stevenbarall

<p>Get a bigger hammer. You need more than two lights to light the background full height. No way around it. Good luck.</p>

<p>The best battery is by LibertyPak.com. For a really good article, see robgalbraith.com and search for it.</p>

<p>I agree that the bounce or diffuse thing is preference. Just shoot both ways and decide. The wonder of digital is that you can do that easily and with no extra expense. The problem with speedlights is that they do not have modeling lights which make things more evident.<br>

You want the light into the umbrella enough so that no light slips out of the sides in the umbrella. That stray light will make you miserable. Also, the more into the umbrella, the more concentrated the light will be coming out of the umbrella if you are bouncing.<br>

It's digital, it's easy. Shoot and see.</p>

<p>Sounds like a job for on camera flash. Use a bounce card or diffuser of some sort. I use the Ultimate Light Box by Harbor Digital. You have to be careful that the flash and the ambient light are in good balance, especially if you are shooting indoors where backgrounds tend to go dark. Shoot in manual exposure, set your f stop and leave it there and adjust the shutter speed to balance the background light. Just look at the photos on the back of the camera to check. With that camera you can boost the ISO easily to 3200 and more is necessary for indoor shooting.<br>

For outdoors, you can just set the camera to program mode or aperture preferred AV and pick an aperture. If the shutter speed gets faster than 1/200 of a second, the flash won't work so if that happens just stop down the aperture of lower the ISO.<br>

Big groups take up a lot of space. Wide angle lens. Wider than a 24, more like an 18 to make things easy, especially indoors with a group larger than 100. Lighting a large group takes an effort. Studio lights need assistants. The on camera flash would work fine. The Canon 580 flash has a wide angle lens that is built into the flash head and slides out to cover the flash. Unless they're paying you more than a couple of grand, I would just use the on camera flash. There is always the wonder of Photoshop to help you along in the end.</p>

<p>Look at the instructions that came with the meter. It sounds like the meter is measuring ambient and flash at the same time which is something your meter might do. If it is, just boost the shutter speed setting on the meter to a high number like 500/sec. This will eliminate and influence by the ambient light.<br>

You should know what the highest sync speed is for your particular camera. Here's how a "focal plane" shutter works. The shutter has two curtains that open to reveal the sensor to the light coming through the lens. There is a leading curtain and a trailing curtain. The camera's sync speed is the fastest speed where entire sensor is exposed to the light at the same time, in other words, the shutter is completely open. Any speed faster than that and only a portion of the sensor is exposed to the light at any given time. When that is happening, the trailing curtain starts to close before the leading curtain is all the way open making the shutter curtains form a slit that moves across the sensor. The faster the speed, the narrower the slit formed. If you were to use a flash at a high speed, the only part of your image that would be getting the flashed light would be where ever the slit is at the time of the flash giving you a photo with a sliver of light and a lot of darkness.<br>

Those Hasselblad shutters mentioned are called leaf shutters and work differently. They are shutters that are built into each of the lenses and not the camera body and they can sync at very high speeds just due to the nature of their design. They don't use a focal plane shutter like your camera has.<br>

The best of luck to your Andrew.</p>

Waiting for the PMA show is a great idea. That said, check out dpreview.com or steves-digicams.com or luminouslandscape.com

 

I use the fantastic Fuji S2 Pro. It is built on the Nikon N80 chasis so it uses Nikkor lenses. The image quality is the best of the 6 megapixel DSLRs. It does cost a bit more though.

This is a great question. Find local theater groups or dance schools or other theatrical types. These people always need portraits and I am sure that you will be able to find people willing to pose in exchange for prints of your photos that they can use as handouts. AND it's a great way to meet interesting people in a new community and a great way to build a business.

This became an issue about 20 years ago when a lot camera companies started motorizing their cameras via attachments. Nikon had the motors for the top of the line F, F1, F2 cameras and then they came out with the Nikkormat 3 and later the FE and FM. For these cameras they had winders. It just meant that they were slower and if you wanted the pro motor drive thing going for you you had to get the expensive camera.

The cover story in the December issue of National Geographic was shot with a D1X. The story of how that shoot came about is interesting. You can read about it at robgalbraith.com. There is almost no publication as concerned with the quality issues that you are talking about as National Geo.

 

I think it's more important to consider the other differences of the three camera systems you have than in the technical quality of the output for your needs. When it comes down to it, whichever you choose it's going to be a win win win situation. Read that article by Joe McNally at robgalbraith.com It is very interesting.

I use a S2 pro as well. How about this lens combo: The Nikon 12-24 digital zoom (you can not use it on film cameras because the image will not cover the standard 35mm film size) and the Nikon 24-85 F2.8 which is also a macro lens and this one you can use on any nikon film camera body. With the focal length multiplier you will be covered from the equivalent of 18 to 125. Later on you can get a 80-200 zoom lens.

 

Don't you hate it when someone doesn't really answer your question?

It sounds like Lexar is blowing you off. I know that in the past Lexar has had compatibility problems with their cards and certain cameras throughout the years so I am not surprised at all to now hear of a problem with the card reader. It is not uncommon for readers to be able to only read cards of only a certain capacity and not more than that.

 

The current 8 in 1 Multicard reader shipped to stores needing a firmware update to work with the XD cards. Oops. I hate to hear that you are getting the shaft from them but I am not surprised. Generally I have heard that the company is not managed very well and I know that they have released bad products onto the market.

 

That said, it still might be your cards's problem. Can you return the card reader to the store for an exchange? I use Sandisk stuff now. The Sandisk Ultra II cards are the fastest on the market and I have the Sandisk multicard reader and it seems fine. Sandisk also makes a CF only reader.

 

Oh well, good luck. Keep harrassing Lexar if for nothing more than the sport of it.

Bogen/Manfrotto stuff is all generally good and the price is right and they do make carbon tripods. Gitzo stuff is great but the cost is excessive and they are really heavy. They do have a nice line of very light weight carbon tripods and monopods but they cost even more. A compact Gitzo metal tripod might be nice because of ease of portage and although small, they can still be sturdy becuase they are so well made.

 

If you go with a Gitzo, you might as well get a Gitzo head but Bogen has alot of nice heads also especially the geared heads. The best ball head is by a company called Arcatech.

 

If you want a light monopod Slik makes a carbon one for about $100.

 

ALSO... Carbon tripods are so light that they can be unstable on a windy day. The Gitzos actually have a hook on the end of the center column from which to hang a weight.

 

If you work large or medium format you might want to get a wooden tripod from Ries. Wooden tripods have advantages if you spend alot of time outdoors like the wood doesn't make you hands cold and the wood absorbs vibrations that can screw you up for longer exposer times. Carbon is so stiff that it transfers any and all minute vibrations straight to the camera.

 

bhphoto.com is a great place to browse tripods and heads.

Also try the Art Student's League. Actually, you might want to start there. You can call them at 212.247.4510, and theartstudentsleague.org

Call the art schools. Try the School Of Visual Arts and Parsons School Of Design. You can start with the photo departments and ask them where to go from there. Good Luck.

Look at books of portraits not book about portraits. Arnold Newman, Avedon, Peggy Sirota, Diane Arbus, Marion Ettlinger and many many others. And don't forget the rest of art history like the Dutch painters for example. The whole point is to be creative and experiment. All good things come from curiosity and experimentation.

 

Don't worry about the exact spot on the floor where someone wants you to put a light stand. Don't join the cult. Be free and happy.

Being an artist with film and an atrist in the darkroom require two different skill sets. If you have both, great but to think that if you only have one you are somehow short changing the public or even yourself is just nonsense.

 

It's nice to imagine how Bach would have played a particular organ piece but that doesn't mean that you can not get a great experience from listening to a contemporary recording of it. There are plenty of musicians today that can play pieces better than the orignal composers could play them. That's why we have musical notation (sheet music) in the first place. Ansel wanted students to have access to his negatives so they can use them to interpret a new. Ansel seemed very secure about what he did.

 

Printing is an interpretive art form like dancing or being a musician. You can applaud the musician and the composer at the same time. And besides, why limit yourself to your own skills when you can get an expert to help you. Why think that you can not take pictures because you don't have darkroom skills? Just have a little fun and stop thinking like a prisoner in some cult.

You have to go with the flow. Hang back a little as not to get in the way but you have to be in on the action at the same time. Every picture has to be about something afterall and you have to recognize and even anticipate what that something is. That's what being in the flow is all about, that decisive moment stuff.

 

Use the gear that you feel comfortable with and know best. Most of the fast neg films are great these days. If you want B&W try the Ilford XP2. It processes in a color neg machine so it's easy to get it done where ever you are. If you don't process B&W yourself at home, it has gotten difficult to get it done right at most labs these days, the C41 B&W films are very useful. But... the Ilford Delta 3200 is a great film.

 

Don't shoot with telephoto zooms from the next room. Keep as close as you can. Feel out the situation. Also, they want family photos that show the situations of their day, not just headshots.

 

It sounds like a great experience can be had by all. Just have fun.

You can certainly do the photos on a day that is overcast but not dark. If you want to show some sun, work in the early morning or at dusk. Also if you possition her such that there is nothing behind her for like 50 feet, the background will blur out.

I would be interested to hear what casting agents have to say on the subject. Also, if you have digital photos done you can do color at the same price. Do casting agents think that color headshots are bad or is it that black and white has always been a lot cheaper?

One really really big overhead light, great makeup and retouching. Also maybe large reflectors going across the front.

People who shoot accounts like that do really know what they are doing. There are no accidents there. They have a lot of gear and alot of people doing hair and makeup and they also have people who are really really good at retouching. I know alot of these hair, makeup and retouching people and they have as many tricks as the photog does. And don;t forget the art directors. The photographer does have to have the vision though and be able to direct all the others. Oh yeah, and having Christy Turlington doesn't hurt.

"Recycling" photos, whether they are yours or someone elses is just plain wrong and everyone knows that it is wrong. And not only that but it might be illegal. It is not uncommon for buyers to take sellers to court about this issue, so all of you stealing photos out there, don't cry about it later when you're standing infront of Judge Judy getting yelled at for being stupid. There are jurisdictions that will prosecute as well. Just because "recycling" (stealing)is easy doesn't make it right.

4 grand is a lot of money. Yee Ha. Do yourself a big favor and go to: badgergraphic.com Check out what they have to offer and call them and talk to them. As far as lenses go, I am a firm believer in used lenses but you have to become an expert pretty quickly and I'm not sure you will have the time. The more expensive lenses are faster and let you have more movement but alot of lenses are sharp. You will find that everyone has a lens that they think is the best lens ever made.

 

And get a wooden tripod. The wood doesn't transmit vibrations and it won't make your hands freeze in the cold weather. And get a good head that will hold weight. Bogen makes nice ones and so does Reiss, the wooden tripod company. Bogen has a large head that has geared movements as well as gross movements. It's great for 4X5.

 

I use the cheapest wood folding 4X5 that I was able to find when I was in grad school and that was 14 years ago. It might have been undergrad actually. It works fine and I am a camera movement fanatic. You don't need an Ebony. Look at the Shen Hao at badgergraphic.

 

Have a great trip. Oh yeah, spend the four thousand on digital equipment.

Of those digital cameras you mentioned, the best one by far is the Olympus 5060. The problems with using a digicam like those mentioned is that the lenses are very very very wide angle. You can get a similar framing but your depth of field is nowhere near where is will be with the lenses on the film camera.

 

As far as exposure goes, the Polaroid was never great for that anyway. That's why you bracket with transparency film. If you only want to see that the strobes are working and check for reflections, the digicam thing is a good idea, but if the client wants to pay for Polaroid, go ahead and use it.

 

Really though, you should switch to digital full time. Ditch the film cameras. They don't love you anymore anyway. They were cheating on you with the darkroom equipment. Toss them out with the bathwater. Digital cameras are your only true love now.

It is clear from the responses so far that you have to experiment. If you try it for yourself, you will know for sure which one you like or you might realize that you need both. Buy your gear from a dealer that has a good returns policy. Pros buy, test and return stuff all the time and as a matter of fact a good dealer will encourage you to do just that.

 

Photek makes an umbrella that has a cover like a softbox that is called the Softlighter. You do not have to use the cover though so you can use it just like a regular umbrella. I use this all the time and it is great. Also look into the Illuminata umbrella from Photek. photekusa.com

 

Chimera stuff is good and you can get a lot of accessories. I love accessories. It's the stuff for your stuff. Get a box that takes a grid. Grids are great.