photographicsafaris

The primary differences you will experience are louder shutter noise and much heavier

body with the Digital.

If you are shooting in Manual mode you should freely switch between the two, though I

would recomend that you put a battery grip on the Elan 7.

If you are using various modes, then switching all the switches and fiddling with dials will

detract from the task at hand and you may get "regter bedonnered".

I shot quite happily with the EOS 3 and 1Nrs as well as my EOS 5D, but before an

important portrait session I do go out and make sure I remember all the right settings on

the 5D and check all the custom functions are the same with the film bodies (and I use the

manual here.)

Using the 8x10 you may find your frame rate will drop slightly and the buffer depends

upon the number of dark slide holders with 4x5 I use 6 dark slides, I can set up a shot

including exposure in just under 2 minutes now. Thats for landscapes with a wildlife

element in it.

enjoy digital, though you will really appreciate some of the film that you are using,

particularly so portra style films. As so many people are finding out when they revisit film.

I shoot about 70% digital and 30% film on my portrait sessions. I like the back up of film

and the ease of high quality results with minimal work. Also I believe that the Kodak 160

portra nc and Ektachrome 100VS films have yet to find a Digital equal, for a final product

presentation.

G

Ok in order to keep a record of this, tomorrow is my birthday, and I ordered the Battery

grip as a present to myself.

<p>

I ordered from Hongkong supplies, the 5D battery grip which comes with two generic

BP511 batteries for ?37 plus an extortionate ?20 for shipping.

<br>I will leave feedback on their site once I have recieved and used the grip for two

weeks to reflect the quality and will continue to report to this post my views, and success/

failures of the product.

<p>

Should be interesting

<p>

Cheers G

Wow Kevin, I to get a response and answer, together with the amount of time and effort

that he put into helping you, from someone whose work you admire is amazing.

Seriously big hats off to JR then!

(I personally need to upgrade (jump) my photoshop 7 and learn to master CS3 as much of

what JR was going through was over my head from a practical stand point.)

It looks like in the posted above shots (from the shadows) that you were shooting under

flourescent lighting and bouncing directly off the ceiling. If you study any portrait

photographer, they will detail the use of lighting angles to create depth and thus

dimension, furthermore, clarity.

To answer some of your question, with regard to how to improve this, I would suggest that

if the above is the case, then look to bounce the light off a source that would give a more

horizontal direction, and balance the shot more, such as off a wall, or menu held out to

the side.

Cheers G

P.S. Kudo's to JR for going the extra mile.

"POP" insinuates bursting, or coming out at you.

<br>I read that to mean that the photos come to life, and have more dimension.

Ultimately this is results from controlled exposure and lighting.

<p>

To make the subject stand out from the background, whilst retaining sufficient detail in

the background to convery the story, one has many tools to do this.

<br>Aperture, to create depth of field, drawing your subject out

<br>Flash, to add a dimension of light and exposure, bounced, or fill

<br>Shutter speed to convey a sense of movement, combined with the lighting to

illustrate the subject.

<br>I believe that a slightly underexposed background and relatively over exposed

subject (correctly exposed) could be the easiest way to achieve Pop

<p>All of which could be achieved with standard tools and a photographers eye.

<br>Post processing is helpful, but always remember that the great artists did not have

access to photoshop, and did minimal editing, choosing their skill to get it right first time.

(dodging and burning aside)

<p>Oh and yes having a razor sharp lens that offers superb contrast and no flaring is a

step in the right direction...

<p>

Cheers G

Firstly, I am really sorry, and at the same time angry for you.

You have dropped the Bride and groom, and are left to bare the full responsibility. You oue

them big time, and no matter what you do, it will never be enough for them (Which is why

people put contracts in place because they realise that they will never repay that debt, so

why bother.)

7 rolls sounds like bull to me!

Just thinking how many rolls of 36 go through a dunk tank at any one time, it is surreal for

7 to be stuck in the development stage at any one time, maybe four, but 7?

I am suspicious, and guess that they sent it out to be processed else where and lost them,

but dont want to admit it.

Have you got the remains back because that will tell you where they went wrong? If you

havent got the rolls back, then contact them and find out why, take it as high as is

necessary, if they tell you that they binned the undeveloped, or exposed/developed rolls

then go to the director and demand an explanation as to how they think that have a right

to throw away your property: This is now a criminal process.

You wont get financial compensation but you will realise what they did, and learn whether

or not to trust them again.

I develop Sheet films at probably THE pro lab in London, and though I am a nobody, I still

insist and pay for the Hourly development so that I can sit there and wait for the results,

knowing that they wont screw it up by palming it off to another lab because theyre busy...

I have come to see that with the advent of digital, most developing is done at a central

depot, and it is reliant upon mailers and this has seen more of my films lost in 2003-4

than in the previous decade.

Consequently I wait patiently for my films to be developed.

On my Safaris, I get my films developed in Nairobi, or a major city at a lab where I know

the owners, and, Yes I wait for them to get done, their 1 hour service, occasionally takes

two or more hours but its far better to wait than to send your films back home.

I am probably alone with this thought, but they are developing more films than in the

Developed (hee hee pun intended) world. and are more responsible. I now have a reliable

transport service collecting from my camp and delivering by hand to the lab, and I get my

films back the next flight the following morning.

My point being dont post them out. I believe that more failures are blamed on "there was a

technical problem," than reality which is they posted them, and were lost.

Good luck G

Sorry that should have been in line witht he text, try harder this next image!

<p>

The opposite is where you need to crank up the shutter speed, to expose for the

background such as a bright sunny sky, and use the flash to fill in the subject (you may

need to use high speed flash sync). Attached is a poor example of one I took a couple of

days ago at my nephews 5th Birthday.

<p>

As you can see the poor little blighter is struggling to look into the sun and has a shadow

over his eyes, yet using the flash this has lifted it enoght to see his eyes. And the Sky is

brilliantly blue.

<p>

Cheers G

Preston you are potentially reading too much into this.

Firstly, You need to understand what Dragging the shutter is all about. It is essentially

to create an equal exposure between foreground and back ground. The flash exposes the

subject in the fore ground and the shutter speed exposes for the background.

<p>

Remember Shutter speed: background exposure.

<p>

There are two potential scenarios, either the background is brighter than the subject or

the background is much darker. Dragging the shutter implies a longer shutter speed,

hence exposing for the dark background.

<br>Typically this is used in weddings to show the subject exposed and the background

equally exposed so that there is detail and it is not a dark mess.

<p>

Put camera into manual mode, look through the viewfinder (at the background), and select

a shutter speed with a reasonably open aperture to create a roughly correct exposure.

<br>Now you will have a low shutter speed, of (ideally for portraits handheld) 1/15-1/

30th you then take the picture with the flash illuminating the subject.

<p>

This will result in a picture where the background holds detail, and the foreground has

been illuminated by the flash to create a balanced exposure.

<br>Now I could be wrong here, but the idea is to freeze the subject as much as possible

to counter any low speed camera shake, and potentially capture movement. But in a

wedding sense, mostly to balance the background and foreground and freeze movement

<p>

As an example I can get my hands on at the moment that shows what I have done.

<br>Its of one of my neices - 1/40th f2.8 ISO 100 You can see the evening sky is exposed

and she is equally exposed. Given the shutter speed you might think there was shake or

blur, but none of it!

<br>You can see in the window where that I have bounced the flash over my left shoulder

against the wall and ceiling to provide the subtle illumination for her.

<p>

Next post an example of the opposite, basically fill flash, but being in Manual mode you

control the shutter speed to expose the background.

<p>

Cheers G

Allan, How many times have you rented the 30mm 1.4?

Because the Sigma 30 f1.4 is actually a really good and reasonably priced lens.

It makes sense (to me) for you to buy this lens and only rent the 120-300 f2.8 when you

need it, once you have recoinoitred, as you wont use it for every wedding. Where as you

will use the 30mm every wedding.

I had two Sigmas:- 300 f4 and 300 f2.8, I sold and replaced with the 100-400 slower lens.

Both are very good optics, particularly the f4, But I found that the use I got from the 2.8

did not justify keeping it. Also the quality wide open at 2.8 wasnt as good as I wanted.

I cannot conceive using the 120-300 lens at a wedding it would be too cumbersome, and I

would be paranoid about someone tripping over it, or walking off with it when I was not

using it, and the journey to put the lens away into "the-box-inside-the-cage-padlocked-

inside-the-car" would be too time consuming at a very precious time in a wedding.

However it is a very good lens (without peer) and extremely suited to wildlife photography,

it is also a very good performer witht he extenders.

Cheers G

From what I have seen:

The ability to blow your own trumpet, results, and "getting cash now"

I thought that it was all about people skills, but...

My wedding photographer was very talented, highly sucessful and has a thriving business,

which produces great results and affords him a good lifestyle.

However, what a prick.

None of the three couples at our wedding looking for a photographer wanted to use him

for theirs. Lets be clear here, the results were really great, so he is deffinetly a good image

capturer. He appears to get business from high flyers who appear to appreciate his

ungracious attitude.

So perhaps arrogance is a good business skill.

My best man used a different photographer for both his first marriage and two years later

used the same lady for his second wedding, I too would recomend her, not my

photographer.

So it would appear that being courteous is also a good attribute. She doesnt brag so much

but is booked full a year ahead and 50% booked for the following year, she turns business

down.

Michelle,

Congratulations thats a great compliment and an opportunity for you to seize the

moment. Be glad the B&G diddnt just mail over the pics.

In terms of value their convention centre is worth X$$$ per booking. They consider it to be

suitable for (high net price) weddings and consequently it has to have a certain appeal.

Your images have shown the venue to be worth the X$$$... Hence your images must be

worth paying for.

I would personally not sell the images to them, but certainly insist on getting my foot in

the door with them. Either with your website/name in credits as a Convention centre

official photographer or at the very least as a photographer on their books.

(be cunning here, get a friend to call the banqueting manager and express an interest in

their venue for their wedding. Towards the end of the telephonic discussion ask if they

could recomend a photographer. Then you know where you stand-competition etc)

They will be using their Powerpoint to attract business. Which could be emailed anywhere

in the world. Someone could see the pictures like them, but not the venue, and still use

you. 8-10 images for use in a powerpoint is a bit much to ask for.

Thats my take; if my name were not in the credits I would not feel comfortable with them

using my images. (But this may vary if you havent got permission to photograph

commercially in their venue.)

Cheers G

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Mky1

<p>

On second thoughts, perhaps you should propogate the defending your camera at all

costs idea, because, as you dither with what to to I will have dropped mine and be running

like all hell.

<p>

Do you want to join me for my January 2010 trip up Kilimanjaro?

<br>This way I will be safe

<p>

Cheers G

I would have though that you could apply your good camera discussion to lens purchasing

easily and dont need any input. Besides as William asks, which lenses are you talking

about?

<a href=http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Mky1>here</a>

Though I comprehensively disagree about wanting to defend it at all costs.

Like a scuba weight-belt, you should always be able to drop your camera and run like hell

without thinking twice about it, because if you do and youre on your way up Mt

Kilimanjaro/Kenya and get charged by a buffalo, youre dead;

No camera is worth that.

Cheers G

JDM,

<br>I tend to agree with Jim, and have experienced this first hand, since I crossed over to

EOS in the late 90's

<p>

All Sigma HSM lenses can currently be rechipped, and though they do

eventually get it right, it does take time, my (awesome) 300 f4 APO HSM macro to my 10D

took 6 weeks. Whilst my 300 f2.8 (pre HSM) couldnt be done. (both now sold on)

<p>

So yes they do fix the problem <b>where possible</b> and where not, my lens devalued

by about 1000quid overnight

<p>

I believe that the reason that Tamron have never had issues with their lens compatibility is

because they pay Canon for the use of their proprietry protocol technology, thereby

ensuring that (like all old canon lenses) they are compatible with future technology. (But

this has been apparently denied)

<br>You do have to wonder why they dont have any issues like Sigma though.

<p>

Whereas Sigma have refused to pay for the technology and consequently there are issues.

Sigma reverse engineer Canon technology and upon a newer set of information things

start to go wrong.

<br>Lets be clear, this has happened recently, such as the very good 120-300 f2.8 Sigma

lens was incompatible, and needed rechipping, I tried one on my 5D about 10 months ago

and three weeks later I tried another sample and it did work.

<p>

For more info check out:

<br>

http://photonotes.org/reviews/sigma-ef-500-super/

<p>

Cheers G

As much as I am all for own brand and Sigma is infamous for their issues, I have owned

Sigma Lenses and their Optical quality is very good.

That said, my route would be the Sigma 12-24 for its compatibility with full frame further

down the line, (however it will probably need rechipping)

Whereas the others are not designed for full frame, and I believe this to be important. You

may want to consider the very good Tokina 10-17 (crop sensor)

As it turns out this lens happens to be very very good, but with some issues from unit to

unit (apparently). Consequently buy from a store you can walk in, and test the individual

item, if that one is not good enough, then try another sample. This is worth a small

premium.

I would look again at the 14mm Canon. (not 15mm)

Cheers G.

Have you had any problems using the 580 as a master with only the 550 as a slave?

I have tried something similar using the MR-14 as a master (I assume you mean MR-24

not MT24) with two 550's but found it to be really difficult to control, In the end used a

550 as master and the other 550 illuminating the subject the spill bouncing off a reflector

I cant help feeling that another flash gun would be more useful than the ST-E2, but that

depends on whether the ST-E2 has more control than a 550/580 or a better layout.

Another problem I have is turning the master flash off. Either it wont respond to Flash off

or (more likely) the operator is a banana fingered baboon. I have the 550ex manual, it isnt

much help, Oh and the Lantern 550ex guide really is no help with wireless magic.

Good luck and I will be following this thread

Cheers G

Bravo Will

<br>thats an interesting and may I say bold move, err have you thought everything

through? - Film type?... Scanner?

<p>

I cant help feeling that you are being facetious with regard to a practical way to own that

lens.

<p>Good luck with the plan.

<hr>

<p>

<p>

Avoid The <b>EOS 1Nrs</b> and the <b>EOS RT</b> because they give you a

vignettied image with the 85mm f1.2 and 50mm f1.0 lenses wide open, but you can still

use them and it disappears stopped down to f1.8-f2.

<p>

So I would avoid both these cameras, amazing as they are.

<p>

Cheers G

I have shot two weddings, with #3 and 4 coming up in 2008, I also shoot about 15 portrait

sessions a year.

<p>

For me it was important to have a full frame sensor so I wasnt changing viewpoints

between film and digital. Some argue that having the crop sensor allows you to have a

different perspective- Your call

<p>

For Weddings:-

<br>1) I use My 5D throughout the shoot with initially a 28-70 2.8 lens on, changing to

my 50mm 1.4 after dusk. I interchange this with the 17-40 lens, and if necessary the 70

-200, though I will be getting 85mm 1.8 for the next weddings, but wish I could justify a

135L. to replace the zoom

<br>2) On the EOS 3 I interchange the 17-40 with the 28-70 lens, loaded with Portra

160nc which I use with fill flash until late afternoon in AV mode. Then I start bouncing

flash with this setup in Manual mode. I Usually put this away at night.

<br>3) I have my 1nRS loaded with Tmax 100 and my 70-200 lens, again flash free until

afternoon, when I change to the Delta 1600 Flash free throughout the evening.

<p>

I have 2 Canon 550ex's one mounted on the shooting body (fill or bounce) and the other

(main) through an Umbrella on a tripod to the side. I shoot in sessions changing between

cameras as and when necessary, but it is usefull to have an assistant, or friend to hold

stuff and help out, because juggling three bodies is awkward, and I keep the 5D around

neck, the Eos 1nRS on a strap over shoulder, and the Eos 3 in a small bag over the

shoulder with loose lenses.

<p>

I try to have things sequenced into Portraits, then group shots then larger groups and

candids. This way i can start with the 28-70 on the 5D and 70-200 on the 1nRS, changing

to the 17-40 on the Eos 3 instead of the 1nRS.

<p>

<br>For speed I could not work the way I do without correographing all my actions with

the B&G and wedding planner beforehand, this also helps to get them into the swing with

poses, and you with lighting.

<p>

I have shot a roll of E100G at a wedding, but I would only use slide film when I have much

more time and am not the main photographer. However I do shoot two or three 4x5 slides

for posterities sake, which has always been really appreciated in a their wedding album

but this is very time consuming, takes 10 minutes alone...

<p>

Shoot Film - Cheers G

Make your own...

I have a wedding coming up and I wanted to learn more about what hardware I could use

to better control my speedlights.

<br>

My current set-up is a speedlight through an Umbrella off camera as the main light, and

camera strobe used as fill on the camera, either bounced off the ceiling or through an

Omni bounce at 60 degrees.

<br>

I spent some (allot of) time digging around the photo.net Wedding forum today trying to

get more information of strobe use particularly with regard to weddings and portraits. I

was well directed towards Neil van Niekerks site and "abetterbouncecard.com" to get

some ideas. I cant recommend these two guys enough.

<br>

Currently I have an Omni bounce and also a flash bracket which I made myself, but I do I

think still I want a swivelling Bracket, to maintain the flash head above the lens, which

mine currently is only in Portrait format.

<p>

As per the picture below I now have three distinct heads to control flash.

<p>

1) A Black flag type of thing, called a "black half snoot" This was made from half a "crud

guard" (bicycle mud guard!)

<br>For indoor the most useful is the half snoot, this allows light to be restricted to the

bounce direction, and usually away from the person, so you get very directional soft

lighting. If I want a bit of fill, for a catch light I can pull up the built in diffuser and face the

black diffuser the other way. Now I do know that it is in line with the flash head, so you

wouldnt expect any fill, but there is.

<p>

2) A Snoot, by gluing a bunch of straws packed together inside an Omni bounce with the

top cut along the three sides.

<br>This gives an extremely direct lighting source, this can be either a bounced light, or a

spot light, with complete control over direction.

<p>

3) A "Lumi-spere" made from a 2litre Milk bottle carton

<br>Really useful for Outdoor portraits within a range of about 5 meters. The flash is

upright above the lens, throwing a shadow behind the person. This being a directional

source is flattering and soft. Indoors it alone is a great bounce and fill flash, with limit to

the power in bounce mode. But I prefer the Black half snoot with controlled directional

bounce. But it is fantastic in Macro mode as back fill flash.

<p>

4) Without the straws a normal Omni bounce, but also with the ability to have full strobe

off the ceiling.

<br>This opens up another avenue to the Omni bounce, as it makes it a bit more

versatile.

<p>

So I recomend that you go ahead and make your own.

<p>

Cheers G

Thanks to this forum I have resolved most of my own particular questions with regard to

specific flash instances.

Spent a very constructive day reading forums, watching the videos, reading more and

playing with ideas and getting to grips with various flash scenarios

I agree with what you say about Neils use of Flash, though it should be noted that he

predominantly uses off camera strobe type flash in his work.

Thanks Graham

Hi Andrew,

<p>

I've been trying to "see" your style, and have to agree with some others that the Astia 100F

would be the better slide film to render saturated backgrounds and reasonable skin tones.

<p>

As for similar results with negative film, 1/3rd underexposing the background and a dab

of fill in flash on the face using the Portra 160vc could be of interest to you. But I still

prefer the Portra 160nc

<p>

I too have been burnt by provia and sorry but just dont like the nuclear fall out Velvia. I

comprehensively enjoy the 100VS for wildlife, however I have found that the E100G is the

best film for portrait skin tones in the slide range, I have a couple of great slides that I

havent had scanned yet but taken with a deep evening sun, I was really really happy with

the results.

<br>

I use E100G only with my 4x5, a polarising filter gives me all I need for Landscapes, and

wildlife, and if every there are people, I still have ready a film that is really good.

<p>

One last idea is to try E200G push it one to ISO 800 when you need to to get faster shutter

speeds. It has been my choice of (wildlife) slide film for pre-dawn shots for ages.

<p>

As with regard to digital, the Fuji S5 with its Film simulation mode, F2 option as a Jpeg

default setting could really work for you. With its extended tonality it could be your future

other body.

<p>

I agree with many others who have noticed that film produced better portraits easily than

digital. On a portrait session in March 07, I shot my first roll of 160nc and was really

impressed how much better the results were than the 5D. However having burned the CD

at their house and leaving the images with them, I knew why I was using digital 90% of the

shots.

<br>Since then I shot 400NC in the Red sea in a Nikonos V and was not so happy with the

results, so slide film for the remainder.

<br>

Having said that see:

<p>

<centre>http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=646255</centre>

<p>

I think that Rarindra's work is stellar, his portfolio shows a serious dedication and a

deffinite style, early impressionist, yet his portraits are very very good, and shows what

can be done with enough work.

<p>

Cheers G

Three words- Asus eee PC

G

Only waterproof to 15 feet, drat.

Phil great to see that there is an encourtagement on the underwater forum front

Cheers G

Hi Charles,

<br>

High quality zooms are designed for flexibility when travelling, and the 70-200 f4 is the

king of light weight High quality longer travel lenses.

<br>The 200L lens is the kind of lens that you keep forever, whereas the 70-200 is a

great general lens but not the ideal specific lens in this case the zoom is ideal for your

needs. You can even get a 1.4x extender to make it even more versatile.

<br>When I changed from Nikon to Canon I used the 70-200 f4 with the 1.4 extender

predominantly for most of my wildlife shots on film.

<br>

<p>

Unless you are on a specific photography mission, you will have a better time with less

equipment such as the 24-105 and 70-200 f4. Then probably throw in the 85 if you

seriously anticipate doing some portrait specific work. but if thats not your plan dont

bother, too many lenses.

<p>

Cheers G

Steve Hi,

<br>I think the 28-300 is a great lens if you want a high quality do everything lens on

one body.

<br>Unlike many people here, I feel that the push pull zoom style is a great lens design

for people with only two hands.

<br>You can hold the camera in one hand and with the other manually focus as well as

zoom at the same time. Wow, that is something that you cant do with ring style zooms.

<p>

For a 6 week photography trip to Europe, I dont think that it is worth considering just one

lens specifically just for this, however you could sell it upon your return to wherever you

are from. But as you said it is a "Photography trip" then you usually know what you want to

photograph, and can pick focal lengths for that.

<br>I tried looking at your portfolio to get an idea of what your style is, but only came

across 4 pictures, of which only one alludes to travel for which the 28-300 would be great.

<p>

If it is Europe, presumably architecture and people in cities, as opposed to wildlife, sports

and such like. Here wide is better than long and you only have 24mm.

<br>

Typically in cities, and general Europe with full frame, I use a very wide lens 17-40, a

longer lens 70-200f4 and a fast lens. 100 f2.8 but would rather the 135 f2L.

<br>I hardly ever use my standard walk around lens (my 28-70)

<P>So I'm going to be different and suggest that you get two lenses

<br>Firstly a longer lens:

<br>Option i> a 70-200m f4 because you dont really need much more than this

<br>Option ii> a plain 200 f2.8L

<br>Option iii> a 135 f2 with 1.4x (and maybe 2x) extender.

<p>And secondly a Canon 17-40L wide angle lens or perhaps a sigma 12-24.

<p>Of your kit, I would take your 24-105 (with extension tubes for macro) and something

longer as well as the 5omm 1.4. Keeping it simple with the 24-105 and a 70-200 f4L will

make walking around easier, and you need something fast I prefer a longer fast lens for

portraits.

<br>Is the 70-200 2.8 zoom necessary above the f4 version? only for a fast lens

<p>

Cheers G