an album page in LR?

Hi Amber, I can't help with your flash problem but I can recommend a great slideshow program. It's Photodex ProShow Producer. I do shows all the time with it and the quality is the best I have seen and you can be extremely creative with it.

Here's a link to some sample shows. http://www.photodex.com/sharing/spotlight

 

Good luck with your flash problem.

I use the tripod to take close up, available light, detail shots. The cake, the table settings, the room, basically anything that doesn't move. A tripod will also set you apart from the wedding photographer wannabe's you have a 99% chance of encountering at your event. When the amateur presents his cd of unretouched images to the b & g and they compare them to yours, the extra effort of dragging around a tripod will help reinforce the couple's decision to hire a professional.

My US rep was super great until I had a problem then he left me to work with the Italian lab myself which turned out to be so frustrating that I gave up. I had a problem with a silk cover that looked muddy and the ink had bled. You cannot get answers to your questions. They respond, after several days, with a canned reply that doesn't address or answer any specific questions. It wasn't the fact that I had a problem with the book or the fact that I couldn't get satisfaction from the lab that soured me to this company, it was the fact that my rep was like a used car salesman (the stereotype) once you buy the car, they forget who you are.

Pictobooks? I'll have to check that out. Thanks.

There are a lot of album makers who make a similar product to Graphi where a panorama can lay across a two-page spread but they will all have a gutter. Graphi has a patent on their process which is to print continuous page spreads and then hand fold each so there is not cut or gutter. So, if you want the seamless, gutterless pano page, you'll have to go with GraphiStudio.

I would like to know how Zookbinder quality surpasses Graphi?